A 96,000 sq ft building, like the one we're blessed with at Grace, is full of all kinds of systems... electrical, plumbing, data network, fire alarm, security alarm, etc., etc. To have groups in the building without any staff on site who know, at least a little bit, about how the systems work, has always been a risk. We've taken that risk for at least the eight years I've been at Grace. When I came to Grace, the Facility person at the time carried a pager and that was the main avenue for contacting him in emergencies. It was clear to me that we needed something more to cover our facility needs, so we soon switched to a mobile phone. All along, I knew I was taking a risk that something could happen in the building while groups were meeting and there wouldn't be any staff representatives in the building to help the out (fire alarm goes off, someone has a medical emergency, or a toilet overflows). We stayed in this arrangement for more than eight years, mostly because we had other priorities that needed to be addressed for the sake of the entire ministry and we felt that it was worth the risk. That was then.
In the past couple of years, building usage has increased dramatically. We ran a report on building use this past Fall and from August-December, excluding holidays, the building was in use every night Monday-Friday except for something like one night. There are more and more groups using our facility, and with that, there are more and more people in the building during evening hours. I'm excited about this growth, we've always talked about how we want our facility in use, and the more it gets used, the better.
With the increase in use, Pastor Scott and I identified last Spring that our building usage was creating too high a risk for us not to have a staff person on-site. We saw a need for a position that would be responsible for monitoring the building systems and that would place a paid staff person in the building in case of emergencies. I chose the title of Evening Building Supervisor for the position because while it features a security component, it's responsibilities extend into problem solving any room use misunderstandings, troubleshooting first-aid type stuff for our building systems, making sure the building is evacuated in 3 minutes or under in the event of a fire alarm and responding to potential medical emergencies. If there's a problem in the building, it's the position that should be contacted first.
While only part-time (providing coverage Monday-Friday) we recognize that we are still taking a risk on weekends. Based on current sporadic building use on Saturdays, I can't justify paying someone to be there all day. On Sunday mornings, with so many staff in the building, I'm not as concerned about the building coverage, one of us is usually available to respond to emergencies. So I have no plans to change the way we do things or the roles staff have on Sundays.
With the Evening Building Supervisor position, we've taken a huge step in reducing our level of risk during the evenings Monday-Friday.
