Memorandum

 

 

To:      Physical Plant Employees  

 

From:  Jim FitzGerald

 

Date:   1 December 2008

 

Subject: After Hours Call Out Response Policy

 

 

 

Purpose:

 

To promulgate instructions for the response to after hour’s trouble calls and emergency call outs by Physical Plant personnel weekdays after normal working hours, on weekends and during holiday periods.

 

Discussion:

 

1.         After normal working hours, 1630 to 0730 weekdays, on weekends and holidays, The Citadel Physical Plant Office phones (953-5093) are transferred to the Central Energy Plant (Boiler Plant) when the campus boilers are operating or to the Public Safety Office (953-5114) on campus when the Boiler Plant is not manned.  Response to Citadel Campus Physical Plant emergent items (trouble calls or call outs) requiring immediate attention will be directed by the person receiving the call.  These written instructions provide the procedures to contact on-call Physical Plant Maintenance Personnel to accomplish repairs.

 

2.         The Citadel Physical Plant Utility Division employees (HVAC, ELECTRICAL and MACHINE Shop's) have been assigned on-call status on a rotating basis.  The Buildings Division and Grounds Division are contacted on an “as needed basis”.  Employees have been assigned a pager, a duty pager or cell phone to allow personnel to roam and maintain a responsive posture during their off campus on-call hours.  Additionally, during Holiday Periods (Thanksgiving and Christmas) a call out list will be provided for the holiday schedule.

 

3.          The response policy will be:

 

a.         A telephone response by the on-call personnel shall be within 15 minutes to campus facility initiating the trouble call (either Boiler Plant or Public Safety). 

 

b.         The PPLT shop personnel responding to the trouble call will determine if an emergency response is required.   In the event of a valid emergency, the PPLT employee must respond to the campus within 60 minutes or less to provide a reasonable level of customer service.

 

c.                   Level of Emergency Response:  It will be the initial responsibility for the on-call PPLT employee to determine the level of emergency response that is required based on preserving safety for personnel and equipment, and ensuring required services are maintained.  Customer service is important and reasonable service in the best interest of The Citadel will be the emphasis.  If a customer deems that his needs have not been satisfied, then that customer can pursue their situational problem to the shop supervisory level or Physical Plant Administrative level (Utilities Chief or Physical Plant Director).  A telephone call after hours does not automatically guarantee nor require emergency response.  Common sense and reason must be judicious to prevent unnecessary after hours callouts.  In the event of an unnecessary callout the person requiring the service may be billed for the labor and material associated with the callout.

 

d.                  The “Physical Plant Utilities Division After Hours Callout and Leave Schedule” is typically published every four to six weeks.  This schedule is made up of trades from each shop (HVAC, ELECTRIC and MACHINE) and augmented by other Physical Plant Shops to provide adequate callout response support.    Specific shop volunteers initially fill the schedules position requirements.  At normal shop operating levels, a volunteer will typically be on call 7 out of 28 calendar days per month.  When adequate volunteers are not available, then the respective Shop Head and the Utilities Division Chief will ‘assign’ personnel to ensure a callout response is maintained for each of the trade areas.  After a schedule is published, the respective Shop Head is responsible for resolving any conflicts as personnel emergencies occur.  Changes to the published schedule will be made on the field copy at the Central Energy Plant (or Public Safety office- when appropriate) and at the master schedule posted in the PPLT Utilities Division Chiefs Office.

 

Pagers, radios and cell phones are assigned to individual employees to allow them the ability to roam the local Charleston area while providing the response needed by the campus.  It is the responsibility of the shop supervisor and the employees assigned the use of a duty communication device to ensure they are passed from one employee to the next on duty employee providing uninterrupted coverage.

 

e.                  The Buildings and Grounds Divisions are not regularly called upon for after hours emergencies and therefore do not have a published  After Hours Callout and Leave Schedule.  They will follow the policies and procedures as outlined in this document for any after hour’s callouts.

 

 

Procedure:

 

1.         The Boiler Plant Log (enclosure 1) will be maintained by either the Boiler Plant operator (when the Central Energy Plant is manned) or a Public Safety Officer (when the Central Energy Plant is shutdown).  The completeness of this log is important to properly identify:

2.         When a campus faculty, staff, employee or cadet calls in a reported maintenance related item the following actions will be taken by the person (Boiler Plant Operator or Public Safety Officer) receiving the call or notification:

 

a.         Record the information provided by the individual on the Boiler Plant Telephone Call-out Log, specifically:

 

(1)       the time that the call was taken

(2)       the specific name of the person reporting the problem (ex. Joe Doe, Jane Jones, Col. Smith, etc.) and a phone number at which that individual can be reached.

(3)       the location of the problem, by street address, specific building name, floor and room number. (i.e. 403 Congress; Bond Hall - Room 303; Quarters 1; Barracks 2 - Room 4121, etc.)

(4)       A complete description of the problem (i.e., overflowing toilet, fire alarm and which zone of the building it is alarming in (if known), steam leaks, water flowing form where etc.).  The more information provided the             better for the employee to respond. Finally, for residences, obtain positive "Permission to Enter" or no permission to enter and indicate this specifically in the boiler log.

 

b.         Inform the individual making the report that a Citadel employee from PPLT will be contacted and that PPLT will either respond to the location of the problem or call or determine the nature of the emergency.

