Contacts and Personnel

On the Contacts and Personnel form, document information about employees and outside contacts. For example, you might document the following people:

• Essential users at your facility

• Personnel who manage incoming MSDSs at your facility

• Agents at a regulatory agency

• Contacts at vendor facilities

• Employees at your facility that you monitor for exposure to stressors

• Individuals who should be contacted in an emergency

• Technical contacts who should be referenced on reports

• Environmental engineers

• Personnel who are responsible for completing tasks or supervising task completion

Add address, personal, training, certification, and position information for contacts and personnel in the sections on this form.

Tip:  The sections and features displayed on the Contacts and Personnel form are module-dependant, i.e., just the sections/features relevant to the module appear. For example, when working in the Emergency module, the Deployments section is displayed to show a history of incident deployments. When working with the Compliance Manager module, the Deployments section does not apply and is not displayed.

For instruction on how to enter contacts and personnel, click the following links or use the scroll bar to scan the page.

Note:  After validating personnel on the Contacts and Personnel form, the appropriate entity access and permissions must be granted on the User Manager form before contacts can be selected for task assignments. If you indicate that a contact is not eligible for task assignments on this form, task assignment access and permissions cannot be granted on the User Manager form.

To enter contacts and personnel

1. Click Data Entry > Validation > Contacts and Personnel in the Navigation Tree to access the Contacts and Personnel list.
   
   For the Emergency module, click Data Entry > Resources > Contacts and Personnel.

2. Click the New button.
   
   The Contacts and Personnel form is displayed.

3. Select a Designation from the list and enter a Contact ID.
   
   Enter an employee number or some other type of identification as a contact ID to distinguish between individuals with the same name. When an ID exists, is is included with the contact name in selection lists for contact-related fields.

4. Type the contact's name in the First Name, Middle Initial, and Last Name fields.

5. Click the Save button on the form.

6. Add information in the Address Information, General Information, Confidential Information, Additional Addresses, Additional Phone and Other Numbers, Additional Emails, Training, Certification, Position, and Attachments sections. Use the Deployments section to deploy personnel for incidents established in the Essential Emergency module.

7. Click the Save button on the form.

8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 to add other contacts and personnel.
   
   Tip:  An existing contact and personnel record cannot be deleted when the contact is part of a temporary task reassignment.

Adding Address Information

Add address information for a contact in the Address Information section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping. If the contact has more than one address, enter other addresses in the Additional Addresses section.

To add address information

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Address Information section if necessary.

2. Use the following guidelines when entering address information:

1. • The entry in the Country field determines the field label and list values for the "Area" (states, provinces, etc.) field, which is located directly below the City field. Countries and Areas are defined on the Countries form. Select a country from the list in the Country field first and then select a value for the corresponding "Area" field.

   • If the selection list for the "Area" or Country field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button next to the field and add it.

3. Click the Save button on the form.
   
   Use the map buttons to view contact location information.

Adding General Information

Add general information for contacts and personnel, such as their titles, phone numbers, email addresses, and departments in the General Information section on the Contacts and Personnel form. The email notification functionality available in select modules depends on the email address information entered in this section. If the contact has more than one phone number or email address, enter the information in the Additional Phone and Other Numbers or Additional Emails section.

Specify expenses associated with a contact's services, such as contracting fees, in the Cost field.

An MSDS distribution preference can be identified in the Communication Method field for contacts who receive MSDSs from your facility. The hard copy, FAX, and email methods are used by the MSDS Bulk Distribution utility. If the contact's preferred communication method is hard copy, make sure complete address information for the contact is entered in the Address Information section; if the preferred communication method is email or FAX, enter an email address or FAX number for the contact in the General Information section. Use the Sent Manually option to indicate MSDSs are sent to this customer manually and MSDS requests should not be processed by the MSDS Bulk Distribution utility.

If a contact is not eligible for task assignment, indicate that the contact is unavailable in the General Information section. This option also applies to corrective actions in the Incident and Audit modules. If the contact is available for task assignment, a corrective action can be assigned to the contact.

Note:  The Not Available For Task Assignment option must be unselected and the appropriate entity access and permissions must be granted on the User Manager form before a contact can be assigned tasks. If you indicate that a contact is not eligible for task assignments on the Contacts and Personnel form, task assignment access and permissions cannot be granted on the User Manager form.

When the contact has been assigned at least one task, the No. of Assigned Tasks: link is displayed at the bottom of the General Information section. Click the link to view a Task List of the open and not completed task assignments.

Select the Available for Case Management option to indicate the contact can be assigned cases and receive case review notifications for Incident Case Management.

For the Emergency module, the Active Status field is used to indicate a contact's incident deployment status. The field must be blank or contain the Active value in order for the contact to be listed on the Available Resources report.

