What do I need to know about ATXHS and COVID Policies?

COVID Time
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[Edited by @J-LoM]

Update 2020-07-12: Consolidated info and closing this thread

TL;DR: All the latest info is now consolidated in the new-and-improved Google Doc here:

COVID Reopen Plan & Policies

Many thanks to @Tookys for curating the original version of this thread to make sure it had the latest essential info for access to ATXHS. The multiple copies of information was starting to diverge more and more, though, so we took a pass to consolidate a “single source of truth”.

Along the way, we tried to make the main document easier to use as a quick-reference for current rules and procedures.

Subscribe to Future Updates:

See the Operations::Updates Discourse category. It includes an archive of email announcements and info on how to subscribe.

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[Major edits to turn this from a response to a frequently asked questions]

FAQs

We will update this page as members reach out with questions.

Please email reopen@atxhs.org with any questions!

Can I prep some materials in the wood shop before or between my jobs on the CNC while signed up only on the CNC calendar?

Yes, as long as you are not encroaching on the space of members who have the woodshop reserved. You must maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet from other members. Members must clean/sanitize any tools used immediately before/after use. This goes for all reservations such as the laser, metal shop, etc.

Note: The lasers and CNC require you to be vigilant at all times. Please do not run CNC while using other equipment that requires your full attention such as table saw, router table, planer/jointer, sanders, etc.

Can I put myself on a waitlist for a time slot in an already booked area?

Skedda does not have this as a built-in feature, but we would like to find a way to make this possible perhaps through some other automations. If you have ideas on this, join the Reopen Team or email the team your ideas at reopen@atxhs.org.

If I see someone has a bumpable reservation in Skedda that I need to take, how do I bump that member?

Member’s personal contact information is not shared in Skedda unless that member decides to share it in the title of their booking. If the member has provided a mode of contact and you are comfortable reaching out, you may do so directly. Otherwise, please reach out to reopen@atxhs.org and we will help make the adjustment.

I have a glue up I’m only able to do at ATXHS. Can I do it and how should I book my time?

Is there any way to do the glue-up at home? If not: make a note in the description of your booking that you will be doing this and if possible, reserve as late a slot in the day to do your glue-up and an early slot the next day to retrieve the work. If this becomes an issue where space is not available due to glue-ups being left, we may have to reassess.

I want to reserve time on the 3D printers, but using Skedda seems a bit wonky for that given there may be a long period of time where the printer is working on the job and thus unavailable. How do we account for this and communicate when a printer is truly available?

Accounting for this in Skedda so far is difficult. Ideally, we would like to set up a dashboard like the one below that all members could access. This would show whether the printer is running as well as some other notable information about temperature.

The example above is in LogicMonitor, which Valerie has a personal portal we could use to develop this in. If you are interested in helping get this project set up, please reach out to board@atxhs.org.

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Texas restrictions currently state that businesses allowed to reopen can allow 25% of occupancy. Why aren’t more people allowed into the space at a time?

In addition to a cap at no more than 25% occupancy, there are also requirements for maintaining appropriate distance which has been defined as 6 feet. While our official fire code capacity may put the 25% occupancy count much higher than what we are allowing, the required 6 ft distance coupled with the layout and movement in the workshop puts our actual allowed occupancy much lower. If you have ideas on this, join the Reopen Team or email the team your ideas at reopen@atxhs.org.

My housemate and I are both members and would like to come to the space together. Is this allowed under one booking reservation?

If you and your fellow member housemate will both be using the same area, you may book under one reservation with both your names in the title of the reservation. If you plan to use different areas, a reservation should be made in each area. Distancing rules still apply with your interactions with other members whom you do not cohabitate with, however they do not apply to you and your housemate.

REMINDER: Guests are not permitted at this time. Your housemate must also be a member.

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Speaking as a private individual who is not on the re-open team — I view the steward role not as an enforcement role but a training role and a process improvement role. So rather than “ensure schedules are followed, and sanitization is taking place” I’d say “ensure the scheduling system works well, that the sanitization processes make sense and that the core volunteers are doing a good job of making it straightforward, and helping members understand and follow safe practices.” They’re monitoring the system, not the members.

For the training role, it’s to sign off that members can and will fully execute the sanitization protocols, so that we eventually let such members use the space with no steward present, or that there are enough stewards to be at full opening. (The pace of that, and the policies around it, will be set by the reopen team so that members feel safe coming to the space, and is currently limited by the pace that volunteers can implement the systems).

