Conference kernel::csguk_systems

137.0. "Facilities User Group Topic" by KERNEL::ADAMS (Venusian turned Aquanaut,-833 3790) Mon Apr 29 1991 16:51

               MINUTES OF FACILITIES USER GROUP MEETING

                          ON 27TH MARCH 1991

                    IN THE VOYAGER CONFERENCE ROOM


ATTENDEES:-  Maureen Baker
	     Mark Courtney
             Dave Clark
             Lisa Carter
             Brian Adams
             Caroline Kail
             Caroline Stanley
             Mick Hockley
             Lesley Cunea
             Rod Peploe
             Francis Hathaway - Catering
             Richard Rogers - Catering

APOLOGIES:-  Richard Butt
             Darrell Jenkins


1. Maureen introduce herself to the User Group and thank everybody for 
attending.  She handed out a hand-out explaining what the purpose of 
the user group was and the responsibilities of the User Rep.

Maureen introduce Francis, the Catering Supervisor and Richard Rogers 
the Group Manager for Digital Catering Contract.  Francis and Richard 
were invited to the meeting so that any feedback people had to give  
could be given to them directly.  They will be invited to every 
meeting and we will discuss Catering first so they do not have to stay 
for the whole meeting.

We then went round the table and everybody introduce themselves.


CATERING

The comments about Catering were the attitudes of Staff when for 
example on the Breakfast Service there was no Bacon on the Counter and 
when the person ask if they could cook some, they were not too 
helpful.  Francis said she would talk to her Staff, because they are 
their to help, they are quite willing to cook more Bacon etc. if 
required, Richard explain they have to try and keep their waste down 
to a minimum because Facilities have to pay for this cost.  Their were 
complaints that Sandwiches run out quickly, Francis told the Group 
that if people require Sandwiches they do make to order, also If their 
is something you want do please ask because they probably have it in 
their stores.

A question was asked why the Breakfast Service had change to the 
Cashier buttering everybody toast.  Maureen explain that it was 
because she was getting complaints about the hygienic aspect, for 
example customers were using the same knife to cut sausages with and 
butter toast.  So the Caterers decided to try and get the Cashier to 
make toast and butter, this caused problems for the Cashier and the 
queues started to get longer.  It was agreed between the group that 
when people requested toast they would be given the toast with a 
butter portion and a knife. 

Lesley Cunea ask for more variety/imagination on the vegetarian menu, 
and Lesley agree to provide Francis/Richard with some suggestions.

Their were many complaints saying the food machine had no food in it 
for out of hours people.  Francis is working on removing the cold 
drinks so their is more room for food.  We agree this is a problem but 
Francis is filling up the machine but it is being used by people in 
the building before the evening shift arrive, and we can not stop this 
because the machine is installed for the building.  Francis took away 
suggestions on what people would like to see more off in the machine.
Richard said he thought their was a food machine in Newbury that was 
never used, he would look in to this and report at next meeting. 

Maureen informed the Group that a Catering Survey would be sent to 
every employee by electronic mail, which she ask people to fill out, 
and Francis asked for people to be specific, then she knows exactly 
what people expect from them.  The reason for the Survey is it is in 
the Caterers contract to issue a survey after the contract has been 
running three months.

Vending

The building is not happy with the Vending Machines in the building, 
they do not feel they are reliable enough, offer the right choice and 
they feel it is a waste of money on Digital part.  Maureen ask for any 
complaints on vending to be mail to her, then she would forward them 
on to Purchasing with her complaints at the same time, as the Vending 
Contact is a UK contract and control by Purchasing.

As the building were unhappy they wanted their own kettles etc. and 
for a Tea Urn to be put in Shift Kitchen.  Maureen explain that she 
did not feel this was the way forward as kettles would be a Health & 
Safety Problem and putting a Tea Urn in the Shift Kitchen would be 
costly.  Maureen said Digital provided Vending Machines and she agreed 
she would talk to Purchasing to see what we could do to improve the 
vending Machines.

