Attachment E-Government Answers to Vendor Questions.pdf

Attachment E-Government Answers to Vendor Questions

RFQ No. 75F40124Q00466

1. Many of our clients are exploring software assisted approaches to managing their ergonomics programs. Would your team like for us to incorporate information on our ergonomics software platform including a self-assessment? No. See section “Government-Furnished Property (GFP)” in the RFP.

2. You had an RFQ in 2021 for a practitioner level tool for documenting ergonomic reports. Has any platform been implemented at FDA as a result and will the winning provider be expected to use it for documentation? If not, what is currently being used to document assessment results? See section “Government-Furnished Property (GFP)” in the RFP. When the FDA provided tool is not available, manual documentation on existing program forms is used to document assessment results.

3. Could you please share some report sample for all the different types of assessments (for example, Individual or group assessments, Basic/preventative assessments, accommodation assessments, Return-to-work assessments, Post-injury assessments etc). See section “Government-Furnished Property (GFP)” in the RFP. When the FDA provided tool is not available, manual documentation on existing program forms is used to document assessment results. The FDA is not providing a same at this time.

4. Pricing table 6.0 Pricing on page 2 doesn’t include Staffing for the Ergonomics Resource Center (ERC). Should the pricing be provided in a separate document outside of this table and included in Volume III? The Ergonomics Resource Center (ERC) is located at HQ, which is included in the pricing table.

5. Please provide physical address(s) for the HQ and the National Capital Region (NCR). HQ is located in Silver Spring, MD. NCR encompasses FDA locations in Maryland, such as Rockville, Silver Spring, Baltimore to name a few. FDA does not have comprehensive list physical locations may change through the POP.

6. What type of in-person assessments required for HQ and NCR (RTW, accommodation etc)? Are all of these assessments office based or are there field assessments as well. If so, what’s the approximate percentage for each please. All assessments are office work based. Examples of the assessment types to be performed are in the RFP under “Ergonomic Assessments” table on page 7.

7. What type of in-person assessment required for the FIELD SITES/RESIDENT POSTS (preventative, RTW, accommodation etc)? Could you please provide an example of some of the most common jobs/positions/tasks. All assessments are office work based. See “Tasks”, Ergonomic Services” fourth bullet in the RFP. Examples of the assessment types to be performed are in the RFP under “Ergonomic Assessments” table on page 7.

8. For the virtual assessments, please confirm if these are all office related or could it be any of the types (RTW, accommodation) as well as all environments (office/field). All assessments are office work based. Examples of the assessment types to be performed are in the RFP under “Ergonomic Assessments” table on page 7. The work environments are traditional, remote, and hybrid.

9. How many ergonomists and additional recourses have you had over the past 1-2 years to manage your national ergonomics program? The nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement.

The FDA does not have historical data to provide.

10. We would like to know if this is a brand new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?

The nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement. There is no incumbent performing these services.

11. Given that all work must be performed using FDA-provided laptops, how should assessors be strategically positioned to effectively conduct ergonomics assessments near remote or low-volume sites? Will additional laptops be provided to support remote/one off assessments by the contractor’s network of local providers, or does the FDA support regional travel of 1 or 2 regionally designated providers? Distribution of contractor staff would be at the discretion of the contractor to ensure the performance on this contract is met. Travel is noted in the RFP under “Travel”.

Laptop provisions will be provided to be in accordance with limiting waste.

12. Can you provide insight regarding the historic distribution and volume count of assessments across the 350 FDA sites nationally? Nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement, historic distribution is non-existent.

13. In the SOW, it states that Return to Work and other complex evaluations take only 30 minutes. Is there a standard form leveraged for the more complex assessments that is proven to take 30 minutes? These are typically 1 hour assessments. Examples of the assessment types to be performed are in the RFP under “Ergonomic Assessments” table on page 7 state that “Basic/Follow-Up/Return-to-work Assessments: up to 30 minutes each Medical-Related (RA/Post-injury/Assistive Technology) Assessments: up to 1 hour each”

14. Are there specific recommendations or best practices for positioning assessors to ensure optimal coverage and response time while addressing any logistical challenges related to the use of these FDA laptops? Nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement. Distribution of contractor staff would be at the discretion of the contractor to ensure the performance on this contract is met.

