Building Operations Weekly

Top Stories

 

What Are We Doing for Safety–Remember To Watch Your Step To Prevent Winter Slips & Falls

Municipal Services and Custodial Services work hard to clear main roadways and main walkways on campus during snow and ice weather conditions. As temperatures drop, icy patches may still be present. Below are some tips to avoid a slip:

  • Wear appropriate footwear with good traction
  • Walk on main pathways that are clear and well-lit, whenever possible
  • Take short steps with the entire foot contacting the ground and not just the heel, when walking on icy or snowy walkways
  • Focus your attention on walking and not be distracted by cell phones or other devices
  • Be aware that black ice can look like wet pavement
  • Use handrails on stairs and ramps where available
  • Use special care when entering and exiting vehicles. Use the three point contact rule by keeping three points in contact with the vehicle, either one hand and two feet or two hands and one foot
  • Minimize having to carry large amounts of materials, whenever possible. Keep hands free to help with balance
  • Wipe your feet before entering a building. Footwear with snow or ice on the soles can become slippery when entering a warm building
  • Be sure to check out the snow plan maps https://buildingoperations.ubc.ca/resources/snow-plan/ to find the safest route possible for your cross-campus travels.
  • If you see any slick or slippery areas that need attention, call 604.822.2173
  • Report all slips, trips and falls to your supervisor as soon as possible and be sure to seek first aid through the USB First Aid Attendant or by calling 604.822.4444, if injured.

 

Let’s Start a Conversation on our Respectful Workplace

What does a respectful workplace mean to you? This week we’re starting the conversation on our respectful workplace. Next week, come join us and continue the conversation on Pink Shirt Day. Wear your pink shirt, have cake and coffee and let’s talk.

 

Shutdown 2.0 Go-Live on February 23

The new enhancements to our 5-year-old shutdown system will be going live the evening of Friday, February 23 – that’s right, this week!

With that in mind, here are some key notes to be aware of:

Training

Training sessions for shutdown approvers and requestors are happening this week. Please make every effort to attend your scheduled session.

Transition Timeline

  • The shutdown system will be upgraded the evening of Friday, February 23.
  • Existing shutdowns that are pending will follow the old workflows.
  • Shutdowns submitted after February 23 will be enhanced.

The process of upgrading the shutdown system is very technical, and as such, technical issues may arise with shutdowns submitted before February 23 but not yet approved by the 23rd.  To mitigate this, consider the following steps:

Requestors

  • Consider submitting your shutdowns after February 23
  • Keep an eye out on the progress of your pending shutdowns
  • If someone hasn’t approved yours, give them a call
  • Consider terminating and re-submitting shutdowns after February 23

Approvers

  • Please try to approve all pending shutdowns submitted before February 23 ASAP

 

Thank you to Municipal and Custodial crews for helping with the snow clearing over the weekend

Snow fell across much of Metro Vancouver over the weekend. Our Municipal and Custodial crews were ready to tackle the task of clearing the campus roadways & walkways. They did an awesome job with clearing the snow making the job a little easier for those who came for an early start. With temperatures dropping, crews were busy salting walkways, ramps, and plazas. They continue to monitor these areas and do spot salting for the rest of this week as the forecast is calling for more freezing temperatures/snow by end of this week or by the weekend. Downed trees were cleared keeping walkways safer.

Thank you to all in Municipal and Custodial Services for a job well done. Thank you to the Garage for providing support in case there were equipment hiccups.

Look at these cleared walkways!

 

Leadership Development Training, Emotional Intelligence on March 1 is Open for Registration

Want to learn more about how our actions impact others? Sign up for Leadership Development Training on Emotional Intelligence on March 1. In getting a better awareness, we are then able to appreciate our own reaction to different situations so we can become more helpful and better at engaging in challenging conversations productively. Contact April Wong to register.

 

Dave Garcia Taking On Brown Zone as of February 19

Dave Garcia has officially taken on the Brown Zone as Facilities Manager, and over the next few weeks Francois will continue to support Dave in his new role. Francois will then spend four months piloting a ‘support FM’ role.

More about the Support FM Role

In order for FM’s to be more engaged with our clients, support teaching and research spaces, and become more asset-centric, the Facilities Managers have identified a number of daily tasks (general inquiries, client follow-up, standard customer funded service requests, etc.) that a support FM will take on.

The objective of this trial is to quantify the number of simpler requests/inquiries that could be handled at a support level.

Francois will be the support FM in this case, documenting all the requests coming to him from the other FMs. The task is to discover patterns in follow up requests, gaining more insight into how each FM does business and to clarify if such a role has its place in the FM group. Francois will be following up for various FMs for routine items, so expect to hear from him on behalf of all the FMs. Please feel free to reach out Deb Capps with your feedback and suggestions for improving the process during the 4-month trial.

 

Contracts Manager–a new role in Stores and Tool Crib for better service levels

As we continue to improve service levels within Building Operations, we developed the Contract manager position reporting into the Senior Manager, Fleet and Purchasing.  A huge part of our business is ensuring we have contracts in place for vendors and service providers. It is important that our service agreements are monitored and that we  ensure all procurement processes are in compliance with regulations. Our new Contracts Manager, Michelle McArthur, will start next week and will be working closely with Paul Hays to get familiarized with our existing agreements and contracts both internally and externally. After which, all contracts and agreements will be managed by this new position.

 

We Make Spaces Work for Students and Researchers–CEME Main Floor Lobby Gets a Face Lift

The transformation of the main floor lobby of the CEME building has just been completed by the Construction Office. The improvements included flooring, replacing the T bar ceiling, installing LED lighting, replacing the supply and return grills and painting of walls and doors. Big shout out to Robert Stone and all trades involved for creating this informal learning centre. You each have contributed to making our facilities enhanced learning spaces.

Main Floor Before

Lobby Before

Main Floor Lobby After-Wow! Look at the amazing ceiling & floor.

 

Take the 30-day Online Mindfulness Challenge, February 19 – March 20

This month, you’re invited to try the 30-Day Online Mindfulness Challenge. Discover new ways to increase satisfaction and productivity, while also reducing stress in the workplace.

This online training program focuses on reducing stress while increasing joy and performance in areas such as leadership, interpersonal communication, and conflict management. With only 10 minutes a day for 30 days, participants will learn ways to become healthier and more productive.

Learn more.

 

Campus Road Closure

The University Endowment Lands (UEL) is closing University Boulevard to do some last minute utility work. To avoid delays please plan to use Chancellor Boulevard or 16th Avenue on Wednesday, February 21st. University Boulevard Eastbound will be CLOSED between Western Parkway and Wesbrook Mall from 9am to 3:30pm. All buses will be detoured. Pedestrians and cyclists to use sidewalk on opposite side of the street.

There will be quite a bit of utility work around campus during reading week. No road closure, but narrowed travel lane southbound on Wesbrook Mall either on Thursday or Friday this week.

 

Quick Updates

 

T4/T4A Statements now Available Online

 

NPS score increased to 83% with 3 new promoters.

 

2018 President’s Awards for Staff: Call for Nominations until Friday, March 16th