Microsoft Word - SOW Safety Committee Scientific Writing and Recording Service_WSB Version 2.docx.pdf

Scientific Writing Services and

Electronic Recording Services

Statement of Work (SOW)

Program Office: Division of Occupational Health and Safety, Office of Research Services, Office of the Director National Institutes of Health

Project Officer: John Veitch National Institutes of Health Division of Occupational Health and Safety BLDG 13 Room 3K04 Bethesda, MD 20892

(301) 451-5823

I. Background

The Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) facilitates innovative research at the NIH by promoting a safe and healthful work environment. DOHS provides leadership, management, and technical authority for comprehensive health and safety programs that collectively minimize health, safety, and regulatory risks to the NIH community. The programs and services of DOHS center on a range of health and safety issues including physical, biological, and chemical safety, animal care and use policies, compliance, medical surveillance, and workplace injury and illness avoidance. Through its extensive and contemporary occupational safety and health training, education, and information programs, DOHS aims to integrate safety awareness and practices into all activities at the NIH.

Supporting the DOHS are safety committees organized at various tiers within the agency. The purpose of this solicitation is to obtain transcription services for five safety committees sponsored by DOHS.

Specifically, the NIH Occupational Safety and Health Committee (OSHC), the IC Safety and Health Committee Chairpersons (ICSHCC) meeting, the Radiation Safety Committee, the Rocky Mountain Laboratory Institutional Biosafety Committee (RML IBC), and the Bethesda Campus Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).

II. Location of Services and Schedule

Committee meetings are held online (e.g., Teams, WebEx, Zoom, etc.), in-person at NIH Bethesda campuses, or in a hybrid format. Building location may vary between meetings and among committees; the vendor will be notified of the location at least one (1) week prior to the scheduled date. The vendor will be notified of schedule changes by e-mail, and if last-minute, they will be notified by telephone. In some cases, the vendor may be asked to schedule and reserve the NIH conference rooms where the meeting will be conducted.

The OSHC committee holds up to 4 meetings per calendar year which are scheduled from 1:30-3:30 PM (EST). The ICSHCC committee holds up to 4 meetings per calendar year and are scheduled from 1:30- 3:00 PM (EST). The IBC meets monthly on the 1st Wednesday and meetings are scheduled from 2:00-5:00 PM (EST). The Radiation Safety Committee (RSC) is scheduled from 1:00-2:30 PM EST). The RML IBC meets up to 12 times per year from 1:00-3:00 PM (MT). All times are in the afternoon, Eastern Standard Time, with the exception of RML, which holds meetings in Mountain Time. The proposed schedule is as follows:

OSHC

1:30-3:30 PM

ICSHCC

1:30-3:00 PM

IBC

2:00-5:00 PM

RSC

1:00-3:00 PM

RML IBC

1:00-3:00 PM

(Mountain time)

---------- January January January January ---------- ---------- February February February March --------- March March March ---------- April April April April ---------- --------- May May May June ---------- June June June ---------- July July July July ---------- ---------- ---------- August August September ---------- September September September ----------- October October October October ----------- ---------- November November November December --------- December December December

* Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

The vendor shall arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled meeting time to ensure accommodations for recording equipment are suitable and available.

The vendor shall confirm their availability with the NIH Project Officer or their designee at least 7 days prior to the scheduled meeting date.

The vendor shall have sufficient staff to ensure coverage for each proposed meeting and have backup personnel in the event of an emergency or other unforeseen event that would delay or cause the assigned writer or recorder to be absent.

The vendor shall also provide hourly pricing for up to 100 hours of technical/scientific writing per year. This would be for supporting ad hoc committee sessions that may occur because of unanticipated committee business and scientific meetings or events (e.g., symposiums, technical meetings, etc.).

III. Technical Requirements

The vendor shall provide set-up and test their own equipment to ensure that it is in proper working condition in advance of the meeting or hearing. The equipment must include a recorder and microphones that will accommodate recording in rooms that range from approximately 200 to 1500 square feet.

