Managers encouraged to explore options in coping with high indoor temperatures
BY MICHAEL PEÑA
In response to unusually high temperatures, combined with a reduced amount of chilled water being rationed for prioritized use by the hospitals and for critical research, the university is encouraging managers to use their discretion to accommodate staff who are coping with heat-related discomfort and productivity issues.
These accommodations should follow some "rules of reason" and may include letting employees work in a cooler part of a building or move to a cooler building on campus. Employees might also be permitted to shift their work schedules—by coming in earlier and leaving earlier, for instance—in order to avoid peak afternoon building temperatures. In some cases, managers are being told that they may decide to relax dress codes or let staff work from home or from other off-campus locations.
Depending on the nature of the work, other accommodations might be considered, and managers are responsible for exploring all available options. Guidelines for how managers may respond were developed in consultation with the offices of Employee Relations, Facilities Operations, and Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). Senior administrators from those offices also referred to what the university has done during similar periods of unusually high temperatures in years past.
One practice has been that managers could relocate staff or send them home when a building's interior temperature exceeded 90 degrees at 3 p.m. Although not a strict rule, administrators decided to reintroduce that practice to establish some uniformity across campus if managers decide to enact options for comforting staff. Higher temperatures in office buildings do not create a health and safety risk per se, according to Larry Gibbs, associate vice provost for EH&S. He said other factors such as how physically demanding the workload is and humidity also play a role.
"We're not recommending that employees necessarily have to go home but that managers use discretion," Gibbs said. "This goes back many years when a lot of our buildings were not air-conditioned."
While most facilities on campus are now air-conditioned, during times of extreme heat, the university's priority for chilled water usage is Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital first, critical research facilities second, and then office buildings. To follow this protocol, chilled water may have to be diverted from office buildings—meaning that some buildings may not be air-conditioned at all, or not to the extent that occupants normally enjoy or expect.
Curtailment occurs when excessive heat lasts more than a day or two without significant nighttime cooling, or when the university's capacity for chilled water production at the central energy facility on campus is reduced—as is currently the case. The central plant is currently generating below its 22,000 tons of chilling capacity because some refrigeration equipment is offline due to expansion projects and repairs, according to Chris Christofferson, associate vice provost for facilities.
A temporary chilling plant has been built on Roble Field and a nationwide search for additional equipment commenced in recent weeks, Christofferson said. But capacity is still down, and with the sustained high temperatures causing higher demand on a limited supply, the university has had to resort to rationing chilled water. "It's the perfect storm of those two things," said Christofferson, who serves on a team that convenes almost hourly to assess curtailment measures. "Our goal is to be back to full capacity by early next week."
A 1,000-ton chiller that went offline because of a failed seal was running again on Tuesday night, while a 2,500-ton unit that needed its motor rewound is expected to be reinstalled by late Monday, Christofferson said. An additional 1,500-ton chiller is expected to be installed at Roble Field this weekend. Christofferson explained that a ton of cooling capacity refers to a standard, if not antiquated, unit of measurement: the chilling power of a 1-ton block of ice.
For employees who work outdoors, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal OSHA) has adopted a new regulation called "Heat Illness Prevention in Outdoor Places of Employment." Gibbs said it has yet to be enacted, but he advised anyone seeking more information to call EH&S at 723-0448.
Anyone who needs help in ascertaining building temperature is asked to call maintenance customer service at Facilities Operations, 723-2281.