ESCAN 2.0 Improves Training Compliance for Contractors, Decreasing Staff Hours by 80 Percent 

By Molly Bly, Process Improvement Intern

March 29, 2016 

History of ESCAN

The Erosion and Sediment Control Assessment Notebook (ESCAN), a software application currently used to track and report compliance on transportation construction project, has been expanded to include compliance for contractor training and learning. This expansion to “ESCAN 2.0” decreases the staff-hours of effort needed for this reporting by 80 percent!

The implementation of the new ESCAN 2.0 provides many benefits:

1. It reduces the staff-hours need for tracking and reporting Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) Program needs that are currently being recorded by individuals;

2. Additionally, as part of this improvement, ESCAN administrators will no longer have to register and track the 2,000-plus students completing the Transportation Erosion Control Supervisor (TECS) Certification – improving internal Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) efficiency;

3. In addition to improving internal CDOT efficiency, ESCAN 2.0 also enables contractors to self-manage their TECS Certification process and complete continued education classes through the online portal – making it much easier for these contractors; and

4. Finally, ESCAN 2.0 provides contractors with tools concerning water quality for use in the field and to streamline the Regulatory Compliance process.

Construction Compliance

During the summer construction season, CDOT can average 200 projects that require three to fifteen MS4 findings each -- meaning that CDOT is responsible for conducting roughly 2,000 inspections per year. Without a standardized process, it was difficult to inspect, track, and report project compliance. The first version of ESCAN was designed in 2009 jointly by CDOT and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) as a response to these difficulties.

Prior to the adoption of ESCAN, regional staff were responsible for tracking and reporting construction compliance, including: 1) conducting monthly inspections for each project, 2) generating a Form 105, notifying the contractor immediately if a finding was out of compliance, and 3) reporting all required information for the MS4 Annual Report.

The original version of ESCAN standardized the process for measuring construction compliance making it possible for a Regional Erosion Control Assessment Team (RECAT) to track and report thousands of inspections. The Environmental Managing System (EMS) concept is being built into ESCAN, allowing the software to identify where a project is out of compliance and launching an investigation to determine corrective action.

Figure 1 shows a screenshot of the ESCAN tracking database.

“ESCAN 2.0”: Expansion of ESCAN to other MS4 Programs

ESCAN 2.0 improves upon the original ESCAN application to include enhancements to compliance reporting and tracking of the other MS4 Programs. As mentioned above, ESCAN 2.0 introduces a new functionality to track and report contractor compliance to the TECS Certification.

Figure 2 shows the new home page for the ESCAN 2.0 portal. Each tab represents a new MS4 Program that will eventually be phased into the new tracking software.

Key Benefits of the Expansion of ESCAN

CDOT staff and contractors use ESCAN 2.0 to track their compliance with TECS Certification and maintain compliance with CDOT’s MS4 Program. Contractors will be notified about required courses and be able to log course completion in the new ESCAN 2.0 portal, tracking their TECS Certification progress. If any findings do not meet compliance with the TECS Certification, ESCAN 2.0 will initiate an alert for corrective action.

The ability of ESCAN 2.0 to track findings across multiple compliance areas will: 1) minimize risk of compliance failure; 2) standardize the generation of responses; and 3) prompt notifications if further training is necessary, allowing for adaptive management.

In addition to periodic tracking and reporting, ESCAN 2.0 will also be able to efficiently generate an annual report for the entire MS4 Program. ESCAN 2.0 allows for all of these benefits, while also being more efficient.

Broader Application Beyond CDOT: Helping Other DOTs

Several other state DOTs have reached out to CDOT inquiring about ESCAN 2.0, and some have adapted the software to fit their needs.

Gary Vansuch, CDOT’s Director of Process Improvement, said “This is a terrific example of the Lean principle of “taking a burden off of your customer”. The customers who use this ESCAN 2.0 process now spend much less time and effort, and they also get benefits that the prior version of ESCAN did not provide. Moreover, our DOT friends in other states benefit from this, too. This is a terrific example of Team CDOT people working together to make government more effective, efficient and elegant! ”

For additional information about ESCAN 2.0, please contact CDOT’s Tripp Minges at tripp.minges@state.co.us.