HIGH ANGLE ROPE RESCUE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES

Transcription

1 HIGH ANGLE ROPE RESCUE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES January 17, 2011 Location: Present: BC Construction Safety Alliance 400, 625 Agnes Street, New Westminster Don Schouten Committee Chair, Industry and Labour Services Manager WorkSafeBC Gary Anderson Industry Specialist, WorkSafeBC Dave Earle Employer Representative, Council of Construction Associations (COCA) Cathy Lange Consultant Brian Leavold - Representative, BC Professional Fire Fighter s Association Marv Magnison - Industry Union Representative, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council # 38 Mike McKenna Executive Director, BC Construction Safety Alliance A quorum could not be established due to A. Nicholson s resignation. C. Lange will ask for A. Nicholson to vote electronically subsequent to the meeting, on any agenda items requiring a motion. D. Schouten opened the meeting with round table introductions as this was Mike McKenna s first meeting. THARRP has now been turned over to the BCCSA and Stephen Paszel, Program Manager, will Chair the Committee when he starts full-time in February. WorkSafeBC (D. Schouten) will sit on the Committee in an advisory capacity. 1.0 Adoption of Minutes of July 6, 2010 Meeting Motion to accept the minutes of July 6, 2010 with the removal of Rod Parker and Tim Wilkinson who showed as present when they were not. M. Magnison Final March 31, 2011

2 2.0 Business Arising from July 6, 2010 Meeting All action items completed. No further business arising. 3.0 Committee Involvement & Review of Terms of Reference C. Lange asked if there was something she could do differently to ensure Committee members responded to electronic ballots in a timely fashion. All members agreed that the onus was on them to respond promptly and would endeavour to do so. With the resignation of A. Nicholson, C. Lange questioned how Committee members were appointed. There did not seem to be an answer to this question. It was agreed that this should be investigated with each member organization and the Terms of Reference should reflect the results in the event of future resignations. ACTION: C. Lange will conduct research into the appointment of Committee members and amend the Terms of Reference. She will also update the terms to reflect the change in Chair and alternate Chair to the BCCSA. Committee members will vote on the amendments once they have been reviewed by the BCCSA. 4.0 Training Agencies letter of intent C. Lange reported that all five agencies submitted letters of intent. 5.0 G4.13(3) Guideline Update Notice to Rescue Service for Short Term Work G. Anderson reported that the guidelines have not been finalized. This should be completed shortly. Once finalized, the BCCSA will be asked to communicate to the fire departments that they will be receiving notices of short term work; however, it will be made clear that this does not require a site inspection Operating Guidelines Review Course costs in FIN2 were based on the JIBC course fees and these costs were recently increased. Rather than hold up printing of the OGs which were already delayed, the Committee agreed that either an amendment could go out at a later date or wait until the next revision. In the meantime C. Lange will reimburse actual costs upon submission of training agency invoices. 7.0 Tower Crane inspection forms C. Lange explained that a number of departments submitted older versions or their own versions of crane inspection forms. The Committee agreed that the forms in the OGs must be used and that the letter being mailed with the 2010 OGs should include a statement to this effect. Any department that does not submit current forms will not be reimbursed the crane inspection fee at year end. 8.0 Abbotsford request The City of Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service submitted a request to increase their number of funded instructors from two to four due to potential mutual aid agreements with Chilliwack, the Township of Langley and Mission. The Committee asked for commitment letters from the three cities with an explanation of how the mutual aid agreement would work before considering the request. Final March 31, 2011

3 ACTION: C. Lange will send a letter to Abbotsford explaining the Committee s requirement. 9.0 Budget Update 9.1 Stipend/Crane inspection submissions 80 tower crane inspections were expected in the 2010 calendar year. There were 19 more tower crane inspections than budgeted Stipends delayed C. Lange explained that one department, Coquitlam Fire, had their stipend delayed as they had not submitted training records requested. The Committee discussed and agreed that because they had submitted statistics, which is the requirement for the stipend, the stipend must be paid. The BCCSA may want to consider a policy/penalty in regard to submitting training records for the Budget to Actual The preliminary numbers show that overall the budget is on track for While reimbursements for training due to attrition are significantly over budget, there is very little activity in terms of refresher training. Crane inspections were over budget by $4, Other Business Arising G. Anderson announced that this would be his last meeting. He has a new position as a Board Officer and will be based out of North Vancouver. D. Schouten and C. Lange thanked him for his hard work and support of the Program Date of Next Meeting TBA Final March 31, 2011

4 HIGH ANGLE ROPE RESCUE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES March 31, 2011 Location: Present: Absent: BC Construction Safety Alliance 400, 625 Agnes Street, New Westminster Stephen Pezsel Committee Chair, Manager of Programs, BCCSA Don Schouten Industry and Labour Services Manager WorkSafeBC Cathy Lange Consultant Brian Leavold - Representative, BC Professional Fire Fighter s Association Marv Magnison - Industry Union Representative, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council # 38 Tim Wilkinson - Representative, BC Fire Chiefs Dave Earle Employer Representative, COCA 1.0 Adoption of Minutes of January 17, 2011 meeting Motion to accept the minutes of January 17, 2011 as presented. B. Leavold 2.0 Business Arising from January 17, 2011 meeting All action items completed. No further business arising. 3.0 Abbotsford request Form letters of support were received from Mission, Chilliwack and Langley Township. The responses did not adequately address why there is a need for mutual aid for THARR response or how Abbotsford will affect rescue prior to orthostatic suspension trauma setting in considering the distances involved Final October 6, 2011