Hacker culture means questioning constraints — which, sometimes, means breaking the stupid rules, having gathered the deep experience to know the consequences. But even deeper in Hacker culture — so much that it’s our founding ethos — is to “Be Excellent”. We let people make dumb decisions about safety glasses; it’s only their eyes at risk. But we do not let people make “personal” decisions about recklessly using the table saw. There is nothing excellent about sending a harmful physical object across the shop to harm another member. whether it’s table saw kickback or a packet of COVID virus. In both cases the cause is almost always poor process documentation and/or education requirements; and of the remainder, well-meaning inattention, or being overtired or otherwise mentally depleted. We’re in a world where basically everyone has to re-take the wood shop safety class, except that nobody has ever taught any class like it and it can only be given to a half-dozen people at the same time, standing six feet apart. I know there’s a camp of people who see the board and core volunteers as a cadre of stick-up-their-butt wusses instituting a police state, where every member is suspect and we know best; the 10-40 unpaid hours a week we spend have the primary goal of keeping the space closed. (You should see the mail we get).

The suspect in the crime of “breaking the safety rules” is not the member — it is the clarity of our communications and the systems the reopen safety team is setting up. What parts of the instructions are unclear or incomplete? What things are too hard or time-consuming, and how do we simplify them? To the extent possible, it’s safer to have shifts start and end at the same time — which means they will be sanitizing at the same time. Do we need extra of some tools or supplies so that there’s enough to go around? We have a very powerful, very dangerous UV light that can help disinfect an area. What safety precautions do we need around it? How many people can work simultaneously and safely in the wood shop? What if we spread some tables into the auto bay? The loft areas have a much bigger potential for particle spread — should we put acrylic up to interdict this? What is the air flow through the space; would adding extra filters help mitigate spread?

Someone has to actually do the work to research and discuss these, document the answers, make the decisions, train the members, validate the processes, and most of all do the work to implement them — that’s the very long explanation of what the stewards are.

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Should have said this first — wow, thanks so much for doing this! This is exactly the kind of thing that not only helps us reopen faster but recharges our enthusiasm to help the space.

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What’s the difference between the two Workshop columns in the calendar?

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I believe it’s because 2 people can use the workshop at once (as long as they keep their distance.

Would need somebody who is involved to clarify if that’s correct though.

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Phase 2 has been started, everybody who is a paying member should have received an email invitation to skedda.

Check your spam/promotions folders.

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The two workshop columns have different icons, so I’m wondering if that means that they’re for different parts of the workshop.

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Good question @timur, it does not have any sort of indication like that. I can change them to be the same icon, that probably does make more sense given that there isn’t anything distinctly different about those reservations.

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@Tookys that’s not how the Skedda invite is being sent. Please read the email update I sent out last night for details on where the Skedda invite is found. The email subject is “:white_check_mark: ATXHS Now Open to All Members” (if your email filters messages you should be able to find it by searching this subject) and contains screenshots stepping through to show members where to get access. If you can’t find the message in your email, I believe you can also view it directly with this link here.

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[First message updated with access requirements, skedda access and info about joining the re-open team]

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FYI for anyone following this thread: I am actively working on unifying the information here into a “single source of truth” in the Reopen Plan Google Doc:
https://bit.ly/atxhs-reopen

Huge thanks to @Tookys for compiling and updating the info here, but it is getting confusing and hard to maintain two different copies of info. Once we have the google doc updated, I’ll edit the top post here down to just a link and very brief summary. After that, we can still use this thread for discussion if that’s useful.

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I worked on our Guest waiver and that’s ready to go. :slight_smile: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd70ykHzsZ47qGSeKuCboVO24iRywG8jheVFEW-A29L3RONPA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Thank you,
Kye

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As a side, note, we may need to get all members to re-sign the new waiver, just to keep the records straight.

Question becomes how to create a virtual signature for legal purposes. (just because my name has been submitted, doesnt mean it was me who did it etc. legal speak)

Smart waiver allows the use of a digital signature, which may be important (I’m no lawyer)

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With the current announcements by Mayor Adler, what are the current plans for the shop if the lockdown mandate is declared for Stage-5?

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This is on the agenda for our board meeting tonight. We’ll update once we’ve met and discussed.

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Just wanted to highlight that I posted about this here – Austin Stages & ATXHS