 

c.         After taking the above information, determine the person responsible for responding to the situation (i.e. HVAC, ELECTRICAL or MACHINE Shop, Building Maintenance or Grounds Maintenance) from the Duty Call-out Schedule and/or the  PPlt Emergency Call Out List and contact the respective shop personnel.  These lists will be provided by a monthly or periodic holiday schedule to the Boiler Plant and Public Safety.

 

d.         Contact of On-Call Shop Personnel:

 

(1)       Contact the individual identified as being on-call:

(a)       by phone and/or beeper every 15 minutes for 3 times.

(b)       Log the time (each time) the person was attempted to be contacted on the Boiler Plant Telephone Call-out Log.

 

(2)       If after three attempts the individual does not respond;

(a)       Contact the assistant shop supervisor once and annotating the times called.

(b)       If after this attempt the assistant shop supervisor does not respond, contact the shop head.

 

e.         When the on call shop representative is contacted, provide the shop personnel with:

 

(1)       the nature and location of the problem.

(2)       the name and telephone number of the person reporting the problem.

 

The technician will then take the necessary action to respond to the situation.

 

f.          Once the trouble call/call out has been resolved, the PPLT employee will ensure that the corrective action taken is annotated on the Boiler Plant Log sheet (Resolution)  to ensure that any deferred or outstanding repairs are made.  This will ensure that the Boiler Plant and /or Public Safety are aware of the problems as they are corrected.

 

(1)  If the conditions can be stabilized and it is safe to defer until the next work day,  (Examples: other toilets are available and are not affected, electrical circuit affected- other than fire or arcing and sparking-, the technician will advise the person initiating the trouble call as well as the responsible shop head that the work will be deferred to the next work day.  This information will also be provided to the boiler plant operator.

 

(2)  If the condition warrants response to campus, the required measures will be taken to ensure a quality of life is maintained and that affected systems, components and properties are maintained in a safe and responsible working order.

 

(3)    If additional help is required:

·        If short duration assistance is require- example - moving a sewer machine to a location etc. taking no more that 15-20 minutes, then the Boiler Plant Operator will assist. 

·        If additional on-site assistance is required, then resources of other on call personnel will be utilized first- unless specific trade skill and talent is required.

·        If shop specific talent is required- this will be arranged within shop personnel- through the Shop Head and the Assistant Shop Head.

 

(4)   SAFETY:   Personnel responding to after hours call outs (at night or on weekends) will obtain a shop radio prior to going to the job site.  This is to afford a method of emergency communication where response is necessary.  Public Safety monitors Physical Plant Radio frequencies as well as all radios have Channel PSAF-2- where assistance calls can be placed that would fall in lines with the support provided by Public Safety.

 

Pay:

 

1.      Pay for employee will be in accordance with Human resources policy on “On Call And Call Back “ pay:

 

a.      Call back:  An authorized representative of the college requesting an employee to report to work either before or after normal duty hours to perform emergency services.  Each department shall determine which classification of employees shall be subject to "call back." Non-exempt employees shall be compensated for hours worked as a result of a "Call back" at their regular hourly rate, such time shall be counted in computing any overtime that may be due. In the event an employee is called back for emergency services and the services rendered requires less than two (2) hours on the job, or in the event no work is available when he reports, a minimum of two (2) hours work time shall be credited. An employee shall not be credited with nor paid for call time if:

        i.      The recall to work (call back) has been cancelled and the employee received notice not to report to work or

        ii.      The employee refuses alternate work that is offered upon reporting to work.

 

2.   If additional work occurs during the initial two (2) hour credit period the employee shall continue to work or report back to work under the original two (2) hour credit period.  In the event another callout is made during the same day and after the first initial credit period of two (2) hours the employee shall receive additional credit for a minimum of two (2) hours of work time. 

 

Examples: 

1.   Callout made at 8:00 am - employee reports to work at 8:15 am – Job was completed at 8:30 am - employee would be compensated for 2 hours. 

 

2.  Callout made at 8:00 am – employee reports to work at 8:15 am – Job was completed at 8:30 am.  Another callout made during same day at 9:00 am - employee reports back to work at 9:15 am - Job was completed at 9:30 am - employee would be compensated for 2 hours.

 

3.   Callout made at 8:00 am – employee reports to work at 8:15 am – Job was completed at 8:30 am.  Another callout made during same day at 1:00 pm – employee reports back to work at 1:15 pm – Job was completed at 1:30 pm – employee would be compensated for 4 hours   (initial min. 2 hours for 8:00 callout and another initial min. 2 hours for 1:00 callout).

 

3.      Clock Procedure:  Employees reporting to campus for a call out are to clock in at one of the three time clocks by pressing the F12 key prior to swiping their employee badge or inputting their social security number at check in.  When leaving swipe their employee badge or input social security number on checkout.  This procedure must be used on each call back.

 

4.      Overtime slips:  Shop supervisors are responsible for tracking callouts and overtime requests ensuring acute reporting.  Callouts must be properly accounted and the timely submission of documents is required.  When multiple call outs occur during the initial 2 hour period supervisors are to condense these into a single over time slip.

          

5.   Any problems or questions shall be directed to the respective Division Chief, the Deputy Director or Director of Physical Plant.

 

Utilities Chief 

Juan Santiago         Home: 767-5420  Cell: 814-5252

 

Buildings Chief

Mark Christenberry  Home: 573-4872  Cell: 814-4995

 

Grounds Chief

Ron Doyle   Home: 766-5840      Cell:  814-6228

 

Deputy Director Physical Plant

James Grigg        Home: 762-2733      Cell: 814-7214

 

Director 

Jim FitzGerald    Home 573-2169    Cell: 364-6675