ITD/FHWA Risk Assessment Team focus on continual agency improvement
For each of the last 20 years, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have collaborated on a risk and opportunity assessment to look at ways to improve daily work products and processes. The early years of the partnership focused more heavily on figuring out ways to minimize risk, but ITD’s shift in culture has meant that recent collaborations have spent at least as much time evaluating opportunities.
Employees have helped to solve these problems. Last year, employees helped select seven risks and opportunities to focus on, including right of way, environment, work zone safety, pavement markings, working with Disadvantaged Business Enterprise groups, and quality assurance and measurement (discussed below).
It is that time of year again. The next online survey is planned for Thursday, Jan. 19.
Employees may have responded to an online survey in the past, or participated in face-to-face discussions about risk and opportunity. That led to a few questions — what does leadership do with all of the information gathered? What is the purpose? Why should you care? And, what is a risk assessment, anyway?
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks, and using agency resources to minimize and monitor the impact of risk. Risk management can also be maximizing opportunities to make a positive impact. Resources have limitations. So, every year after the risk assessment, the two agencies choose their top priorities.
During the FY16 risk assessment, participants in the risk assessment online survey said that the level of quality assurance testing and material acceptance process was a top risk because high-risk materials were not necessarily being tested thoroughly. This is important because there were opportunities to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and shift time priorities. ITD and FHWA formed two teams to look at these processes.
The quality assurance testing and material acceptance team included Amy Revis and Shawna King from D3, Jeff Drager and Marvin Fenn from D1, Paula Pintar from D2, Pat Grayson from D5, and Kyle Holman of FHWA.
The construction measurement team included Revis from D3, John Ingram from Headquarters, Doug Yearsley from D4, Wade Allen from D6, and Jason Giard of FHWA.
The team recommended five changes:
- Accept certain standard items by manufacturer’s certification
- Accept pulverized roadbed by visual inspections
- Reduce the testing frequency for soft-spot repair
- Update the Quality Assurance Manual and address errors
- Incorporate lump sum and plan quantities to simplify the measurement process.
ITD recently incorporated these recommendations in supplemental specifications. The changes are in use today, and are already saving time and money, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of field personnel.
Quality assurance and materials may not be relevant to every person’s work, but the yearly risk and opportunity assessment gives every person at ITD and FHWA an opportunity to tell us what’s not working and how to improve it. So, this year, when you get the email with the link to the survey, please take a few minutes to tell us what you think. Where are the risks in the work you do every day? And what are the opportunities to make things better? Your input makes a difference.
Published 01-13-17