LTC 092-2008 Temporary Relocation of the City's Public Safety Communications Unit (PSCU)~, ~ ~` ~°, ,~ ~ ~' ~ tab ~ .,~.
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 092-2008 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Matti Herrer~owerand M rrlbers of the City Commission
FROM: ~ LJorge ~ Goi~zale~ City Manager
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DATE: April 2, 2008
SUBJECT: TEMPORARY RELOCATION OF THE CITY'S PUBLIC SAFETY
COMMUNICATIONS UNIT (PSCU)
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to advise you of the temporary relocation of the
City's Public Safety Communications Unit, the unit that handles all emergency 9-1-1 calls
and dispatch. This Unit is being temporarily relocated from its current location on the fourth
floor of the Police Department Headquarters to a training room on the second floor of the
Police Department Headquarters. First and foremost let me assure you that there has not
been nor will there be any disruption in our services; this relocation will be transparent to any
caller to 9-1-1.
This temporary relocation is in response to concerns raised by several employees in the
PSCU regarding allergic-type symptoms some of them have recently experienced. These
complaints may or may not be related to renovations that had been taking place in the
current PSCU work area, as the first employee complaint occurred when the renovations
began in January 2008. The renovations for the work space were scheduled to take place in
several stages (removing and reallocating work space partitions, replacing air vents on the
ceiling and floor, and eventually replacing all the carpeting throughout the workspace), and
were in response to recommendations relating to improving the work environment for our
employees. As you know, there are employees in PSCU 24-hours 7-days-a-week. As a
result, the renovations were scheduled to take place in a manner that would create the least
possible disruption as possible.
On January 19, 2008, one PSCU employee complained of an allergic reaction believed to be
due to the moving of the workspace partitions that are part of the first phase of the
renovations. Miami Beach Fire Rescue transported the employeeto Mt. Sinai forevaluation.
The employee filed a workers' compensation claim that was ultimately denied by Johns
Eastern, the City's workers' compensation claims administrator, due to the fact that Johns
Eastern could not make a connection between the employee's allergic reaction and the
renovations taking place in PSCU. However, based on that incident, the City ordered an air
quality test to be performed by an outside company to ensure that there were no significant
issues in the PSCU area.
The air quality test was performed on February 21, 2008 by CIH Environmental Solutions.
The outcome of the test revealed that the air quality was at the appropriate levels and that
there were no significant issues in the area. There were, however, some recommendations
included in the report as to improvements that could be made in the workspace. On March
18, 2008, this same employee again reported an allergic reaction and was again transported
to Mt. Sinai by Miami Beach Fire Rescue. The employee has been on approved Family
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LTC - PSCU Re/ocaton
Medical Leave (FML) since March 18th and was not scheduled to return to work until after all
renovations in the area have been completed.
Last week, on March 25, 2008, a second PSCU employee complained of an allergic reaction
and was treated by Miami Beach Fre Rescue but not taken to Mt. Sinai. Two other PSCU
employees complained of allergic symptoms on that same day. Based on those complaints,
all scheduled renovations in the PSCU area were stopped.
Between Monday and Tuesday of this week, six other PSCU employees complained about
allergic-type symptoms and were treated by Miami Beach Fire Rescue. In an effort to ensure
the well-being and comfort of our PSCU employees, Tuesday morning the Police
Department, Human Resources/Risk Management Department, Information Technology
Department and Property Management Division immediately began preparations to
temporarily relocate the PSCU and all employees from its current location on the fourth floor,
to a conference/training room on the second floor of the Police Department. The move and
relocation has been partially completed as of the time of this LTC, and is anticipated to be
fully completed later this evening. There has been no downtime at all experienced during the
move, and the day-to-day operation will be seamless to the end-user. Once all employees
are moved to the temporary location, the City will review the results of additional air
quality/environmental tests to determine what next steps may need to be taken before the
renovations proceed.
If you have any questions, or need any additional information, please feel free to contact me.
JMGlri
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