July 09, 2018 All Prospective Responders: In reference to the information solicitation, the following questions and inquiries were submitted, and receive a response from Boston Public Health Commission. RFI: Background (Page 1) - Responses should address how respondents would undertake the tasks of establishing baseline site-specific risk assessments for worksites, bureaus, and programs. 1. What are the number of worksites, bureaus and programs that would require separate baseline risk assessments? Sites subject to the facility safety assessment are below. A. Mattapan Campus 201 River Street -Transitions Building o Four story building 20,700 sq. ft. - Built in 1931 o Occupied by Wyman Re-Entry Program & Transitions men & women o Residential programs 203 River Street - EMS vehicle depot o One story building 12,350 sq. ft. - Built in 2015 o 11 bays for ambulances and oversize vehicles o Garage, 24/7 access by EMS 205 River Street - Old Power Plant / Laundry Building o Two story building - 11,964 sq. ft. - Built in 1931 o Occupied by Property Management, BPHC Public Safety o Offices, Property standard business schedule, Public Safety 24/7 209 River Street - Entre Familia o Two story building 9,812 sq. ft. Built in 1929, renovated in 2002 o Residential program, mothers and children, 24/7 211 River Street - Offices & Day Care (M Building) o One story building 3,744 sq. ft. Built in 1916 o Offices, standard business hours 213 River Street - Food Pantry o One story building 4,104 sq. ft. Built in 1931 o Offices and large open area, public hours M/W/F 10:00-3:00, prep hours standard 215 River Street - Kitchen / Dinning o One story building. 24,420 sq. ft. Built in 1931 o No programming, some areas used for storage B. Northampton Square 860 Harrison Ave. o 12 Stories residential building; 56,490 sq. ft. built in 1972 o o Leased to Trinity Investment 2nd floor is occupied by CHEC and Burial Permits (this is the only area under review); CHEC standard business hours, Burial Permits 7 days a week, 8:00-4:00 earliest and latest hours Northampton Sq. Garage o 3 level garage; 61,824 sq. ft. built in 1972 o 537 spaces, 24/7 access South End Fitness Center o Four Story building; 26,481 sq. ft. built in 1972 o Gym and pool, 7 days/week, 6:00 AM 10:00 PM usually Miranda-Creamer Building. 785 Albany Street o Six story building; 26,763 sq. ft. built in 1972 o Occupied by BPHC Property Management and Public Safety departments; EMS Admin; Consortium for Professional Development; Del Valle and Office of Public Health Preparedness o Office space, most standard business hours Page 1 of 6
719 Massachusetts Ave. o 1 st floor, corner of Mass and Harrison Ave s o Standard business hours 721 Massachusetts Ave. o Child, Adolescent, and Family Health administrative offices o Standard business hours 723-727 Massachusetts Ave. Store Fronts o Two story building; 19,400 sq. ft. Built in 1972 o Occupied by CAFH Bureau administration and programs such as School Based Health Programs, Youth Development Network, Men s Health Crew, Peer Leadership, and BAHEC. o Offices and classrooms, mostly standard business hours, some evenings C. Albany Street Campus Finland Building - 774 Albany St o 5 story building; 51,474 sq. ft. built in 1968 o Occupied by Recovery Service Bureau - Programs such as AHOPE, Recovery Center, Mental Health Clinic, Men s Health & Recovery, Mom s Project, PAATHS, Overdose Prevention and Sharp Removal Team, Prevention and Community Mobilization Office; Father Friendly Initiative, and CAFH program Healthy Start & Healthy Baby / Healthy Child. o 7 days a week, typically 7:30 AM 6:00 PM, some evenings Woods Mullen Building - 794 Mass. Ave o 5 story building; 39,267 sq. ft. built in 1932 o 1st 3rd floors, occupied by Homeless Services as the Women s Shelter o 4th & 5th floors, occupied by Cab Health Recovery Substance abuse program; leased property (only part of review to the extent they touch upon BPHC programs) o 24/7 operation 112 Southampton St. Men s Shelter o Two story building; 30,311 sq. ft. o Homeless Services as the Men s Shelter o 24/7 occupation Engagement Center o Fabric Structure; 3,200 sq. ft., behind 112 shelter, Bureau of Recovery Services programming o 7 days a week, 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM RFI: Scope of Work (Page 2) no. 3 Development of a single workplace violence incident reporting form. 2. Is there currently more than one version of the workplace violence incident reporting form in use by the various BPHC sites and programs? There are different incident forms between bureaus but there is no workplace violence form intrinsically. RFI: Scope of Work (Page 2) no. 4 A review of the existing BPHC s workplace safety policy. 3. Does the BPHC have any documented, security-related/risk management (workplace safety) policies? Are policies specific to bureau or program? BPHC does have a policy in place that needs to be revised. Please reach out to Fritz Gustave (FGustave@bphc.org) to receive copy of the current policy. Page 2 of 6
