Top Stories
Vacation entitlements for 2016 are done
The vacation calendars are ready for pick up from respective shop mail slots this week. Each vacation calendar includes employee names in seniority order and their vacation balances in hours and in days.
A couple of notes:
- For employees on a flex schedule, the number of days given is the number of vacation days the employee can take. Check the flex schedule to determine whether or not a week’s vacation will be 4 or 5 days.
- IUOE 882 employees who joined Building Operations after 2013 are now receiving their annual vacation entitlement on the anniversary of their hire date (as per the IUOE 882 Collective Agreement), rather than on January 1. These have been noted on their respective calendars.
For questions or clarifications, contact Robin Shortt at robin.shortt@ubc.ca or at 604.822.0499. Many thanks to Virginia Langone and Tracy He for validating and entering the balances and getting the calendars ready in good time.
Mechanical Shops renovation starting soon
Active construction will happen in the coming months to renovate the plumbing/mechanical and sheet metal shops. This renovation is necessary to accommodate our colleagues from the Powerhouse. When the renovation is complete, the Utilities Plumbers and Utilities Steam Fitters will join the teams that currently reside within the space. Check out plans and have a peek at the future! A mezzanine will be added over the existing plumbing/mechanical shop that will serve as shop meeting space and lunch area. Underneath the mezzanine level will provide new administration area for the heads as well as stand-up workstations for staff. Once a general contractor is on board, maintaining safe access and functionality of the shop spaces will be determined.
In preparation for the renovation, the heads and sub-heads currently working in the administration area of these shops will move across the hall to room 0002. To make room for the heads and sub-heads, managers in room 002 will move upstairs and will occupy empty offices. The BMS Operations Centre will move into the former yellow/orange zone office.
Stay tuned for updates.
Chem/Physics Fume Hood Annual Maintenance gets done!
The week before the Christmas wind-down, the Mechanical Maintenance crew and the Operating Engineers really stepped up to perform the lockout, mechanical preventive maintenance, unlocking and confirmation of function of almost 140 fume hoods in Chemistry/Physics. Special thanks to Mark Lindsay, Mark Donald-Jones and Lee McCormick for overcoming manpower and timing issues to get this work done; and to Jason Wright who helped in coordinating the job.
Labour Crews up at 5 AM last January 11 to prepare for icy weather
The labour crew were on campus at 5 in the morning on January 11, busy loading the trucks and salting roadways and pathways, in anticipation of icy weather. Thankfully, we didn’t have the same blast freezing we experienced last Wednesday, January 6th.
Congratulations, Doug Booth from the Electrical Shop, on receiving the 2015 Staff Excellence Awards for Customer Service
At the 2015 Staff Excellence Awards, Doug Booth, Electrician, received the Customer Service Award, along with Marcus Drozdzik. Doug’s strength of character, effervescent charm and positive outlook has served as an inspiration to all whose lives he’s touched. His work ethic and workmanship are impressive. Doug doesn’t only go the extra mile to provide exceptional customer service but he also motivates his colleagues to provide outstanding service, as well.
Congratulations, Doug!
Updated list of buildings served by the DES as of January 13 is now available
Check out the latest DES updates to know which buildings are running on the district energy hot water heating system and which buildings will be coming online soon.
We need to hear your ideas…Do you know the best way to tag equipment?
EAOS wants your suggestions! We’re currently researching how to best label our assets so it has that information we need and withstands the pressures of our mechanical rooms. Any suggestions? Lamacoids? Aluminum? Labels inside clear pockets? A sticky note? ;)
Tell us what you think will work best for Building Operations by emailing the EAOS team. Include what type of label, what kind of content would be on the label, and how to attach it to the equipment. Remember, duct tape is not the best way to attach tags!
Help end the violence and join the conversation: Wear Denim on January 20
January is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Wear denim, a Denim Day sticker, or both on January 20. Show that you support a respectful campus and ask the same of your staff, friends and colleagues.
Resources are available to support faculty and staff who have experienced sexual assault. Find support.
Learn more about Sexual Assault Awareness Month, join the conversation and help end the violence.
Learn more about your professional funding & opportunities and … learn more!
Refresh your professional development goals and learn about the opportunities available to you as a staff of UBC by checking out these sites:
- Tuition waivers for UBC credit courses or continuing education with UBC Continuing Studies
- Lynda.com, a free, unlimited, and online learning resource that can help you brush up on your technical, creative, or workplace business skills.
- In-Person workshops
- Professional Development Funding programs
Act fast if you’re interested in accessing professional development funding. There are less than 3 months remaining in this fiscal year to take advantage. Click here to learn more.
Trapped mama squirrel and baby saved from being crushed in a trash compactor
Dan Lappin and Martin Varma were heroes of the day when they helped a worried mama squirrel and her baby get out of a trash compactor located by Totem Housing. Pamela Wasylyshen overheard wailing from inside the compactor and asked the help of her heroes to free the squirrels. They found a hole in the compactor which allowed animals to get in. Sheet Metal Shop will patch the hole to prevent animals from getting trapped in the compactor.