UMSC December Minutes
UNION-MANAGEMENT SAFETY COMMITTEE
December 2025 Meeting Minutes
The monthly meeting of the Union-Management Safety Committee was conducted on December 9th, 2025 by the Environmental Health and Safety department with the following individuals in attendance:
Kyle Bushee A Legal Affairs, Risk, and Compliance
Cory Ghiringhelli A Environmental Health and Safety
Greg Macleery VA Dining Services
Keith Pung A Environmental Health and Safety
Laura Weber A Legal Affairs, Risk, and Compliance
Jacob Woods A Environmental Health and Safety
In-Person Attendance: (A)
Virtual Attendance: (VA)
OLD BUSINESS
Cory Ghirinhelli provided an update to the safety concern involving the lack of tornado shelter and evacuation maps for the Landscape Services and ROTC areas in the Campus Services Building. The maps are typically located on walls, approximately 5’ high, near building entries. Jake Woods previously investigated and gathered necessary information regarding current locations of fire extinguishers and alarm pull stations. Devin Johnson subsequently used the data, along with hand-noted floor prints to create temporary evacuation maps; Jake helped to get them displayed at the necessary CSB locations. The Projects, Design, and Construction division pursued funding resources via the deferred maintenance program for campus-wide updated emergency plans. Cory mentioned that he is scheduled to meet with Shannon S. Becker in the near future to help initiate the efforts.
Cindy Beebe previously introduced a safety concern involving observations of damaged asphalt located near the East entrance of the Bill Brown facility. Committee discussions recommended forwarding photos and description of the damaged walkway materials to the FM Service Center for their awareness of the issue and resolution.
Jake Woods previously provided an update to the safety concern regarding safe work access and environment for the Custodial Services Special Projects division. The group recently encountered work locations, predominately newer on-campus construction, where safe access to rooftops/certain exterior locations was not provided or engineered into the building’s design. Jake met with Cindy Beebe at The Student Center and Sprau Tower and helped identify the fall protection protocol and how the spaces could be safely accessed. Both locations had prior systems in place and require no further action; a roof access gate padlock’s core was changed to a 2-49 following a request to WMU Public Safety.
Vince Renda introduced a safety concern involving safe personnel access to the Student Center roof-mounted cooling towers. The units were originally installed without a ladder-platform which would afford a safe working environment for persons completing maintenance and non-routine tasks. Committee discussions revealed that sub-contracting efforts are underway for construction of said ladder-platform that would mitigate the safety hazard.
Jake Woods provided an update to the inquiry regarding the campus emergency phones (blue-light) that can be found throughout our campus’. Committee discussions revealed that Maintenance Services electrician tradespeople service-support the electrical supply and that DPS/OIT service-support the network and physical phones themselves. A FM work order should be submitted if any phones appear to have issues or are non-operational. It was mentioned that a missing blue light (likely removed or deactivated by WMU) indicates that the phone is non-operational or undergoing service. Jake contacted DPS and was provided the following update. The emergency call boxes/phones are inspected and tested once a year, typically in the summer, by parking enforcement officers. A list of any issues found is compiled and turned over to OIT or Maintenance Services for repair depending on what's observed to be wrong. Any issues discovered throughout the year are reported upon discovery to the responsible departments reporting system.
Jake Woods provided an update to the safety concern involving a walkway and unmarked pedestrian crossing located just North of the intersection of Ring Rd N and Valley 2 Dr. Pedestrians using the NE to SW sidewalk encounter Valley 2 Dr. to be unmarked. The W side of the road does not have curb-cut out and the E side is the tapered driveway for the nearby Maintenance Services region shop that is located in the basement of Goldsworth Valley #1. This situation had been observed to cause confusion for pedestrians and some near-miss incidents. Jake initially made the concern known to DPS who provided a summary of their thoughts. These included guidance on how the area of concern could be potentially changed to an approved crosswalk and their recommendation of maintaining the current configuration depending on the future of the Goldsworth Valley complexes. As of now, it is the pedestrian's responsibility to yield to traffic since traffic has the right of way. Jake subsequently contacted Residence Life and made the safety concerns and information known. Their intent was to educate occupants of GV#2 of the ongoing issue and encourage usage of the designated crosswalk.
Jake Woods provided an update to the issue involving an overhead mounted batting cage at the Seeyle Center that had incurred significant damage. Component(s) of the lift system broke causing part the suspended netting and framing system to fall to the floor abruptly. Student athletes were in the near vicinity when the net fell but fortunately no injuries took place. Jake mentioned that the affected netting system was immediately lowered by Maintenance Services tradespeople to mitigate the safety hazard. Jake also stated that he has a third-party scheduled to perform annual inspections of lifting/rigging devices on campus including the Seeyle Center (starting January 5th, 2026).
PROJECT LIST/TABLE
No new projects introduced.
NEW BUSINESS
Cory Ghiringhelli shared a safety concern from Dennis Moore of Maintenance Services. Dennis recently observed damage to the exterior concrete landing and top step at the Moore Hall entry #7. The issue was submitted to FM Service by Dennis and Cory but further actions were unknown. Jake Woods will investigate and provide a follow up.
SAFETY HAPPENINGS
Laura Weber reminded the Committee members if there was some type of loss control equipment/training/seminar or employment practices liability seminar/training that went on in your area this fiscal year and you would like some help with covering that cost, please complete the request form that can be found at https://files.wmich.edu/s3fs-public/2024-08/mdlc_epl_form_-_3_1.pdf for reimbursement and return it to Laura before the end of 2025 or to the Legal Affairs, Risk and Compliance department by March 27, 2026.
Laura also reminded the Committee of her upcoming retirement and encouraged all members to contact her replacement, Kyle Bushee, directly for any work-related items starting in January 2026.
Jake Woods shared that the National Weather Service recognizes December as National Impaired Driving Awareness Month. Drunk driving is the #1 cause of death on U.S. roadways, and yet it is 100 percent preventable. Always designate a sober driver, use rideshare or public transportation and educate yourself on how alcohol impairs your ability to drive. Further information can be found at: https://www.nsc.org/road/safety-topics/impaired-driving.
The next UMSC meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 in the shared conference room located on the ground floor of the E.W. Building at 10:00 a.m.; an invitation to attend via video conferencing platform (WebEx) will also be sent out with these minutes. Please send a substitute representative if you are unable to attend.
Published: 12/15/2025