Safety Committee
New
for 2002 was the creation of the Burning Man Safety Committee.
The Safety Committee is a multi-disciplinary, multi-departmental
effort to create a safer work and play environment for our staff
and our event, by developing a safety-conscious culture within
all departments of Burning Man. Key members of the committee include
members of the following departments and work groups: Burning Man
board members, Emergency Services, risk management, Rangers, Business
Services, DPW, and DPW's safety coordinators.
The initial primary focus of the committee was to oversee the progress
and process of the DPW’s safety coordinators. This small
team of dedicated staff created all the necessary documentation
to create an OSHA-compliant workplace and a training program for
the DPW volunteers with a strong emphasis on safety. They created
a manual and a training program, and started work on a safety video
for all DPW volunteers and artists who utilize the DPW and the
work ranch as a resource. They spent hours in meetings developing
processes to educate everyone that comes to the work ranch. Special
procedures were developed for use of heavy equipment including
training and certifications. An EMT was added to the seasonal work
ranch positions and compliance with fire regulations was begun.
One of our largest achievements was to design a paper trail for
work-related injuries for the entire organization, and initiated
it by training all project managers. Safety updates became a
regular agenda item at all quarterly staff meetings, and meeting notes
from the safety committee were distributed on our staff-announcement
list throughout the year. We are on our way to a culture of safety;
we had only one serious work-related injury this year.
The Safety Committee also updated Burning Man's disaster contingency
plans, which prepare the organization to handle large-scale
problems like floods or other natural disasters.
Currently, the committee is writing a Burning Man safety manual,
conceptually designing an infirmary for the DPW work ranch,
and developing a policy to address workplace violence. Our
goals
for 2003 include expanding the educational resources created
by the
DPW to the rest of the organization. We intend to increase
the amount and quality of training, ensure that our office
environments
are safe, and further our efforts toward creating a culture
of safety in what may seem to be one of the most high-risk
art events
around.
Submitted by,
Joseph Pred
Click here to read the 2001 Safety report. 