Ecology's Northwest Regional Office maintains voluminous records for over 40,000 files in the busiest metropolitan area of the state. Without the addition of FTE s, the three Central Records employees have reduced the backlog in filing records, organized the file room for increased efficiency and have increased space in the file room by archiving files older than 10 years. This has been accomplished in the first five months of implementing the changes.
Ecology operates a certified environmental laboratory in Manchester.
The system used to track samples in the analytical process was outdated and did not meet the needs of clients or the lab analysts. Lab analysts determined a new system was needed to handle laboratory samples. A data system was designed to eliminate sample entry bottleneck by dispersing data entry from one computer operator to all of the lab analysts. Lab analysts enter sample data simultaneously and have the ability to track where samples are in the testing and analysis process. One FTE has been eliminated from the lab as a result.