Last week we conducted a building orientation for all staff members. This idea came out of the MHLS Green Team. During one of our meetings our facilities guy was commenting on how a few staffers were consistently leaving on the lights at night which was wasting electricity. The conversation that followed revealed that some of us didn’t know where the light switches were for certain lights and others were not sure it was our job to turn them off (thinking there were still others in the building).

We designed an hour long program, limited it to 6 staff people at a time and did a couple of sessions to make sure everyone had a chance to participate. We stated it was mandatory (but that we knew they would come along even if it wasn’t!)

Before the sessions we implemented some signage we had agreed on and labeled all light switches.

We met around a table to begin and
1) Reviewed the “Building Basics”

• building operating hours
• alarm
• opening and closing procedures
• lighting basics

2) “Safety First” alerted staff to

• emergency procedures
• fire safety
• some basic personal precautions to take to protect themselves when leaving the building after hours

3) MHLS “Goes Green” Challenge Results

• shared the results of the Challenge in which they all took part (more than 120 ideas were shared!)
• let everyone know some of the things that were already being done that had been suggested
• what energy efficiency items have been included in our facility plan (new windows and solar panels)
• reviewed the building recycling opportunities and guidelines
• shared tips from Staff gathered through the Challenge:
  • “Top Ten Tips” for Conserving Energy – some ideas were very specific to our building but here are ones that work anywhere:
    • turn off computers and monitors at the end of every day
    • use the Power Options setting on PCs to help machines save energy while idle
    • unplug equipment used infrequently (pencil sharpeners, laminator)
    • use the stairs rather than the elevator
  • Paper: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Then we toured through the building, starting at the door everyone enters and leaves through. On each floor we pointed out:

• how doors lock, when they should be locked
• fire extinguishers
• circuit breaker boxes
• light switches
• where lights could be shut off when no one is in the area
• safety tips (like closing blinds on the first floor at the end of the day)

It went amazingly smoothly. Everyone “played along” and were helpful, coming up with more ideas along the way – motion detectors for the bathroom lights to help make sure lights are off when no one is in there, glow in the dark tape on key light switches, tips for using a fire extinguisher… it was great.

Have I mentioned yet how glad I am we did the MHLS Green Team? 😉