City Employees Adjusting Work Schedules During Heat Wave

City Manager’s Office - Aug. 8, 2007
Contact: Martha Wheelock, 748-3436

Select city divisions and departments are adjusting their work schedules to protect employees from heat exposure and high emissions levels as forecasters expect temperatures to reach the high 90s this week. These and other changes will also help reduce the impact of city operations on air quality.

Non-essential trips are being eliminated and work schedules rearranged or moved to earlier in the day. These changes will protect workers from the worst of the heat and reduce the impact that city vehicles have on air quality in the afternoon, when emissions levels and temperatures top out.

Streets and Sanitation division employees will begin their work days at 6:30 a.m. Stormwater Division employees will reverse their normal routine by conducting field work in the morning and doing their office work in the afternoon. Utilities employees will respond to emergency calls but otherwise will delay other jobs requiring use of vehicles. Tests of standby generators at water and sewage plants will be postponed unless required by Duke Energy. Plant employees in heat-exposed occupations will be allowed to start work at 6 a.m.

Some maintenance crews with Recreation and Parks will come in at 6 a.m. to avoid the worst of the heat. Crews will limit the use of two-stroke engines in the afternoon and will not leave vehicles idling. Neighborhood Services crews will be out at job sites by 7:30 a.m. and will complete mowing and trash pick-up by 2 p.m.

All city employees who must work outdoors for extended periods are being told to take breaks in shaded areas, and to have plenty of water at all work sites. Supervisors will be checking to ensure that employees working outdoors take more frequent breaks and drink plenty of fluids.

Emissions and ozone levels will be monitored weekly and these interim measures will continue until weather conditions improve.

The City Council recently endorsed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and has instructed the city staff to prepare an action plan to audit and reduce greenhouse emissions.