April 11, 2002
New badges identify Facilities Services workers
When you’re approached by a man telling you he’s here to look at, say, the heating system in your office, how do you know he really is a representative of the UW’s Facilities Services team? After all, in these troubling times, he could be someone bent on sabotage, or he could be someone simply wanting access to your office after hours.
Thanks to a new identification badge system, you shouldn’t have to wonder. Members of the Facilities Services staff are now wearing photo ID badges that identify them by name, division and title and that even sort the permanent employees from the temporary ones or those working on contract.
Facilities Services staff have worn ID badges in the past, but they were pretty low-tech affairs, according to Central Services Manager Jim Portugal. “They were basically laminated cards,” Portugal said. “Anybody could make one.”
The new cards would be much more difficult to duplicate. They include a barcode that the department will use internally for tool checkout, the names and identification are large enough to be easily read, and best of all for the department, they’re easily created too.
“Our old system took 5 to 7 minutes to make one card,” Portugal said. “With this one, the person sits in front of the camera and the system spits out the card.”
The cards are color-coded, with a purple stripe for full-time, permanent Facilities Services personnel and a gold stripe for temporary employees in the department. A red stripe indicates full-time, permanent Maintenance and Alterations personnel who work in Health Sciences and/or the Medical Center, while a teal stripe is for employees of outside contractors working for Facilities Services.
The new system has been two years in the planning, Portugal said, and the department is very happy with the result.
