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Report shows savings from lost work days, vehicle accidents

Some statistics for ITD employees dropped the past fiscal year, and that’s a good thing, according to a Human Resource Services report to the Idaho Transportation Board last week. The board met Feb. 20 at Headquarters in Boise.

ITD saw a notable decrease in lost days and related expenses because of injury accidents, the report indicated. There were half as many lost workdays, resulting in a 60 percent drop in related costs for those lost days. A total of 101 work-related injuries occurred in FY12, resulting in 1,085 lost workdays and $377,240 in costs. This compares to 94 injury accidents resulting in 2,278 days lost at a cost of $939,253 the previous year.

In other words, ITD saved more than one-half million dollars in costs resulting from injury accidents in FY12.

Districts 1 and 3 had the highest percentage of employees reporting injury accidents at 9 percent. Districts 5 and 6 had the lowest at 6 percent.

Human Resources also reported considerable savings from vehicle-related accidents.

There were 158 vehicle collisions reported in FY12, resulting in $169,620 in damages, compared to 177 vehicle collisions in FY11 at a cost of $336,187. The statewide rate, including Headquarters, was 3.8 percent. Among the six ITD districts, District 3 reported the highest accident rate of 5.37 percent, and District 5 had the lowest at 2.8 percent.

During fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to date, 44 percent of employees leaving ITD were because of retirements; another 14 percent left for a different job and 7 percent were dismissed.

There are 206 businesses in the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program the past year. Female Caucasians head the majority of those businesses (113), followed by male Hispanics (23) and male Native Americans (19). The department provides outreach and support to businesses that are majority owned by women or minorities.

One of the most popular events is the workshop on “Doing Business with the Government (see related story.”

Other board business

Recreational Trails Program
Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR)
The board heard a report about the Recreational Trails Program that is administered by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. The program was introduced in Idaho in 1990. It is funded by users through federal fuel taxes. Thirty percent of the funds must be used for non-motorized trails, 30 percent for motorized trails and 40 percent for diverse trail opportunities that benefit more than one recreational trail-user type.

IDPR uses the funds to groom snowmobile trails, maintain non-motorized trails, fund safety and education programs, encourage youth conservation and service corps that offer opportunities for economically or educationally disadvantaged people, and to support unique projects like whitewater parks. The funds come from the Federal Highway Administration and are passed through ITD to Parks and Recreation.

The Recreational Trails Program Advisory Committee reviews and prioritizes projects for funding. The committee is composed of representatives from hiking, cross-country skiing, off-highway motorcycling, snowmobiling, equestrian, all-terrain vehicles, bicycling, four-wheel drive vehicles, water trails and people with disabilities. The committee recommends projects to the Idaho Parks and Recreation Board. FHWA has the responsibility for final approval.

Term agreements
ITD staff members provided an overview of the term-agreement process at the monthly business meeting. It was developed in the mid-1980s to streamline the federally required, qualifications-based selection process for procurement of professional engineering and design services. Consultants pre-qualify to perform specific work. They also specify areas in the state where they are available to work.

Attempts are made to complete the work in-house first, though. If no ITD employees are available or qualified to do the work, then a firm is selected from the term agreements list.

According to board policy, ITD can authorize tasks up to $500,000. A variety of activities are allowed under term agreements, including roadway and bridge design, architectural services, surveying and mapping, planning and airport planning and engineering. The department relies heavily on term agreement services, especially for preliminary engineering, and to a lesser extent, construction engineering.

Potential time savings from using the term agreement list, compared to the individual solicitation process, is about 2.5 months.

Term agreement eligibility expires every two years. Companies must re-submit information to be re-approved to work under term agreements; however, the overhead rates for all term agreement consultants must be submitted annually. The Internal Review staff reviews these rates.