COVID-19 Case Study

Case Study:  Adapted Activities Improve Productivity and Savings

Fishers, Indiana

Eric Pethtel, CPM, PWLF, Director of Public Works

The City of Fishers has a population of about 95,000 and is northeast of Indianapolis in Hamilton County (county population about 340,000). The Fishers Public Works Department includes inventory control, street maintenance, park maintenance (collectively referred to as the dry side) and water quality, including wastewater and stormwater management (the wet side); the department also provides mowing and snow removal for local schools under a contract with the school district. 

Smart Phone Clock-In Improves Productivity and Reduces Congestion Near Time Clock.  The city traditionally required workers to clock in using a standard time clock at one of two city locations.  This resulted in some congestion at the time clocks since more than 120 employees (and sometimes as many as 160 employees) needed to clock in and out every day.  Since Public Works employees are essential, all employees continued working throughout the pandemic. 

Previously, IT had a system that would allow workers to clock in using their cell phone, as long as they were in a geofenced area (such as the facility parking lot).  To minimize congestion, the Public Works Department worked with IT to allow remote clock-ins, removing the geofence requirement.  After this GPS fence was removed, workers were able to clock in from the site of their first assignment.  For example, workers who were mowing for a park or a school first thing in the morning would report directly to that park or school, and clock in from that location.  This reduced congestion at the Department of Public Works garage on Eller Rd, and it provided a secondary benefit since workers could start their work as soon as they clocked in.  Previously workers would clock in, and then travel to their work site, where they would begin working upon arrival.  For a park or a school that is 15 minutes away, this translates to 30 minutes of time that is now productive, and was previously used for travel time.  The increased productivity is even more significant for locations that require travel times of 30 minutes or more.  The overall savings is significant since the department provides mowing at over 30 locations, including both schools and parks.   The system is based on worker trust, with verification from the foreman.  Each foreman typically visits every worker each day, which allows verification of activities and substantiates the remote clock in.  The foreman also checks the temperature of each worker in the field every day.

Due to the significant benefits, it is expected that this change in practice will be continued. 

Work Crew Management.  Traditionally, employees worked from 7 to 3 with a one-hour lunch.  This shifted as staff were divided into multiple groups, and the groups were split up by time and by location.  By time, workers shifted from a single arrival time to two arrival times, with 30 minutes of separation (6:30 and 7 am).  By location, the department transitioned from one location to two, with one group reporting to the street department garage and the other to the salt barn.   As a result, the workers were divided into four groups, which significantly reduced exposure and congestion.  This paragraph was the first generation of staff management after COVID hit. After this we morphed into the Smart Phone Clock in procedure as outlined above. In progression, we first had everyone in the hallway at once, then we divided into two locations with two report to work times and then the report to your location practice.

Effective Vehicle Protocol.  Workers reporting to the street department each had their own city issued vehicles in the initial weeks of the shutdown.   Now, with PPE (masks) and a strong track record (no confirmed cases), up to two people can use a vehicle, and sit far apart (The driver and one person in back seat on passenger side, if possible).  Before the pandemic, workers would travel to a site with 4 to 5 people in a crew cab. 

Limited Need for Public Interaction.  There is limited need for interaction between the Public Works Department and the public. The city has an online system for permits, which was in place before the pandemic.  The city also has a phone system with an automated phone menu; this allows the public to call in and use automated routing to speak to the appropriate person.  Furthermore, even though there is a strong online service, the Fishers City Hall never closed, although the number of staff working at City Hall was downsized from about 80 to about 6.  Walk-ins were always able to pay their sewer bills in person, and signs guided people from a single-entry point to the main reception area in City Hall.

Worker Accommodations.  In the initial days, the Mayor was very lenient with respect to the need to accommodate workers for hardships such as childcare if schools and daycares are closed, and a few people were home for the entire time.  Given that there has now been adequate time to make alternate arrangements, there is not as much need to accommodate for these situations, and workers realize that they need to have a Plan B and Plan C ready to go, in case there is another shutdown.

Worker Communications.  The Public Works Department communicated with workers via email and continued to conduct meetings with workers in person.   In person meetings were often held outdoors, and workers would stand in a big circle to ensure adequate distance between people.

Worker Self- Assessment.  Each day, every worker completes an on-line survey that confirms the safety of their health status and their fitness to work.  The survey asks about symptoms, and supervisors can see a dashboard of responses as well as who has taken (or needs to take) the survey.  No information about individual health status is provided to supervisors.  Workers get a green (fine), yellow (be careful) or red (go home) indication based on their reported status.   This is supplemented with daily temperature checks in the office and in the field by the foreman (no data is recorded in either case).

IT Framework.  Fishers has an IT department that provided support for the removal of the GIS restriction for clocking in, and has provided support in terms of technology to work from home (WFH).  The IT department managed the procurement of equipment for WFH, such as dual screens, a headset and webcam so workers could conduct virtual meetings from either home or work.

Greatest Challenge, Greatest Victory.  The city has grown from about 8,000 people 30 years ago, to over 100,000 people now, and two-lane chip seal roads have become 4-lane divided roads.  Due to age and increased traffic, maintenance needs are ongoing.  The City of Fishers has a number of concrete joints that needed to be replaced, and about a year and a half ago the job went out for bid.  Since the bids that came in high, it was decided that the city would self-perform the replacements using  city personnel.  The concrete joint failures required partial depth concrete repair, and the work was scheduled to begin in Spring 2020.  Some of the work would be conducted at night, to reduce the impact on traffic.  This was important since work was needed at busy intersections such as 116^th and Allisonville Road.  The work was scheduled to start the Monday after the Governor’s shutdown orders began.  Due to the shutdown, the work was delayed for a few weeks, but then the work was started and due to the quarantine and significant reduction in traffic counts it was possible to shift the work that was scheduled for night back to the daytime.