The vendor shall attend and record all meetings, providing, operating, and monitoring all aspects of the recording equipment to ensure the meeting is being recorded at the proper level for transcription and copying purposes.

The vendor shall provide a qualified and dependable technical/scientific writer(s) at each meeting.

Specifically for the IBC and RML-IBC meetings the writer shall have at least: (1) a four-year college diploma, and (2) five years of specialized experience in the writing/recording of biological, medical, and radiological research related notes. The writer’s experience must be demonstrated by analogous work with groups that review highly sophisticated molecular biological, biochemical, micro-biological, radiological, or clinical related medical research. Familiarity with the terminology and most of the current practices related to medical research is necessary: such as the principles of recombinant DNA research and molecular cloning, the use of viral vectors in research, the knowledge of in vitro and in vivo research methodologies, the creation of transgenic animals, and the basics of human gene therapy methods.

During the meeting, the vendor shall maintain a detailed log of persons speaking to be used for transcription and minute preparation purposes and to be retained with the transcribed documents.

The meeting minutes shall be detailed and capture the essence of the speaker’s comments, but not word for word.

The vendor shall produce draft meeting minutes within eight (8) business days containing all relevant discussion points for that meeting’s point of contact (POC) for preliminary review and comment. The minutes should contain all critical points and have identified areas or language that needs specific technical review by the POC. The vendor shall work to make necessary corrections with Project Officer.

After NIH review and revisions at the next scheduled meeting, the vendor shall make any additional revisions required and then submit a final copy of the meeting minutes within five (5) business days to the

POC.

IV. Deliverables A draft ‘notes’ transcript for each meeting is due to the Project Officer (or POC) within 5 (5) business days after the meeting conclusion (assume 20 double-spaced pages; 15-25 pgs. for the IBC, RML IBC, and RSC meetings). The meeting minutes will be submitted electronically in a Microsoft Word format. If a set of minutes is unacceptable, as soon as a defect is noted, the DOHS shall promptly notify the vendor in writing or verbally with written confirmation and will return the meeting minutes and the invoice, if an invoice was received, to the vendor. Corrected minutes shall be due within three working days after the transcript/minutes are returned to the vendor. After the initial draft, the writer will provide a refined, formatted, and edited version of the meeting minutes containing all critical scientific points in a ‘markup’ version containing ‘comment dialog boxes’ citing and describing any detail deficiencies where the Executive Secretary review is critical, and also containing highlighted text areas where omissions of information are noted for attention. Completed within five (5) business days of the meeting date.

DOHS may terminate the contract if more than one set of minutes in any six-month period is not completed and/or delivered within the five-day delivery or any other timeline mutually agreed upon with DOHS. DOHS may also terminate the contract if more than one set of minutes in a six-month period is unacceptable to DOHS, if the vendor fails to correct unacceptable minutes within three working days or within a timeline mutually agreed upon by the vendor and DOHS, or if the vendor fails to attend a scheduled meeting.

All deliverables (e.g., reports, presentations, training products, publications, flyers, posters, abstracts, manuscripts, transcripts, etc.) generated by this contract will be the sole property of NIH.

V. Proposals

Vendor proposals shall include; 1) a written discussion of the vendor’s understanding of the scope of work,

2) resumes of qualified personnel (minimally a scientific writer/recorder), 3) a description of company experience providing similar services to other organizations, 4) confirmation that the vendor has sufficient personnel to provide coverage for all meetings, 5) a description of the company’s plan for ensuring data confidentiality, 6) at least two references, 7) sample minutes for similar projects, 9) a list of proposed equipment to be used by the vendor, and 10) a cost per meeting

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Understanding the Scope of Work (20%) Personnel o Scientific writer/recorder (20%) o Other Resumes (20%)

Experience providing similar services to similar organizations (15%) Data Confidentiality (10%) References (5%) Sample Minutes (5%) Equipment List (5%)