Car Park

It was ask where Facilities going to do anything about the congestion 
sometimes in the Carpark.  Maureen told the group that in January 
their was a real problem because we had a lot of outside Visitors to 
the building doing training, but generally our Conference Rooms are 
only book to people in the building, but Maureen said it up to the 
person booking the room to take responsibility regarding facilities 
they use etc.  There was a suggestion if we could make more car 
parking spaces within our existing car parking, Maureen said she is 
looking into this. 

Out of hours workers were annoyed that when they came in the evenings 
to work they could not park in the shift parking but they had to park, 
right at the bottom.  Maureen said she knows this is a problem but 
this is difficult to manage, because it is again the responsibility of 
everybody who works at Viables to be responsible and if they are not a 
night worker they do not park in the shift spaces.  Maureen said the 
Shift problem had come up in several Health & Safety meetings and Phil 
Johnson had agreed to discuss with the Management team what 
shifts were entitled to park in these spaces.

A member of the group brought up that the entrance to the car park was 
getting dangerous as there are a lot of holes in the road.  Maureen 
said that this problem was being dealt with and should be dealt with 
shortly.

A member of the Group, gave Maureen a list of Cars that have been 
parked in the car park for some considerable time, Maureen said she 
thought they were hire cars but she would check this out.

Cleaning

There were complaints from Response area about the state of cleaning 
in this area.  Maureen said she would deal with this and informed the 
group that from Monday 1st April the Cleaning was being carried out by 
ARA.

Lighting

Some people are not happy with the lighting.  Maureen explain it is 
very difficult to please everybody and because the building is so open 
plan, Maureen suggested that she would get our Maintenance Company to 
go to each group and talk to each group, and see what they could do, 
for example where their were complaints about the lights being too 
bright, we would take one of the starters out, we have to be careful 
with this because some areas could be a Health & Safety as there are 
hardly no lights on at all.

Furniture/Chairs

The Group wanted to know if we were ever going to get new Furniture, 
for example like CCD and Response areas, as the Group felt the  
furniture in theis building is getting old and not really suited for 
their requirements, also they felt the chairs were not in a good state 
and for people that did 12 hour shifts said our chairs were not 
comfortable enough and could they have the same design as Response and 
CCD areas.  Maureen did point out, that if they had a broken chair, 
they should report it to Facilities.  Maureen said as far as she was  
aware their were no plans to put new furniture in, but she would check 
what the situation is and let the Group know at the next meeting.

Heating

Various members of the Group wanted to know why the building can't be 
the same temperature every where in the building everyday.  Maureen 
said this is extremely difficult because our system does not allow us 
to do this.  We are susceptible to what the temperature is outside the 
building.

Conference Rooms

Certain members felt very annoyed about the situation regarding 
conference Rooms but Maureen said it was not Facilities decision to 
get rid of the Apollo/pioneer but she was working with Peter Stevenson 
to see if we could at least build another conference room somewhere 
else in the building.

Certain members of the Group wanted to know as Conference Rooms are a 
problem why do Managers have to have a office of their own, and where 
there are two offices together why can't these be knock into one of 
the Groups near them to use.  This is really up to the Managers and 
the Groups themselves to see if they can use their own space a bit 
more wisely.

Phones

A member of the Group wanted to know why it takes BT 3 weeks to shift 
a phone, Maureen said this was not the case, it was more likely 1 week 
to 10 days, and Maureen requested if people wanted a phone shift to 
mail her.  Also complaints about headsets on phones, for example 
people who wanted them could not have them, Maureen said she 
understood their frustration because it is hard for them to take calls 
and use their terminals at the same time but the phones we have are 
not BT approve to take Headsets and Maureen does not know of a phone 
that allows us to take calls the way we do as well as have headsets on 
the phones.  A member of the Group mention that Simon Lobar and Mic 
Laird of IS Telecoms was working on a new system, but this is probably 
some considerable time in the future.  Maureen said if you mail her 
with the ones that require adapters fitted to their phone, Facilities 
would try their best.  

Next Meeting

Maureen mention that certain Managers would like the meetings to take 
place every 3 months, but Maureen felt this was too long and so did 
the Group, so it was agreed the meeting would be every other month.  
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 15th May 1991 at 14:30pm. 