Track job titles and their effective dates in the Title Information subsection. Job titles apply for OSHA 300 and other regulatory reporting and are displayed in some Essential standard reports. Just one title can be in effect on any particular date for a contact.

To add general information for contacts and personnel

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the General Information section if necessary.

2. Use the following guidelines when entering general information:

1. • Select the contact's preferred method for receiving MSDSs from the list in the Communication Method field. Make sure information is supplied for the method chosen, e.g., the Email field contains the contact's email address when the Email method is selected.

   • Use the Sent Manually communication method to indicate that MSDSs are sent to this customer manually and that MSDS requests should not be processed by the MSDS Bulk Publishing tool.

   • The email notification functionality available in select modules depends on the email address information entered in this section.

   • Enter supplemental phone numbers and email addresses in the Additional Phone and Other Numbers and Additional Emails sections.

   • If the contact is not eligible for task assignment, indicate the contact is unavailable in this section. This option also applies to corrective actions in the Incident and Audit modules. If the contact is available for task assignment, a corrective action can be assigned to the contact.

   • Use the Cost field to enter expenses associated with a contact's services, such as contracting fees.

   • If the list for the Language, Active Status, or Assigned Status field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button next to the field and add it.

   • Select the Available for Case Management option to indicate the contact can be assigned cases and receive case review notifications for Incident Case Management.

   • An entry in the Employee Hire Date field will automatically populate the Date Hired field on the OSHA form 301 report when no date of hire has been specified on the Incident form.

3. Click Add Contact Title to enter a job title.

4. Enter the Title and Effective Date. The Calendar button is available to select the date.
   
   Just one title can be in effect on any particular date.

5. Click OK.
   
   The title is displayed as a line item in the Title Information subsection. Use the buttons adjacent to the line item to edit the information.

6. Click the Save button on the form.

Adding Confidential Information

Caution:  Due to the sensitive and private nature of information in this section, make sure you set up the appropriate security access in your security profiles.

You can add personal information, such as birth date, race, and social security number, in the Confidential Information section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping.

Tip:  Beginning with the Essential 7.6 release, all social security numbers are encrypted. A utility has been included with the Essential 7.6 release to encrypt existing social security numbers in your database. Refer to the Essential release documentation for additional information.

To add confidential information

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Confidential Information section if necessary.

2. Use the following guidelines when entering confidential information:

1. • Type date entries or use the Calendar button to select dates.

   • If the list for the Race field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button and add it.

3. Click the Save button on the form.

Entering Additional Addresses

Enter supplemental address information for a contact in the Additional Addresses section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping. Enter primary address information in the Address Information section.

To enter additional addresses

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to open the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Additional Addresses section if necessary.

2. Click Add Address.

3. Use the following guidelines when entering address information:

1. • The entry in the Country field determines the list values for the State field. Countries and Areas (states, provinces, etc.) are defined on the Countries form. Select a country from the list in the Country field first and then select a value for the State field.

   • If the selection list for the State or Country field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button next to the field and add it.

4. Enter a Description for the supplemental address and click Save.

The address information is added as a line item in the Additional Addresses section. Edit existing address information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

5. Click the Save button on the form.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to add other addresses.

Entering Additional Phone and Other Numbers

Add supplemental phone numbers, or other numbers, such as radio, FAX, and pager numbers, for a contact in the Additional Phone and Other Numbers section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping. Enter primary phone and FAX numbers in the General Information section.

To enter additional phone numbers

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to open the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Additional Phone and Other Numbers section if necessary.

2. Click Add Phone.

3. Enter a Description of the number.

4. Enter the number in the Phone Radio and Extension fields.

5. Click Save.
   
   The phone information is added as a line item in the Additional Phone and Other Numbers section. Edit existing phone information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

6. Click the Save button on the form.

7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 to add other numbers.

Entering Additional Email Addresses

Add supplemental email address information for a contact in the Additional Emails section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping. Enter the contact's primary email address in the General Information section.

To enter additional email addresses

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to open the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Additional Emails section if necessary.

2. Click Add Email.

3. Enter an Email address and a Description for the supplemental email address.

4. Click Save.
   
   The email address is added as a line item in the Additional Emails section. Edit existing email information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

5. Click the Save button on the form.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to add other email addresses.

Adding Training Information

Add information about courses attended by personnel, such as CPR, Chemical Identification, Evacuation Planning, etc., in the Training section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping and filling incident deployment requirements. When searching for a staff member or an outside contact to carry out a task, you can quickly ascertain who has the required OSHA or other certification and training to perform the task.

To add training information

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Training section if necessary.

2. Click the Add Course button to open the Personnel Training form.

3. Use the following guidelines when entering training information:

1. • Type date entries or use the Calendar button to select dates.

   • If the list for the Course or Status field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button next to the field and add it.

4. Click Save.
   
   The course information is displayed as a line item in the Training section. Edit existing course information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to add other training information.

