RDOS Safety Audit Executive Summary
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Transcript of RDOS Safety Audit Executive Summary
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Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThisisaBCMunicipalSafetyAssociationCertificateofRecognition(COR)certificationauditfortheRegionalDistrictofOkanaganSimilkameenconductedbyDeanSinclair,RPF,CRSPofDCSConsultingLtd.TheaudittookplaceonsiteApril22-26andApril29-30,2013.TheapplicableWorkSafeBCaccountnumberis112594andtheclassificationunitis753004-LocalGovernmentandRelatedOperations.TheauditdocumentutilizedwastheBCMunicipalSafetyAssociationLargeCompanyElectronicAuditToolandcoveredall8elements:1. OrganizationalCommitment2. ProgramsandProcedures3. HazardIdentification,RiskAssessmentandControl4. Training,EducationandCertification5. Inspections6. InvestigationsofIncidents/Accidents7. ProgramAdministration
8. JointHealthandSafetyCommittee
TheInjuryManagementauditwaswithinthescopeofthiscontractandElement9oftheauditdocumentwasincluded.
TheRegionalDistrictofOkanagan-Similkameen(RDOS)islocatedinsouthernBCandcoversapproximately10,400km2inanareafromManningParktothewest,Peachlandtothenorth,AnarchistMountaintotheeastandtheUnitedStatesbordertothesouth.RDOSisresponsibleformanagingandprovidingavarietyofservicestoapopulationofapproximately55,000,includingeconomicdevelopment,parksandrecreation,emergencyservicesanddevelopmentsuchasconstruction.
UniquetotheRegionalDistrictaretheperipheraloperationsassociatedwithParksandRecreationandVolunteerFireDepartments.TheRDOStakesaveryhands-offapproachtotheseoperationsandisnotdirectlyinvolvedwiththeassociatedemployeeseventhoughtheyareemployedbyRDOS.
TheRegionalDistrictfunds8ParksandRecreationCommissionswhoareresponsibleforicerinks,communityfacilities,playgrounds,poolsandotherrecreationalassets.Aswasthecaseduringthe2010certificationaudit,theRDOSboardappointstherecreationcommissionswhoareresponsiblefortheday-to-dayoperationsofthecommissions,buttheworkforceisemployed(paid)bytheRDOSandnotthecommissions.Astheemployer,theRDOSisresponsibleformanagingthesafetyoftheParksandRecreationCommissionemployees,whichdoesnotcurrentlymeettherequirements.ThenatureofthisrelationshiphasexposedtheRDOSshouldanincidentoccur.
Similarly,thefiredepartmentsalsoactindependentlyintermsofsafetymanagementwithnoguidanceoractiveinvolvementfromRDOS.Neitherofthe2departmentsauditedusedtheRDOSsafetymanagementsystem,bothrelyingonexisting,outofdatesystems.
Arecommendationwasmadeinthe2010certificationaudittodevelopasinglesafetymanagementsystemthatappliedtoallRegionalDistrictoperations,includingperipheraloperations.Action#7fromthe2010CORCertificationauditactionplanstates:
AsinglesafetymanagementsystemshouldbeimplementedacrossalloperationswhereRegionalDistrictemployeework.SafetyProgramsshouldbeconsolidated,userfriendlyandreadilyaccessibletoallemployees.Ataminimum,itshouldincludestatementsaboutsafetyresponsibilities,writtenprocedures,trainingandinstructionofworkers,hazardidentificationandcontrol,workplaceinspections,investigationofincidentsandaccidents,responsibilitiesofthejointHealthandSafetyCommittee,andprogramadministration.UpdatethecurrentRDOSprogramandrollouttoperipheral
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operations.
ItwasgivenaBPriority,(moderate-tobecompletedwithin4-8months)withtargetimplementationdateofFebruary28,2011.Therewerenoindicationsduringthe2013auditthatanyaspectofthissignificantrecommendationhavebeenconsideredorimplemented.
