Howard Halter Email and Phone Number

Duties included the supervision of inspection staff, reviewing construction documents for Fire Code/Life Safety Code compliance and the inspection of new construction projects. The University of California has a memorandum of understanding with both the California State Fire Marshal and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to allow approved individuals to act as Designated Campus Fire Marshals to represent these state agencies on UC campuses. I was approved as a Designated Campus Fire Marshal by the State Fire Marshal in about 2000 and by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in about 2004. I was involved with numerous construction projects including plan review, inspection and commissioning for a 529,682 square foot surgery and emergency services pavilion, a 49,157 square foot cancer center, a 12,119 square foot outpatient surgery center, a 40,319 square foot seven story parking structure, several small clinic buildings, and dozens of smaller new construction and remodel projects.My office was also responsible for compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission standards in the hospital, surgery centers and clinics. I have been directly involved with five CMS or Joint Commission surveys. I sat on the Safety Committee and the Emergency Preparedness Committee and liaise with the local fire department during emergency incidents, for pre-incident training and for fire department access issues.

The University of California Davis Fire Department had two fire prevention offices, one at Station 34 on the main campus in Davis and one at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. I was stationed at the medical center, and my duties included the testing of fire alarm and fire sprinkler systems, conducting and evaluating hospital fire drills, and performing building fire safety inspections. My work with fire alarm systems exposed me to numerous other related life safety systems including opening protection, smoke control systems, elevator recall, computer room fire suppression systems and heli-stop fire suppression systems. In working with these systems and attending annual training classes for fire and building code updates and for National Fire Codes 101, 13 and 72, I became more familiar with the various state and national codes that apply to hospitals, clinics, central plants and other supporting occupancies in California. My duties grew to include the review of fire alarm and fire sprinkler system shop drawings and the inspection and commissioning of these systems. I was involved with numerous construction projects including the commissioning of a 536,757 square foot 14 story hospital tower, a 70,916 central plant facility, a 372,901 square foot medical office building, a 108,462 square foot research laboratory and four smaller laboratory buildings, several small clinic buildings, and dozens of smaller new construction and remodel projects.The University of California has a memorandum of understanding with the California State Fire Marshal to allow approved individuals to act as Designated Campus Fire Marshals to represent State Fire Marshal Deputies on UC campuses. I was approved as a Designated Campus Fire Marshal by the State Fire Marshal in about 2000.

My duties included conducting annual fire safety inspections in campus buildings, training Resident Assistants and retail student employees in fire safety and the use of fire extinguishers, consulting with event planners on fire safety issues prior to events and acting as stand-by fire safety officer during events, testing fire alarm and fire sprinkler systems during the commissioning of new construction projects, and meeting with university staff to resolve fire safety issues. I sat on the Security and Safety Committee for student residential safety.

My duties included transporting chemical and radioactive waste from campus research laboratories to a central waste collection facility and packaging that waste for collection by a DOT approved waste transportation company. I consulted with laboratory personnel on safety issues associated with the packaging and temporary storage of waste materials.

My duties included transporting radioactive waste from campus research laboratories to a central waste collection facility and packaging that waste for collection by a DOT approved waste transportation company, testing incoming radioactive materials packages for surface contamination, calibrating radiation detection equipment, surveying laboratories for radioactive contamination, and consulting with laboratory personnel on safety issues associated with the packaging and temporary storage of waste materials.

Duties include supervising a crew of four to eight people in the operation of a retail store. I operated a cash register, took inventory and stocked store shelves.

Responsibilities include: Acting as the on site safety officer during the clean up of a hazardous chemical spill and fire involving a PCB electrical transformer, I conducted training classes on the use of protective breathing equipment, maintained the safety equipment on the job and monitored workers while in the contaminated environment.

I spent 5 fire seasons as a Fire Fighter and one season as a Fire Lookout at Latour Butte, 28 months total.