6. Click the Save button on the form.

Adding Certification Information

Add certifications, such as CPR, Radiation Safety Officer, ICS 100, etc., earned by contacts and personnel in the Certification section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping and filling incident deployment requirements. When searching for a staff member or an outside contact to carry out a task, you can quickly ascertain who has the required OSHA or other certification and training to perform the task.

To add certification information

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Certification section if necessary.

2. Click the Add Certification button to open the Personnel Certification form.

3. Use the following guidelines when entering certification information:

1. • Type date entries or use the Calendar button to select dates.

   • If the list for the Certification or Status field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button next to the field and add it.

4. Click Save.
   
   The certification information is displayed as a line item in the Certification section. Edit existing certification information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to add other certifications.

6. Click the Save button on the form.

Adding Position Information

Enter position information for contacts and personnel in the Position section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping and filling incident deployment requirements.

To add position information

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Position section if necessary.

2. Click the Add Position button to open the Personnel Position form.

3. Use the following guidelines when entering position information:

1. • Specify the Position the person assumes in an emergency situation.

   • If the list for the Position, ICS Branch, or ICS Unit field does not contain the required value, click the Ellipsis button next to the field and add it.

   • Indicate the Station where the person is assigned, e.g., Radio Room, HazMat desk, etc.

   • Assign a contact Priority from 1 to 999 that determines when the person should be notified. Priority 1 is the highest priority and is called first.

   • Use the Shift and Availability fields to specify when the contact can work.

   • Use the Rate field to enter numeric contracting fees, e.g., 30.00 for $30/hr.

4. Click Save.
   
   The position information is displayed as a line item in the Position section. Edit existing position information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

5. Click the Save button on the form.

Viewing Incident Deployments

For the Emergency module, the Deployments section on the Contacts and Personnel form lists the contact's deployments to incidents, Daily Log events, and injury/illness occurrences. Incident information and the activation/demobilization date/time is available for review. Click the incident link to access the Watch List Common Deployment form for the incident where additional deployment details can be viewed.

Viewing Team Associations

The Contacts and Personnel Teams section on the Contacts and Personnel form lists each team the contact has been associated with. Establish teams and assign individual contacts to the teams using the Contacts and Personnel Team form (or the Team form in the Essential Emergency module).

Adding Dependent Information

For the Emergency module, enter contact information for dependents or relatives of personnel in the Dependents section on the Contacts and Personnel form. This information can be useful for recordkeeping and emergency notification purposes.

To add dependent information

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Dependents section if necessary.

2. Click the Add Dependent button to open the Dependent form.

3. Enter the required first and last name of the dependent.

4. Enter any address, phone, and/or email information.

5. Click OK.
   
   The dependent information is displayed as a line item in the Dependents section. Edit existing information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to add other dependents.

7. Click the Save button on the form.

Adding and Viewing Reference Documents

The following two methods are available for adding related files that exist in third-party applications, such as Microsoft Word, to a contact and personnel record:

1. Document Links - Set up a hyperlink to the file. Optionally, the location of an off-line reference can be specified without a link.

2. Document Attachments - Add a file to the record. The default maximum file upload size supported by ASP.NET is 4096 KB (4MB). The default can be modified to support larger file uploads, i.e., attaching files larger than 4MB. For instructions to increase the default value, refer to Microsoft (https://docs.microsoft.com) and view the article: httpRuntime Element (ASP.NET Settings Schema).

Each link or attachment is displayed as a line item in the Attachments section on the Contacts and Personnel form. Attachments and linked documents can be viewed by clicking the link.

Note:  In order to view a file listed in the Attachments section, desktop access to the particular software used to create the file must be available. For example, access to Microsoft Word is required to view an attachment created as a Word file (.doc, .docx).

To add document links

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Attachments section if necessary.

2. Click Add Link.

3. Enter a Description of the document.

4. Enter the full file path to the document in the Document Location field.

5. Select a Document Type from the list.
   
   If the appropriate type is not listed, click the Ellipsis button and add it.

6. Ensure the Is Hyperlink check box is selected to establish the link.
   
   When specifying an off-line location, ensure the Is Hyperlink check box is not selected.

7. Click OK.
   
   The document information is added as a line item in the Attachments section. Click the link to view the file. Edit existing attachment information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

8. Click Save.

9. Repeat steps 2 through 8 to add other document links.

To add document attachments

1. Locate the contact on the Contacts and Personnel list, click the contact link to display the Contacts and Personnel form, and expand the Attachments section if necessary.

2. Click Add Attachment.

3. Enter a file path in the File field or click Browse to locate and select a file.

4. Enter a Description of the attachment.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to add a second and/or third attachment.

6. Click OK.
   
   Each attachment is added as a line item in the Attachments section. Click the link to view the file. Edit existing attachment information using the buttons adjacent to the line item.

7. Click Save.

8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 to add other attachments.