Pretty much anywhere you go these days there are signs on doors, markers on the floor indicating where to stand and walk, and even acrylic barriers for extra protection between us. These indicators are very much apart of our “new normal” and it’s hard to remember a time before these safety measures were put into place in almost every building you enter.

Safety Signage and Barriers at Our Facilities

Here at Charlotte Water, our Facilities Supervisor Ben Smith, along with his small team of Facilities Maintenance staff, have worked tirelessly to measure, mark, and indicate all of the new necessary signage in our buildings, as we continue to prepare for the slow return of our staff. They have worked to design, order, and install all of our safety signage:

• Reminder to social distance and stay 6 feet apart, reading “Be smart, stay 6 feet apart”
• Footprints, as needed, indicating where to stand for social distancing
• One way enter/exit signs (and more to come!)
• Do the “big five” safety measures
• Hand washing in all restrooms
• Wear a mask at all times

Acrylic barriers are commonly seen at a reception desk or in common areas for extra protection where social distancing opportunities may be limited. Ben spent two full days going around to the six facilities where the acrylic barriers would be installed, to ensure that all of the barriers would match to the existing office furniture. The installation of the barriers took place in early June, and each were assembled by hand, on site by Ben and his team.

Enhanced Cleaning at Our Facilities

In addition to the installation of signage and barriers, Ben and his team were also in charge of coordinating the enhanced cleaning procedures across all of our Charlotte Water facilities. Along with the everyday cleaning, additional disinfection procedures were implemented twice each day, and also building and vehicles were decontaminated as needed.

Another important addition to our buildings are the temperature scanning kiosks that are in process of being delivered and installed at our facilities. Currently, we have our third-party nursing vendor performing in-person temperature screenings, until we make the full transition to the temperature scanning kiosks. Before the kiosks can be installed at multiple facilities, Ben is working on testing the kiosks at one of our locations first, to make sure to process runs smoothly.

Silver Linings and More to Come…

As always, there is a bright spot that can be found out of any situation. During these quieter months around the facilities, Ben and his team have been able to tackle some of the more “disruptive” projects that they sometimes would need to work on over the weekends or after regular office hours, as not to disrupt staff while they were working.

Along with more of our staff working from home, or in staggered shifts, we no longer face the issue of running out of space for our staff members. Previously, Ben was part of a standing meeting to discuss space needs for our department, which is no longer a pressing issue. In addition to all of the new safety measures, our department is also in line for a city-wide initiative to have HVAC modifications and touch-less plumbing fixtures.

We would like to give a huge “thank you” to our Facilities Maintenance Team for keeping our facilities clean and running smoothly for all of our staff, as we continue to make our slow return back to the facilities. We are looking forward to seeing these upgrades in person, and can feel reassured knowing that our facility is a clean and safe place to work.