advertisement

Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates public works crews adapt for pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused well-chronicled changes to the ways police officers and paramedics interact with the public, but public works employees also have had to make adjustments to continue carrying out essential tasks.

In the Northwest suburbs, Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates provide examples of how municipalities have independently innovated different ways for their public works departments to adapt to the new circumstances.

After consultation with the village's fire department, Schaumburg Engineering and Public Works Director Mike Hall said that, he divided his staff have into two daily shifts. One runs from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. while the other works from 3 to 11 p.m.

It's all part of an effort to spread out the employees to keep them safe as they attend to such core duties as repairing water main breaks and keeping the village's water distribution operating, Hall said.

Breaking the staff into shifts allows it to operate with only one person per vehicle, reducing the times that wearing masks is necessary. But the workers will wear masks when teaming up for such tasks as repairing a transformer, he added.

The increasing hours of daylight are an advantage for the later shift, though the same restrictions during the winter would probably not have caused too great a hardship when many employees are separated to do snow removal, Hall said.

Whatever tasks can be postponed for now will be, including changing seasonal decorations and banners, he said. Inspections and repairs are being considered the essential tasks for now. While major road improvement projects are contracted out to private companies, the engineering and public works crews handle pavement patching for the village.

Hoffman Estates has taken a different approach to its work shifts. For now, one team will be on for an entire week and the other will be off that week, Deputy Village Manager Dan O'Malley said.

This system, being done to promote employee and public safety by reducing points of contact, doesn't involve any reduction in pay for the employees.

While the tasks of public works staff don't involve face-to-face interaction with the public nearly as often as police officers and firefighters, Hoffman Estates' crew members are being required to wear protective masks whenever they're out in public, O'Malley said.

"What's happening very much affects our public works department, depending on what your job is," he added.

Maintenance assistant Nate Catrambone of Schaumburg's engineering and public works department flushes a hydrant on March 27 to remove sediment and ensure water quality. It's among the essential functions that continue to be performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtesy of village of Schaumburg
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.