TheRegionalDistrictofOkanaganSimilkameenemploysapproximately220peopleinawidevarietyofoccupationsin8departments.DescriptionsofresponsibilitiesarefromtheRDOSwebsite: Office of the CAO: (CAO~7employees)-TheChiefAdministratorsOfficeisresponsibleforprovideslegislativeandadministrativeservicesandsupporttotheBoards,theircommittees,otherdepartmentsandthepublic. Finance (~8employees)-ThisdepartmentisresponsibleforthepreparationoftheannualoperatingbudgetthatestablishesthetaxrateforeachservicetheRegionalDistrictprovides. Human Resources (1employee)-TheHumanResourcesDepartmentfocusesontheRegionalDistrictsmostvaluableasset-ouremployees.Throughinnovation,communication,collaborationandpartnershipwecanprovideanoutstandingworkforceandworkingenvironment Information Services (IS,~5employees)-Informationservicesstaffprovideawidevarietyofservicesincluding:GISanalysis,maintenanceandupdatesofcomputerapplicationsandnetworkandserversupport. Development Services (DS,~16employees)-ThisdepartmentisresponsibleforplanningforandregulatingdevelopmentintheRegionalDistrict.Servicesincludebylawenforcementandbuildinginspections. Public Works (PW,~27employees)-Thereare2divisionsinpublicworks.EngineeringwhichisresponsibleforprovidingengineeringadvicetotheRDOSboard,andplanning,budgeting,designingandconstructingcapitalinfrastructureprojects.Operationsmanagesthewaterandwastewatertreatmentfacilitiesanddistributionsystems,solidwasteandpestcontrolprograms. Community Services (CS,~156employees)-CSisresponsiblefortheRegionalEmergencyPlanningprogram,includingtheoperationsof7volunteerfiredepartments.CSalsofunds8RDOSappointedRecreationCommissionsandmaintainscommunityassetssuchasicerinks,swimmingpools,fieldsandparks.
Accordingtoauditguidelineseachdepartmentmustbesampled.Forthepurposesoftheaudit,office-
baseddepartmentswithsimilarhazardscanbecombined;however,departmentswithhigherhazards,suchasby-lawenforcement,buildinginspections,surveying,animalcontrol,cantbecombinedandmustbeauditedindependently.Forthepurposesoftheaudit,thefollowingdepartmentswereaudited: CAO+:ThiscombinedthedepartmentsofOfficeoftheCAO,Finance,ISandHR. DS:DevelopmentServices PW: Publicworks.Allpublicworksdivisionswereincluded. CS (including Parks and Recreation):ThisdepartmentincludetheMartinStreetoffice-basedRDSOstaffandtheParksandRecreationemployeesassociatedwiththeRecreationCommissions. VFD: AlthoughpartofCommunityServices,thevolunteerfirefightingoperationsweresplitintotheirowndepartmentasperauditrequirements.
RDOSemployeesfaceamyriadofworkingenvironments,manyofwhichareunderthescrutinyofthetaxpayingpublic.RDOSemployeesattheHeadofficeandRecreationstaffarethetransactionalpublicfaceoftheCityandarebasedattheHeadOfficeonMartinStreetinPentictonandtheRecreationCentres.TheseemployeesdealwiththepublicdirectlyonadailybasisandcouldbeconsideredasthefaceoftheDistrict.
Maintenancecrewsworkinthefieldtomaintaintheinfrastructure,suchasthedrinkingwaterandwastewatersystems,watertreatment,parkandbuildingmaintenance.Theworkingenvironmentoftheseemployeesismostlyoutdoorsandhazardschangefrequentlyastheychangesitesandtasks.Trainingformaintenancecrewsisessentialtoensuretheyhavethetoolsandskillstoensuretheycanworksafelyatalltimes.
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TheRDOShasacomplexsafetymanagementsysteminplaceconsistingofmanycomponents.TheOccupationalHealthandSafetyManualdocumentiscommontoalldepartments,exceptthefiredepartmentsandprovidestheframeworkforthekeycomponentsofthesafetyprogram.Thesectionsoftheprogramcoverthe8elementsidentifiedintheaudit.SupplementingtheProgramarenumerousgenericSafeWorkProceduresthatprovidebasicoperationalguidelinesforspecifictasks,suchas
confinedspaceentryandoperatingmobileequipment.Bothfiredepartmentsauditedwereusingoutdatedpoliciesandproceduresspecifictoeachdepartment.ThepoliciesandoperationalguidelinesarenotconsistentwiththeRDOSprogramandnolongeraccuratelyreflectorrepresentthecurrentsafetymanagementenvironmentandassuchbothdepartmentsscoredpoorlyintheaudit.
SupportingtheentiresystemandvastamountofdocumentationistheRDOSnetworkandIntranetsite.ThecommondocumentsareavailabledirectlyfromtheHealthandSafetysectionoftheintranet.Departmentaldocumentsareavailableonthevarioussharednetworkdrives,buttheredidnotappeartobeastandarddirectorystructureinuseandsomepeoplehadminordifficultyfindinginformationwhenrequested.Theperipheraloperationsmaintaineddocumentationmostlyinhardcopyandtheintranetandnetworkresourceswerenotutilizedtothepotential.