RFI: Scope of Work (Page 2) no. 5 Development and implementation of a workplace safety training program that may include and online and in-person delivery. 4. Does BPHC currently provide any type of workplace training? If yes, who is trained. e.g. leadership, management, employees, etc.? What are the topics of the training? BPHC provides a range of ongoing workplace training opportunities for staff, covering a range of skill and knowledge areas including management, communications, and job-specific topics. In February 2018, staff were offered an opportunity to attend Workplace Violence Prevention Training for Healthcare Staff through the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness. There is currently no organization-wide workplace violence-specific training program. 5. Would BPHC be looking for workplace safety training to be provided to whole organization or just designated leadership, departments, etc.? Training for all staff is desired by BPHC and required by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/commissions-and-initiatives/hswsafety-regs/). Training needs of specific BPHC worksites, bureaus, and programs should also be addressed. 6. What is the time frame expected for delivery of the in-person and online training? The time frame for delivery of in-person and online training is dependent on the needs identified and approaches recommended by respondents to the RFI, as well as resources available to support development and delivery. 7. What are the IT limitations to delivering online training to your organization? Is there a specific platform that must be used for the online training? BPHC s current online learning portal, The Learning Center (https://delvalle.bphc.org/), operates on a Moodle-based platform. Not all staff have ready access to computers. For some staff, computer literacy is a barrier. 8. How many people do you intend to train in person vs online? The number of staff trained in person vs online is dependent on the needs identified and approaches recommended by respondents to the RFI, as well as resources available to support development and delivery. Approximately 400 Boston EMS field staff will require in-person training. We are do not have a firm number of how many additional staff will also require in person training. 9. How many in-person or online sessions of training do you anticipate it will take to have attendance from all 1200 employees? Delivering in person training to the staff of Boston EMS requires 9 sessions over 6 weeks, with 3-day sessions, 3 evening sessions, and 3-night sessions. The number of additional trainings will depend on the needs identified and approaches recommended by the respondents to the RFI. The number of staff BPHC is able to release for in person training at any one time varies by site, depending on the operational needs of specific programs. Page 3 of 6
10. What percentage of employees are "field-based?" A. Employees from several bureaus are in the field. Infectious Disease: home visits related to medication therapy Community Initiatives: tobacco inspections at stores, environmental inspections at work sites, businesses, etc. o Environmental Health: 14 staff who are primarily field staff 9 enforcement inspectors and 5 outreach workers/health educators 3 managers who also do some field inspection work as part of their job 3 managers who are primarily in the office, but occasionally go to the field to supervise or participate in outreach events All staff is full time. The 14 identified field staff spend approximately 6 hours/day 5 days/week in the field. The managers who do some field work spend approximately 2 out of every 5 days in the field o Healthy Homes Asthma program 1.0 FTE who does field work who conducts Asthma Home Visits Approximately 20 visits per quarter; 3 hours/day 2 days/week in the field o Tobacco Control Program Three Compliance Officers (3.0 FTE) will visit all 830 tobacco retailers at least 3 times a year (2490 visits total). The compliance officers also respond to smoking in the workplace at approximately 30 workplaces annually. The officers spend approximately 6 hours/day 5 days/week in the field. Child, Adolescent, & Family Health: home visits for new babies and families, violence prevention staff responding to incidents o Approximately 20 Registered Nurses and Public Health Advocates from Healthy Baby Healthy Child spend the majority of their work time doing home visits to pregnant women and young families living in diverse housing situations across Boston. o Five (5) Youth Development Specialists from the Youth Development Network are assigned on a full-time basis to four Boston public high schools to provide case management to students at high risk for chronic absenteeism. Their work involves making home visits to students families and occasionally accompanying students to various appointments as well as school-based counseling and service coordination. o Five (5) Program Managers and Coordinators from Safe and Successful