Internal Affairs Wellington staff information
UPDATE: 5.00pm, Wednesday 24 July 2013
109 Featherston St open again
109 Featherston Street will be open again tomorrow, Thursday, as usual. Teams will be contacted directly. Thanks everyone, from all of ELT, for your patience and hard work while things have been sorted out. Thanks also to everyone who has been working directly on getting things up and running. We were stronger together! I know Tim Occleshaw and Maria Robertson are keen to talk directly to staff about the response, and look at what we can learn for the future.
When you get back you will see damage:
- Between the seaward podium and the central structure The carpet is torn where the building has performed as it should and moved to some extent during the earthquake. This is, as they say, 'a feature not a fault'. Our engineers are quite clear that this has not caused the building to be any less resilient in the case of a future earthquake. We have left it for everyone to see so that all questions can be asked and answered, and nothing is left to the imagination.
- In the stairwells There has been some movement between walls and stairs. Again, our engineers assure us that this is what the building is meant to do, and that it is no less resilient as a result. There is also a crack across the landings which the engineers have confirmed is not structural. It is still held together by the steel used in the construction.
- Cracks in plaster, breaks to glass, fallen materials etc. There is not much of this compared to some buildings we have seen reported in the media. But there's a bit. Cosmetic damage of this sort is no cause for concern. Please take care if you find anything broken, or that needs cleaning.
Was there a problem with the pipes?
No. It was incorrectly reported that a pipe had broken. In fact, the pipe was ok.
Are things being fixed?
Yes. The landlord has a construction firm on site and everything will be done as soon as possible.
What you can do if you have a concern or an issue:
Biggies and can't waits: tell your manager immediately.
Littlies and can waits: Write them down in the issues register books that each admin person will set up. These will be checked regularly, and actions taken noted in the books.
General observations, useful tips, thoughts, thanks to clean-up teams etc: there will be an 1840 forum for this. Please also use this for poems, songs and art works you have created in response to recent events.
Where you can find out information about the building
There will be information pages on 1840 giving all the information we have. Some of this is highly technical, and technical questions may take a while to answer as our professional advisors are flat out at the moment. But we will do our best to respond to all questions and where there is general interest publish the answers. The most recent email this week from our structural engineers sent as a cover note to the full report said:
- "Based on the results of our Level 2 inspection after the earthquake of 21 July 2013, it is our opinion that the property has not sustained any visible structural damage that would diminish its structural capacity. This means that the building appears to be in no worse state than before the earthquake".
Prior to the earthquake the building was assessed as being between 70 and 90 percent of present-day code for new buildings. This means it is neither “earthquake prone” nor "earthquake risk". That report noted:
- A figure of 70% of current code puts the building above the “earthquake risk” category that the Council has suggested and most certainly can be considered in the much better category of building throughout the city’s CBD.
Staff safety
Safety of staff is our primary concern. Questions like "is the building safe” or "will it stand up in another earthquake" do not have definitive answers. There are no buildings guaranteed to withstand all events. We believe, on the basis of professional advice from more than one source, that 109 Featherston St is in good condition and will perform in the event of another earthquake. The bigger, closer and shallower the event of course, the more pressure will be put on the building.
The intention is to house our staff in buildings that are strong enough to allow staff to survive an earthquake, and get out.
You can do a lot to make yourselves safer. Have a plan for yourself and your family, at home and at work. Have emergency supplies, including footwear and clothing, at home and at work. Make sure furniture and things that could fall are secured. And when there is an earthquake, drop, cover, and hold. If you are a manager or team leader, know that your team will look to you for a lead. Drop, cover, and hold. It might feel silly, but it could save your life. Doing these things will definitely reduce the risks you face from an earthquake.
Tim Occleshaw
Tim Occleshaw will be dropping in regularly to 109 Featherston to be on hand as things settle down so quick decisions can be made and we can get back to normal as soon as possible.
Support
Anything of the significance of the earthquakes can trigger anxiety and other responses in people. Sometimes this is not because of this particular event, but because of other things which are linked to it in our minds. Sometimes talking can help. Remember you can access free and confidential advice from the Employee Assistance Programme EAP
Kia ora
Ngā mihi
Peter Murray
DCE, Shared Services
UPDATE: 4.30pm, Tuesday 23 July 2013
Access to 109 Featherston Street:
Good progress is being made in getting the engineering assessments we need before staff can again work from the building at 109 Featherston Street. We expect later today and tomorrow (Wednesday 24 July) to get two separate sets of documentation as a result of inspections of the building. On the basis of oral advice we expect these assessments will say that the building has not suffered structural damage (that reduces its resilience to future earthquakes), and is therefore suitable to go back to.
We are being cautious, and will not ask people to go back (or indeed allow them to) until we have the formal, written documentation.This means it will be Thursday at the earliest before you can return. Individual DCEs and GMs will be making decisions once the all-clear is given about who goes where, and when. It is likely the public-facing operations will move on the weekend, to help make things as easy as possible for our customers.
We are working on gathering together all the docuimentation about the building so you can read and assess it for yourselves, and will make sure people can ask questions and get them answered.
We will also leave any visible damage untouched until after people are back in the building so you can see exactly what has happened and ask any questions about it. (But we are going to clean up any fallen plaster or liquid etc on the floor!).
Thanks for your patience.
Ngā mihi
Peter Murray
DCE, Shared Services
UPDATE: 12.00pm, midday Tuesday 23 July 2013
All our Wellington CDB offices are open today except for 109 Featherston Street, which is closed until further notice.
Featherston Street staff should work from home if possible, and consult their team leader or manager.
Customer Services have been moved from 109 Featherston Street. Service Delivery and Operations staff with queries about where they should go should contact Adrian Jarvis.
Members of the public with queries about citizenship, births, deaths and marriages or passports should ring our free phone contact centre:
- Citizenship 0800 22 51 51
- Birth, deaths and marriages 0800 22 52 52
- Passports 0800 22 50 50
We are temporarily providing reduced public services at Level 1, 46 Waring Taylor Street.