Asperauditrequirements,arepresentativesampleofinterviewswithmanagers(8),supervisors(12)andworkers(25)wereconducted.Inall,25of220employeeswereselectedandinterviewedbasedonlengthofserviceandjob(s)performed.Documentationreviewsandobservationswerealsoconductedtoverifyinformationrequiredintheauditdocument.Auditprotocolrequiresobservationstobeconductedat33%ofnormal,activesites,withthesitesauditedbeingchangedeachyearsothatoverthe3yearauditcycle,allsitesarevisited.Intheinformationprovided,20siteswereidentified.Therequirementstopasstheauditareforanoverallscoreofeightypercent(80%)orbetterandnotlessthanfiftypercent(50%)inanyoftheElements.Scoringonthedifferentelementsrangedfromalowof18%onElement7-ProgramAdministration,toahighof89%onElement1-OrganizationalCommitment.TheRDOSscored554pointsoutofapossible1000points,or55%overall.Threeelementsscored
lessthan50%,andtheoverallscorewaslessthan80%,meaningthisaudithas notachievedtheminimumrequirements.
Thisscoreisasignificantdropfromthescoreof81%inthe2010audit.Thereductioninscoreisduetoacombinationoffactors;howeverthemostsignificantlyisduetothefactthesafetyprogramisnotpro-activelymanagedonanongoingbasis.Otherfactorsmayinclude:
Fewrecommendationsfromthe2010auditwereimplemented,particularlywhereperipheraloperationsareinvolved.Manyrecommendationsmadein2010weremadeagaininthisaudit.Updatesoverthepast3yearstotheauditprotocolresultedinminorchangestothescoringandguidelines.VolunteerFireDepartmentsarenowrequiredtobeauditedasastandalonegroup/departmentandnotcombinedwithotherdepartments.Inthe2010auditthefiredepartmentswereincludedwiththerestofthecommunityservicesdepartmentandanydeficiencieswerewatereddownbytheother
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communityservicesoperations.
Positiveaspectsofthesafetymanagementsystemworthnotingare;Astrongawarenessofsafetyamongstalldepartments.Foundationdocumentsandpoliciesareinplaceandreadilyavailable.
Safetyisatopicontheagendaformostmeetings.
Continuousimprovementopportunitieswereidentifiedduringthecourseofthisauditandrecommendationshavebeenmadeandincludedaspartofthisauditreportforyourconsideration.Someofthekeyrecommendationstoconsiderarethosealsomadein2010:
Developandimplementasingle,clear,completesafetymanagementsystemforallRDOSemployees,especiallythoseemployedinperipheraloperationsoftheParksandRecreationCommissionsandFireDepartments.TheexistingRDOSsystemwouldbethesimplestoption.AstructuretosupportthesafetymanagementsystemwouldneedtobeputinplaceincludingclearlinesofresponsibilityandreportingtotheRDOSboard.(directlyfrom2010auditreport)Considerprovidingadedicatedsafetyresourcepersontothefiredepartmentstoberesponsiblefordevelopingstandards,operatingproceduresandoverallsafetymanagement.Althoughtherearefewincidents,theonesthatdooccurarenottrackedwellandthereisnoconsistentreportingmechanismatanylevelforleading(e.g.annualreviewscompleted,numberofmonthlysafetymeetingsheld,safetyobservationsmade,inspectionscompletedontime,etc)andlagging(incidentstatistics)indicators.Processesmustbedevelopedandimplementedforregularreportingtoalllevelsintheorganizationonleadingandlaggingindicatorsperformance.
Newrecommendationstoconsiderfromthe2013auditinclude:ProvidingsupporttotheJointHealthandSafetycommitteesatthevolunteerfiredepartmentstoensurecommitteesareestablished,trainedandfunctioningasperWorkSafeBCrequirements.Developadistrictwidestrategicsafetyplanwithannualgoalsandobjectivesandtrackprogressonthegoalsregularly.
Thank-youforallowingmetoconductthisaudit.IlookforwardtoseeingtheresultsfromimplementationoftherecommendationsandarenewedcommitmentbytheRegionalDistrictof
OkanaganSimilkameentoprotecttheirworkersthroughthecontinueddevelopmentandimplementationofaneffectivesafetymanagementsystem.
Regards,
DeanSinclair,RPF,[email protected] Date:May27,2013
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