Eugene/Springfield Water Pollution Control Facility 1984-1991

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Section D: PLANT OPBRATIONS Page 15 STAFFING LEVELS AND SCHEDULING Several changes in staff levels and schedulinghave occurred in Operations since plant starC-up. Eigh- teenplantoperators have worked a variety of fixed and rotating shifts. The four shift supervisors have also changed work schedules as a result of supervi- sorstaff reductions. At the time of plant start-up, the shift supervisors and operators were working different schedules. The shift supervisor worked a rotating, four-day work week in two shifts. Each supervisor would rotate through the four shifts over four, 28-day periods. The operators worked afive-day week in three shifts: day, swing, and graveyard. Operators rotated days off every four weeks and rotated shifts every 12 weeks. This arrangement had many disadvantages. Com- munication was difficult because each operator hadtoworkunderfourdifferentsupervisors. Some- times operators had to work under three or four supervisors in one work week. The schedules also made it hard for supervisors to manage and to evaluate the work performance of operators. To correct the problems, in July 1986 the opera- tors' work schedules were changed to match the supervisors' four-day work week. Under the new program, five operators worked with one supervi- sor continuously, and each crew began rotating shifts as a team. The new schedule allowed a reduction from 20 to 16 operators, which was accomplished through attrition. Other schedule and organizational changes have allowed the plant to reduce supervisory staff from four to two and to merge the process control manager and maintenance manger positions into one plant manager position. At the end of five years of operation, the opera- tionsstaff had 19 full-time employees, including a plant manager, two supervisors, four Operator I's (now called Wastewater Technician II's) and 12 Operator II's (now called Wastewater Technician III's). Currently, each supervisor is responsible for two operator crews. The supervisors have designated a lead worker for each crew to assist in work sched Ming and assignment. The two supervisors work day shift but start and end their work days one hour later than the regular day shift, so they can spend some time with the swing shift crews. Operators work fixed shifts - day or swing - determined by an annual bidding process, which is based on seniority. Under this system, the plant has a full staff for 20 hours a day, from 6 a.m. Co 2 a.m. The other four hours are covered by one operator from the swing shift, who stays two hours late, and by one operator from the day shift, who starts two hours early. The early morning duty shifts are sharedby all operators on a rotating basis. PROCESS CONTROL Control of plant operations has evolved over the years from an authoritative, top-down style to a highly participative style that actively involves plant. operators. During plant start-up and the first three years of operation, most decisions and guidelines were made by the process control manager. In the first year of operation, the manager began delegating more responsibility to the shift supervisors. As supervi- sors andoperatorsbecame morefamiliarwithplant operation, they were assigned additional responsi- bilitiesand decision making. By the third year of operation, the process control manager was spending less time on process control and more time on general managerial and admin- istrative functions. This was one factor in the change from process control manager to plant manager. During the fourth year, supervisors worked with crews to develop process control guidelines. Pro- cess control was divided into two areas: primary and secondary treatment. Process control of the primary and secondary areas was rotated among the supervisors and their crews for four-week periods. In the fifth year of operation, some changes were made to improve communication and participa- tion in process control. Rotating responsibility every four weeks among four crews left people out of the process control discussion for twelve weeks