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PM Crew Knows Yale's Comfort Zones
A warm office or building in the winter months, a cool office or building during the heat and humidity of the summer, running water in the sink, a toilet that flushes: all are fair expectations of any Yale University employee or student. And these expectations are nearly always met due to the day-in-day-out work of Physical Plant's Equipment Preventive Maintenance (PM) crew, who maintain mechanical equipment of all varieties in order to reduce the instances of emergency repairs. Throughout the year, the 19-member crew is responsible for maintaining equipment such as air handling units, exhaust and supply fans, and heating and sewage-ejector pumps, to name a few. They also maintain many other pieces and parts that keep the equipment running in every large building on campus. This adds up to over 200 buildings in which the crew greases bearings, oils pumps, checks and changes belts, and replaces air filters—over 20,000 filters in a year. The time required to inspect these buildings depends on the building itself—at Sterling Memorial Library, for instance, it takes one Equipment PM crew member two weeks to inspect all its equipment. "Each piece of equipment is unique," says James Mancini, the Equipment PM supervisor, who has worked at Yale since 1979. "And each piece of equipment is modeled to each building." The Equipment PM crew was formed in January 2007. Interviews were conducted to find staff with specific types of mechanical experience and once hired, their skills were enhanced with extensive on-the-job training. The first crew was made up of two helpers and one mechanic. Today, it consists of seven helpers and 12 mechanics, three of whom are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year. Helpers Sharon Baldyga, Junious Barnes (35 years), Angel Canales, Cecilia Curran, Terri Henderson, Marcia Riley and Bonnie Syphrette work closely with Mechanics Milton Cannon (40 years), Steve Cretella, James Edwards, Carmen Gambradella, Mike Giaimo, Anthony Grillo, Ron Lipka, Ralph Melillo, Mark Russo, Mike Santarcangelo, Pete Steinis, and George Terry (25 years). "We stay on top of the maintenance, and in the long run it saves the University money and keeps the equipment running better," says Mancini. "Less emergency repairs means more comfort day-to-day for our students, faculty, and staff." |
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