“You know, I really don’t think I’m the person to talk to about this,” said Facilities Maintenance & Construction Director Damon Fetters. “This is all the work of employees coming together to make safety a part of the culture and a part of the work that they do.”

Facilities Services set a record safety incident rate of 7.9 for 2015, well under the target of 9. Facilities Maintenance & Construction and Campus Engineering & Operations helped lead the way by coming in significantly below target, and Facilities Employee Services and Emergency Management met their 0-incident targets.

Guest post by FS Chief of Staff LuAnn Stokke

They say the best way to learn a foreign language is immersion—spending time in the place and within the culture where that language is spoken daily, and where its citizens conduct their lives using it. This concept of immersion is the mindset of the Vice Chancellor of Administration at University of California-Riverside, Ron Coley. Coley researched Lean and Balanced Scorecard in higher education, learned about UW Facilities Services, and reached out to Charles Kennedy to learn more.

There’s no doubt that the University has plenty of rivalries. With Washington State University only a few hours away, Huskies across campus are always looking for ways to conquer in competitions.

It’s been a long time since the University first opens its doors on our current campus in 1895.

On February 10, three Facilities Services groups (Transportation Services, UW Recycling and Emergency Management) joined more than 70 other booths at Environmental Health & Safety’s first-ever Safety, Sustainability and Preparedness Expo.

McCarty Hall has housed generations of undergraduates, but now, it’s time for the building to move on. Moving and Surplus was prepared to help.

Stepping Stones is a training program offered by the FS Training Center, in conjunction with the sponsoring department, which gives frontline staff opportunities to learn leadership skills that are necessary for moving up to lead, supervisor and management positions.

In the fall, the crunch is all too familiar.

In the colder months, it’s easy to take water for granted. Warm showers last a little bit longer. Hands linger under the sink, just long enough be rid of the numbness.

For emergency personnel, being prepared for the worst is a part of the job. So when an opportunity came up to use an empty residence hall for a unique training scenario, emergency planners and police lieutenants jumped at the chance.

Down in the H-wing of the Health Sciences Building, one lucky lab has a new replacement lab bench, and it’s made out of 100% recycled paper.

For the first-time ever, a sitting University president paid a visit to two Custodial Services teams to learn about their work on process improvements.

“The way that a place looks can make such a difference in so many ways,” said University President Ana Mari Cauce.

Facilities Services’ Transportation Services and The Whole U joined forces to create the first ever UW Tweed Ride. The historical bicycle tour took community members across campus, stopping for photos along the way.

We’ve all seen them: the green and black bins, tucked away under desks, waiting to be filled with recyclables and garbage.

You may not ever think about what goes on behind-the-scenes when you walk into a nice warm building or hot water comes out of the faucet, but for a dedicated crew of around-the-clock engineers at the power plant, keeping campus comfortable is their highest priority.

To recognize the efforts of the University of Washington campus community, UW Sustainability put together the Sustainability Leadership Celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Campus sustainability leaders, including many from Facilities Services, met in Odegaard Undergraduate Library to commemorate working toward the University’s sustainability goals.

The tower was purchased by the University of Washington from Safeco in 2007, and with it came a dedicated staff of around-the-clock maintenance workers.

On Saturday, Sept. 5 a lone storm cell hit the University of Washington campus and brought with it a bit of lightning. Unfortunately for campus, the lightning bolt hit one of the last trees left on campus planted by UW alumnus and professor Edmond Meany.

Facilities’ own UW Recycling, Emergency Management and Transportation Services, alongside UW Sustainability, took to the bricks to participate in the UW Dawg Daze Student Activities Fair.

Stepping Stones is a training program offered by the FS Training Center, in conjunction with the sponsoring department, which gives frontline staff opportunities to learn leadership skills that are necessary for moving up to lead, supervisor and management positions.