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Pandemic Diaries: Water Utilities’ Perspectives and Crisis Response (VOL. 5)

During the early months of the pandemic, representatives from all management levels within WaterStart member utilities convened regularly to discuss challenges and potential solutions to the Covid-19 crisis. These discussions are summarized in five volumes titled Pandemic Diaries and will be updated as the pandemic evolves and, eventually, resolved.

VOL. 5: Post Pandemic Recovery

The challenges that occurred due to the abrupt changes required to address the pandemic are evidence enough to justify the effort to document best practices and pre-plan a well organized recovery plan and post-pandemic workforce. The WaterStart member utilities have suffered a complete redefinition of what a new working normal is and the effects of which may not be fully known for years to come. It is therefore important to bring each organization back to, an albeit new, normal as smoothly as possible. The following are a few items noted during the WaterStart member Covid-19 calls that rose to the top of various discussions regarding a post pandemic recovery.

Many staff will want to continue working from home, indefinitely and the utilities should consider this a viable option. For those that will return to an office environment, the return must be in phases. These phases need to be well thought out and documented.
Continue to recognize and consider staff’s mental health as many will have anxiety returning to the workplace. Allow staff input into identifying the phased approach.
Maintain the recommended social distancing guidelines and are properly communicated. Attached are two documents related to cubicle spacing to consider upon staff returning to an office environment.
The maintenance crews returning will feel the affects of a mounting maintenance workload. Work will need to be prioritized and optimized as to not create burn out.
A complete assessment and evaluation of migrating future work processes with cloud-based applications must be completed to allow for social distancing and efficient communications when another pandemic arises.
Continue to ensure buildings are properly flushed and disinfected as staff is phased back in and occupancy increases.
Fully document any newly implemented cost-cutting initiatives.
Address weaknesses in supply chains, especially as it relates to PPE and other essentials, manufacturing and suppliers.
Update existing pandemic or crisis response plans with lessons learned and consider adopting an emergency management software.
Maintain records and continually document staff’s at-home internet access and capabilities.
Evaluate staff redundancy in training to ensure complete coverage prior to the next crisis.

Please check out this video from our member’s only webinar to hear updates from utilities from 3 continents on the status of their pandemic response!

Pandemic Diaries: Water Utilities’ Perspectives and Crisis Response (VOL. 3)

VOL. 3: Financial Fallout

As lockdowns and government closures were ordered across the globe, many member agencies projected up to a 15% drop in revenue for the first half of 2020 and up to a 10% revenue loss for the second half of 2020. The projections were a direct result in reduced water consumption and non-payment of water bills. Recognizing the fallout to families displaced by the pandemic, WaterStart member utilities suspended disconnects and rolled out payment plans options or deferred payments altogether. In addition, some members suspended planned water rate increases.

Allowing for construction to continue in many communities has helped to stabilize revenues but has been a burden in addressing employee safety and the necessary changes to policies to achieve customer service within new workforce structures (see VOL. 2). Some members took advantage of the government capital expenditure programs to help offset the loss in revenues. Many members offered early retirement incentives and realigned capital programs and existing debt.

Be sure to register for our upcoming CHANNELS Connect webinar for an update on this topic!! Check your inbox and spam folder for details!

Key takeaways:

Members identified the need for a bad debt tool which would allow them, by remaining engaged with customers, track how they are financially progressing and better assess revenue projections.
Maintenance issues should become a priority. The pandemic highlighted that with limited staff available for work, important maintenance routines could not be attained leading to significant future costs.

Pandemic Diaries: Water Utilities’ Perspectives and Crisis Response (VOL. 2)

VOLUME 2: Workforce Management

A major theme during the member Covid calls related to workforce management and the associated challenges in managing both staff deemed essential and nonessential. Across the globe, organizations were now forced to navigate new working conditions and the issues around access and, primarily, safety. All members shared some expectation that an infected staff member, no matter the degree of protective measures, would at some point increase the risk of spread to the entire workforce.

To limit the rate of infection among staff, the majority of staff deemed nonessential or those team members whose role was not critical to the daily operations and delivery of safe drinking water, were transitioned to work-from-home settings. For those deemed essential, such as SCADA operators, one member shared their assessment of sheltering-in-place versus providing remote access to those staff. At the time, there was a rush on trailers/campers that could be equipped to support a shelter-in-place scenario and those had become limited in supply. Further, the longterm reality of the pandemic had been recognized and therefore, shelter-in-place did not present a long-term solution. Staff working remotely, though, certainly created its own set of challenges.

Members shared many common challenges around the remote workforce transition:

– Addressing firewalls so that SCADA operators could be equipped with at-home SCADA terminals. One member equipped operators with at-home workstations and vpn setups that only allow those specific computers to dial into the SCADA dashboard.

