UMSC November Minutes
UNION-MANAGEMENT SAFETY COMMITTEE
November 2025 Meeting Minutes
The monthly meeting of the Union-Management Safety Committee was conducted on November 11th, 2025 by the Environmental Health and Safety department with the following individuals in attendance:
Darrell Junkins A Landscape Services
Mark Frever A Landscape Services
Cory Ghiringhelli VA Environmental Health and Safety
Greg Macleery VA Dining Services
Keith Pung A Environmental Health and Safety
Vince Renda A Maintenance Services
Laura Weber VA Legal Affairs, Risk, and Compliance
Jacob Woods A Environmental Health and Safety
In-Person Attendance: (A)
Virtual Attendance: (VA)
OLD BUSINESS
Jake Woods 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 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 is seeking funding resources via the deferred maintenance program for updated emergency plans for campus buildings as this is a need in numerous areas due to the campus changes.
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.
Mark Frever and Darrell Junkins provided an update to the situation involving a Ventrac mower that encountered an issue while being utilized on a slope that was within the manufacturer’s guidelines. The incident caused minor injuries to the operator and the mower itself had been operated for over 8 years with no prior issues. Investigations revealed that the mower did not abruptly go into neutral on its own nor experience any mechanical issues that could be recreated through testing and troubleshooting. The leading cause appears to be operator related; as such the affected operator was required to complete additional manufacturer training.
COMPLETED/CLOSED
Jake Woods stated that he helped to coordinate painting of sidewalk cubing directly outside of the Stadium Club main entryway. The tapered curb sections were not required to be painted by code but Athletics is pursued the efforts to increase safety for users of the walkway and patrons of the Stadium Club. Parking Services was very responsive to the request and took quick action in painting the areas of concern.
COMPLETED/CLOSED
PROJECT LIST/TABLE
No new projects introduced.
NEW BUSINESS
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.
Vince Renda opened an 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 Woods will reach out to DPS regarding inspection procedures/protocol/schedule and provide a follow up.
Vince Renda introduced a 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 has been observed to cause confusion for pedestrians and some near-miss incidents. The committee discussed possible solutions such as: creating curb cut-out, put down markings on Ring Rd N delineating the crosswalk, install safety-caution signage (for both vehicles and the pedestrian users), restrict or block the aforementioned NE/SW sidewalk (sending all pedestrians down to the designated stop sign crosswalk. Jake Woods will bring to the attention of DPS-Parking Services for review and provide a follow up.
Devin Johnson mentioned that an overhead mounted batting cage at the Seeyle Center recently 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. Devin is further investigating and will provide a follow up.
SAFETY HAPPENINGS
Cory Ghiringhelli shared that there were 4 slip and falls that took place on campus during the recent winter and snow event. He emphasized the importance of safe walking techniques to Committee members and their constituents.
Devin Johnson encouraged heightened awareness for wildlife and deer on campus. Annual hunting and mating seasons during the late fall can increase encounters while walking or driving a motor vehicle. Practice defensive driving techniques and if you accidentally corner an animal on campus, back up and give it room to escape.
Mark Frever mentioned that Laura Kirkendall and the FM Service Center recently completed a social media campaign focused on snow and ice safety.
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.
Jake Woods shared that the National Weather Service recognizes November as Winter Hazard Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about how to improve safety before, during and after a winter storm. Winter weather too often catches people unprepared. Researchers say that 70 percent of the fatalities related to ice and snow occur in automobiles, and about 25 percent of all winter related fatalities are people that are caught off guard, out in the storm. Further information can be found at: https://www.weather.gov/safety/winter.
The next UMSC meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 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: 11/18/2025