Youth Initiative function as case managers for young men ages 17-24 who identified by the Boston Police Department as being at high risk for perpetrating or being victims of community violence. Staff meet their clients in a variety of community settings and accompany them to various service appointments. The spend about 70% time in the field. o Three (3) Program Managers from Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) program spend about 50% time in the field liaising with coordinators and residents from seven community coalitions (with which BPHC contracts) located in neighborhoods with high rates of community violence. o Two (2) Program Managers from the Neighborhood Trauma Network spend about 40% time liaising with 6 contracted neighborhood trauma teams that provide direct support services for victims and impacted families of community violence. Staff also attend community events and do outreach in neighborhoods where violent incidents have occurred. o Two (2) Program Managers from Defending Childhood Initiative spend about 60% time conducting trainings on trauma-informed care practices for child and youth program providers in various community settings. o Three (3) Program Managers from Start Strong spend about 30% time supervising youth peer leaders to provide workshops for other youth in school and after-school settings. Page 4 of 6
Recovery Services: o Mobile Sharps Team (4 FTEs in field Full Time city-wide), o Mass/Cass outreach (4 FTEs in field Full Time in Mass Cass area only), o AHOPE (10 FTEs/ in field 8 hours week each in Downtown Boston, Dudley, Fenway and hot spots as they arise), o PORT home visiting team (2 FTEs; in field 10 hours week each; number of visits vary), o OD prevention trainers (3 FTEs in field 20 hours week each; # of trainings vary), o PAATHS state-wide transportation (rotating staff schedule totaling 20 hours per week), o EF/Transitions/Wyman state-wide transportation (rotating staff schedule 100 hours per week). 11. Can the same training be provided to all sites or should the training be specific to each Bureau and Program? All staff should receive the same basic information, with training tailored to the specific needs of BPHC s various worksites, bureaus, and programs as appropriate. 12. Will the city provide neighborhood safety data for each site to the winning bidder to contribute to the risk assessments? If not, should each proposal include getting this data from 3rd party sources? BPHC will work with the vendor to identify the necessary data and acquire in-house or from City partners. 13. Are complete risk assessments desired for each site or is it focused on each site's response to workplace safety and violence only? Risk assessments are required for all of the sites identified above. 14. Does workplace safety include environmental hazards (local, state, federal - statutory) or is this strictly focused on physical violence, threats and risk? Environmental hazards are not included in this assessment. 15. Are you looking for technology recommendations for mitigating security and safety concerns for each site and assessment of current technology? Yes, cameras, electronic access, etc. should be included as part of the mitigation recommendations. 16. Does each bureau or program have existing documentation, policies and procedures in the area of violence prevention/mitigation, response, fire and extreme weather or will the procedures and policies be drafted from inception? No, most bureaus do not have their own plans; Recovery Services has some documentation as there are licensure requirements, but most Bureaus and Programs fall under standard BPHC protocols. 17. For the development of the workplace violence incident reporting form, what agency or organization is responsible for investigation of each report? Will this form be electronic or paper? Should it be web or app based if electronic? BPHC will be responsible for collecting and reviewing the forms. A small committee will review them on an as needed basis, no less than monthly, and if necessary will refer incidents to outside agencies, e.g. BPD. A web based electronic form is preferable. Page 5 of 6
18. Are there additional resources for posted materials (signage), flyers, reference cards or should this be included in each proposal? Yes, funds will be available for informational materials. 19. Scope of work states "to be in compliance with training requirements for human service worker safety." Can you provide the relevant requirements or links to such? The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services outlines its requirements at http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/commissions-and-initiatives/hsw-safety-regs/. 20. For weather emergencies is this focused on state of preparedness or developing continuity of operations plans for each site, program or bureau? Weather emergencies are focused on the state of preparedness. BPHC through it s Office of Public Health Preparedness has developed COOPs. Page 6 of 6