950 Broadway,
Tacoma,
98402
Washington,
United States
1. During the week of 7/5/2020, the Tacoma Area Census Office's maximum floor capacity of 33 personnel, was exceeded at the direction of the Area Manager and the Regional Technician. This capacity aligned with Washington State Governor Inslee's Social Distancing Guidelines for COVID-19 regarding capacity per square footage and was identified by 950 Broadway building management. This exceeding of capacity ensured numerous witnesses of social distancing (6 feet) not being followed, largely due to space limitations. The majority of the office staff in the building falls into one or more "at risk" categories for contracting COVID-19. This safety concern was brought up multiple times by the Administrative Manager, and Area Census Office Manager, to senior management, but their concerns went unaddressed as they were instructed to continue overstaffing. The Administrative Manager was instructed to further increase overstaffing for a mass hiring to take place the following week (see item 2). This safety violation goes directly against CDC and Washington State COVID-19 safety directives and puts a staff of approximately 50 personnel at risk. 2. From 7/14/2020 through 7/18/2020, the Tacoma Area Census Office will be hiring approximately 1500 field personnel, with the majority of training classes (+90%) to occur on-site at the 950 Broadway building. While the classes themselves will largely take place across different floors and rooms within the building, building management has dictated a maximum room capacity of 5 personnel, which the Tacoma Area Census Office will be exceeding for a large number of classes. In addition, the majority of staff and new hires will be using the same 2 small elevators in the building, creating a significant exposure risk for all personnel. Lastly, the Mezzanine level will be exceeding their capacity at the order of senior managers. This has the potential to put over 1000 personnel at risk due to limited spacing and inability to effectively follow all social distancing requirements given the conditions at play. Safety concerns regarding the volume of hiring/training to occur were voiced numerous times by various management staff over approximately 1 month prior to training start dates, but complaints were largely dismissed or ignored.
Alleged Hazards: 1, Employees Exposed: 20
Source: Osha.gov | Receipt Date: 2020-07-13