– Assessing and rolling out the most secure virtual meeting platform and efficient cloud-based file structure, if one had not already been utilized. All members already had varying degrees of tools that they could apply under certain circumstances. For most members, the pandemic forced them to evaluate and leverage these existing tools and solutions, including some that had not been rolled out across the organization. Most members selected Microsoft Teams, mostly because many of them had already owned the software.

– Evaluating the need for flexible work schedules in support of staff who had children also at home participating in distance learning. Adopting flexible schedules also allowed for staff to enter the workplace and still achieve the proper social distancing recommendations.

– Measuring productivity while balancing privacy of staff’s digital activity. This challenge has been mostly negated as staff across the membership have proven to be just as effective and efficient, if not more so, than before the pandemic. Many members are considering allowing remote working conditions to continue post pandemic.

– Ensuring availability and access to the appropriate personal and protective equipment (PPE). Many members reported the unavailability of PPE and the confusion as to which type of PPE was adequate made rollout of the proper PPE quite difficult. Inadequate PPE posed unique challenges for essential field workers.

– Identifying guidelines for the work environment. How does staff who are on the work site maintain the 6-feet distance rule? Should the number of essential staff change as the infection rate changes? How is staff trained properly under remote conditions? How often should disinfection and proper cleaning take place? Are the procedures adequately aligning with government guidelines and how are these updated to regularly reflect any changing guidelines?

– Assessing liability and insurance related to the new working conditions. Utilities could be unnecessarily exposing themselves to litigation or negative financial impact.

– Ensuring mental health of staff, specifically those that are experiencing heighted anxiety or are feeling disconnected or abandoned.

Be sure to register for our upcoming CHANNELS Connect webinar for an update on this topic!! Check your inbox and spam folder for details!

Key takeaways:

Regularly perform an assessment and record essential and nonessential staff with skills audited and documented.
Compile fully developed and documented procedures to address workplace scenarios for the next pandemic with practical implications for the timing and maintenance of workplace cleaning, hot desk procedures and social responsibility of individuals and teams.
Compile fully developed procedures for rapid response should Covid or the next virus infect the workforce, which would include health guidance on direct and indirect contact with the affected individual.
Maintain a stockpile of a range of appropriate PPE and develop a policy reflecting organizational decisions to ensure staff compliance and consequences for noncompliance.
Over-communicate with staff on a personal level as a check on their well-being and provide relevant support for those who may be identified as vulnerable.
Regularly review current law, related policies, insurance and employee/union contracts to stay abreast of liabilities when determining the necessary levels of workforce.

Pandemic Diaries: Water Utilities’ Perspectives and Crisis Response (VOL. 1)

VOLUME 1: Covid19 Communications- Managing Complex & Conflicting info in a Rapidly Changing Environment

The abundance of conflicting information from governments and other organizations concerning the pandemic presented a special set of challenges. Adding to the confusion, many of the WaterStart members were forced to suspend all nonessential services at the peak of the crisis. With social distancing and a reduced workforce, effectively communicating with staff and customers became imperative. Members shared some of the solutions implemented and key takeaways.

One member established a virtual incident room with staff trained to address emergencies (in some instances, excluding SCADA systems). This was achieved with some success using an ongoing Skype connection. Another member used texts and email alerts. The information pushed to a web application with any associated change to logistics being updated daily. Some members are considering adopting a full Emergency Management system.

One member noted a concern related to field crews. Are they feeling isolated and abandoned? How are they coping and what support should be instituted to ensure they are safe and continually engaged in the changing environment? Many field crews were receiving a great deal of pushback from the general public because they were still working during lockdown. Managing public perception became one solution in ensuring field crews were supported. It was further noted that it was important to provide all levels of staff a voice to allow for the facilitation of new solutions to doing business.

In addition to identifying ways for communicating among a new workforce structure, WaterStart members discussed the need to effectively communicate with customers. Both the safety of the drinking water and a clear understanding of service expectations needed to be communicated more regularly than under normal operating conditions. These communications needed to relay facts about the effectiveness of disinfection of potable water, any delays in response times, emergency shut off delays, inspection delays, etc. One WaterStart member noted the need to expedite the creation of a digital process to ensure efficient processing of new construction permits among all agencies involved in the process.

Key takeaways:

Information relayed to staff needs to be (when possible) consistent and current.
Organizational policies, procedures and decision making processes moving forward must be flexible and adept to fast changing circumstances.
Utilities must evaluate and be prepared to new ways of doing business in rapidly changing environments. This includes the need for staff and management to be receptive and trained in new tools and business practices.
A reliance on the internet, virtual platforms, and cloud-based data is now more apparent and should be considered as evolving normals when preparing future emergency response plans.
People’s behavior, attitudes, and fears must be acknowledged. Create a venue or methodology for sharing concerns and solutions.
Workplace health and safety procedures must be communicated and protocols well executed to ensure individua and team operations are protected.
Develop relevant communications as part of a future pandemic response plan