To Distribution List:

mark courtney@UVO,
dave clark@UVO,
lisa carter@UVO,
brian adams@UVO,
caroline kail@UVO,
Caroline Stanley@UVO,
mick hockley@UVO,
Lesley Cunea@UVO,
rod peploe@UVO

CC Distribution List:

richard butt@UVO,
Darrell Jenkins@UVO,
Linda Gorton@UVO,
Ray Stevens@UBO

               Minutes of Facilities User Group Meeting
                           On 15th May 1991
                    In the Voyager Conference Room

Attendees:-  Maureen Baker
	     Dave Clark
	     Caroline Stanley
	     Mick Hockley
	     Rod Peploe
	     Richard Butt
	     Max Ellery
	     Richard Rogers - Catering
	     Francis Hathaway - Catering

Apologies:-  Darrell Jenkins
	     Brian Adams
	     Caroline Kail
	     Lesley Cunnea
	     Mark Courtney
	     Lisa Carter

CC:-	     Ray Stevens


1.  Catering

1.1  It was mentioned that Sandwiches at Lunchtimes were warm.  
Francis said this was because at Luchtimes there is not enough room on 
the salad bar.  Francis and Richard to come up with suggestions.
Update at next meeting.

1.2  It was mentioned that some people would prefer the Food Vending 
machine to be used to store can drinks in during the day instead of 
going to the counter.  This was noted but as the Restaurant is open 
all day, the group felt this was not necessary.

1.3  It was ask why Sandwiches like Crab & Cucumber had gone up over 
25p.  Francis apologise for not informing people, but she was made 
aware that she was not charging the correct price for sandwiches, ie 
she was charging the same price for a cheese sandwich to a crab 
sandwich and Francis decided to bring it in line the same day that 
Facilities advertise the increase because of VAT.

1.4  The group were interested on what the subsidy was, also they 
would like the results publish.  Maureen to look into this and update 
at next meeting.

1.5  Francis mention again that the Restaurant can make 
sandwiches/snacks to order, they can be contacted on ext 3313. 

2.  Cleaning


2.1  Caroline complained that the Response area was not very cleaned, 
window ledges dirty, desks not cleaned.  Maureen to contact the 
Cleaning Company and get this sorted out.

3.  Temperature

The building would like more fresh air in the building. 
Maureen to investigate and update at next meeting.

4.  Building Tidiness

The group complained that the building look untidy.  We had a 
discussion why this was, and came up with that one of the problems was 
we moved round to often.  The group ask why do we move round.  Maureen 
said it was normally a Manager decision and because the business 
warrants it.
The group was interested in how much a move costs.  There are a couple 
of moves coming up shortly, I will publish the cost of the moves 
through the User Group members.

5.  Micro Lab

It was raised by Richard that there had been two leaks recently in the 
toilets on the 1st Floor, West exit which caused damaged in the micro 
lab which is below these toilets.  As there is some very expensive 
equipment in the micros lab, Facilities to look at what can be done, 
one of the suggestions was a waterproof liner.  Update at next 
meeting.

5.1  It was mentioned about air-conditioning in the Micros Lab, this 
is being looked into, waiting for quotation, update at next meeting.

6.  Smoking Rooms

I explain about the smoking rooms and this will be implemented on 1st 
July.  There will be a schedule pin to the notice boards.

6.1  A mail was given to me by Richard from a member of his group, 
which I said I would discuss with the Management team and the Smoking 
Committee, which said he agrees why we are making an area just for 
smokers, but why have we not made an effort to provide better leisure 
facilities, ie lockers and more showers.

7.  Vending

I informed the group that from 1st July the vending machines will be 
maintained by P & O, that is the filling up and maintenance.  We will 
still have the same machines, as this comes under another contract.  
 
8.  Car Park

It was mention that the road had still not been sorted.  The order has 
now been raised and the work should be completed shortly.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 26th June 1991 at 2:30 pm 
in the Pioneer Conference Room.