15. In the pricing sheet, can you clarify the difference between extended price of one year and the base price of the next year? Extended price refers to Quantity of units x Unit Price for total price for that item. Base Price is the total price of the Base Year, i.e. the first year of the contract.

16. Is this solicitation a recompete of an existing contract or a new requirement? If this is a recomplete, can you please provide incumbent's name and the contract number? Nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement.

17. The solicitation estimates about 4,500 in-person assessments nationwide. Will the Government work with the contracting team to minimize travel frequency? For example, instead of traveling 4,500 times for every single assessment, coordinate with the COR so that we can get as many assessments done per trip and reduce the number of travels. Yes, when possible, coordination will be considered.

18. Will everyone on the contract receive FDA ID badge and laptop or only those who are assigned at the Ergonomic Resource Center (ERC)? Only those identified as ergonomists performing assessments on a continuous basis will be provided with GFE.

19. The solicitation does not mention about submitting past performance as part of the proposal. Can you please confirm this? There is not a past performance evaluation factor. However, the government may review CPARS records as part of its responsibility determination.

20. Page 5: Under the "Ergonomic Services", "Return-to-work assessments" and "Post-injury assessments". Are these assessments purely from ergonomics perspectives but not medical perspectives by a licensed health provider? Will the contracting team involved in responding to the incident and/or reviewing After Action report? What is the timeline on the report for "Return to Work" assessment? The response is from an ergonomics perspective. Examples of the assessment types to be performed are in the RFP under “Ergonomic Assessments” table on page 7, list “Post-injury assessment”.

The “Deliverables” section of the RFP does not require After Action reports.

The “Deliverables” section of the RFP defines the timeline for all ergonomic assessment reports.

21. Page 6: Under the "Assessment Scheduling", please explain what the FDA's internal scheduling and tracking system means (e.g. a scheduling software, Outlook calendar, etc.). Internal Customer Service Desk and Outlook calendar.

22. Page 6: Under the "Assessment Scheduling", it says "Respond to … within 24 hours of request submission". Is it the Government's expectation that the contractor starts the assessment within 24 hours of the request submission or start the planning/coordination phase within the 24 hours? The full statement from the RFP says” Respond to ergonomic inquires received via the FDA Ergonomics email account or the ERIC Safety Coordination Agency Ergonomics ticketing system within 24 hours of request submission.”

23. Page 6: Under the "Assessment Scheduling", it says "Understand that appointment notification for ergonomic assessments may be provided by the COR. The COR has full discretion to adjust or alter… calendar to fil the needs of the government…". Will the contractor still receive advance notification for scheduling but not the same day assessment? Yes, advance notice will be provided.

24. Page 7: Government provided numbers of the in-person (3,500/year/DC area, 4,500/year/Nationwide) and virtual assessments (3,500/year/DC area, 4,500/year/Nationwide).

From these numbers, can you please provide a breakdown of anticipted number of Basic Assessment/Return to Work, Reasonable Accommodations, Post-Injury Assessment, Assistive Technology Assessment, Virtual Assessments, and Follow-up Assessments? Nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement, historical data is not available.

25. Page 7: FDA estimates 3,500 in-person assessments in NCR, 4,500 in-person nationwide, and 5,000 virtual assessment. This totals up to 13,000 assessments per year. How accurate is this assessment?

Does the Government have any historical data that they can provide? The FDA is providing this estimate, this is not a guarantee of actual utilization. Nationwide ergonomic services are a new requirement, historical data is not available.

26. Page 8: "Use FDA-furnished ergonomic equipment" - will the government provide FDA-furnished equipment to the contractors who have to travel to visit FDA sites that are not in NCR? The RFP states this pertains to the “Ergonomics Resource Center (ERC)” which is in the NCR.

27. Page 11: In the Delivery table, Ergonomic Assessment Report if necessary can include before and after photos. Can a contractor use their non government issued camera take photos or should it be done using FDA issue camera? The GFE provided includes cameras and shall be used to take photos when necessary.

28. Page 12: In the Travel section, "any travel costs incurred would be at cost to the contractor". For us to accurately price out the yearly budget using FFP model, can the Government please provide location of the 350 FDA facilities (mentioned on page 5), and any historical data relating to the number of ergonomic assessments per location? The FDA does not have a set address for all locations to be serviced, the locations may vary throughout the period of performance.