5 between the municipalities. Further, if Abbotsford is deployed to the point that they cannot provide THARRP services either through a significant fire or in terms of a rescue in progress what is the process? This is an issue for all departments providing THARR service. Committee discussed whether there needs to be a requirement in the OGs to cover this issue. ACTION: will discuss with the Fire Chiefs to determine what current practices are in place for mutual aid and how this issue might be addressed. He will report to the Committee at the next meeting and advise on whether the 2012 OGs require amendment to cover this issue. 4.0 Kootenay Boundary request (tower crane in lieu of refresher or technician) The Committee agreed to make an exception as the cost of tower crane training is less than technician level and there could be reduced costs as a result of the instructor traveling with another instructor to this course. Motion to approve, on an exception basis, tower crane training for one Kootenay Boundary funded instructor in lieu of refresher or technician level training. M. Magnison ACTION: C. Lange to communicate decision to Kootenay Boundary Budget Development C. Lange asked if there were any questions about the 2010 audited financials for THARRP. She reported that there was excess revenue for the 6 months under BCCSA of $31,429. The Committee did not have any questions. D. Schouten was concerned that we may be developing a 2012 budget without knowing if the 2011 budget is accurate. C. Lange believes the budget to be reasonable. As the 2012 budget does not need to be finalized until September we will have a more accurate picture of the 2011 budget at that time in order to project for a. Inflation ACTION: C. Lange to discuss with to determine what rate construction is using and use the same rate for 2012 budget preparation. b. JIBC course costs Final March 31, 2011

6 Committee agreed to use JIBC course costs for structuring 2012 budget. As a result of increased course fees effective April 1, 2011, the 2011 budget could face a short fall as departments will be reimbursed for course costs paid. ACTION: D. Schouten will determine if the THARR Program qualifies for a funding reserve in the event there is a shortfall. c. Crane inspections Committee agreed that there is likely to be about a 20% increase over the almost 100 inspections completed in 2010 and to budget for 120 in ACTION: C. Lange to confirm with that this number is reasonable based on current and projected construction activity. d. Mileage/accommodation/per diems (WorkSafeBC) C. Lange received April 1, 2011 rates from WorkSafeBC. Per diems for breakfast and lunch increased, all other costs remain the same including mileage and accommodation. e. Collective agreements It is anticipated that these will settle in May. Request is for 5.5% increase for 2010 and 5.5% for Budget will be determined once settlement occurs. f. Request from Saanich/Victoria Saanich requested that the budget include funding for retroactive wage increases. The Committee suggested that the department(s) submit a cost recovery proposal if necessary. The budget will not include funding for retroactive wage increases. ACTION: C. Lange to communicate to Saanich/Victoria that they have the opportunity to submit a proposal for consideration. g. Stipend increase Abbotsford if instructors increased C. Lange explained that should Abbotsford receive approval for two additional instructors their stipend will increase to two equipment packages from one. h. Replacement vs Refresher C. Lange has been polling the departments to determine the amount of expected replacements/refreshers to take place in Several departments are still expected to respond. i. BCCSA overhead The BCCSA overhead expense is 2% of their overall budget. In addition to this amount, it appears that in 2011 direct marketing costs of $ were allocated to THARRP. C. Lange is questioning the rationale behind this. ACTION: S. Peszel to discuss with BCCSA staff and discuss with C. Lange prior to the next meeting. j. Structure of budget line items Final March 31, 2011

7 The Committee agreed that the budget line items should be a summary and details/explanations should be included on worksheets behind the budget in an excel workbook. 6.0 Access to Training Sites and C. Lange explained that a couple of departments are being asked for proof of insurance from the municipality in addition to insurance carried by the training agency. explained that the municipalities will not indemnify as indemnification can only be given through a counsel resolution. The requests are causing training delays. ACTION: C. Lange to discuss with to find a resolution or locate companies that are interested in fire departments training on their sites without additional proof of insurance above what the training agency provides. 7.0 Change to Classification Units was questioning why the municipalities in the THARR Program are paying for high angle rescue service on their WorkSafeBC assessments when they provide the service. D. Schouten explained that the municipalities are CUs that use the service and they opted into the Program. If more than 50% agreed they did not want the service then their CU could be removed from the list that pays for the program, but then they would not be entitled to the service. 8.0 Information Sharing C. Lange asked for clarification on who could have access to requests for reimbursements. It was agreed that a legal opinion should be sought on this matter. ACTION: S. Peszel to seek a legal opinion and report back to the Committee. 9.0 Training Agency application C. Lange advised the Committee that Rescue Canada may be submitting an application to become a recognized training agency Other Business Arising None. Meeting adjourned Date of Next Meeting July TBA Final March 31, 2011

8 HIGH ANGLE ROPE RESCUE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES October 6, 2011 Location: Present: BC Construction Safety Alliance 400, 625 Agnes Street, New Westminster Stephen Pezsel Committee Chair, Manager of Programs, BCCSA Dave Earle Employer Representative, COCA Don Schouten Industry and Labour Services Manager WorkSafeBC Cathy Lange Consultant Brian Leavold - Representative, BC Professional Fire Fighter s Association Marv Magnison - Industry Union Representative, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council # 38 Tim Wilkinson - Representative, BC Fire Chiefs Absent: 1.0 Adoption of Minutes of March 31, 2011 meeting Motion to accept the minutes of March 31, 2011 as presented. 2.0 Business Arising from March 31, 2011 meeting 5.0b D. Schouten explained that reserves were in place in the event that funding is delayed should a safety association be delayed in satisfying WorkSafeBC budget deadlines. In the case of the THARR Program there should be no need for a reserve. 5.0i S. Pezsel did not have an opportunity to investigate marketing costs of $ allocated to the program. As the financials have now been audited no changes can be made. Final December 12, 2011

9 6.0 Access to training sites is no longer an issue. 8.0 Information sharing is acceptable when the information is part of the public domain. If it isn t it should only be shared with personnel appointed as representatives to the program. 3.0 Squamish Request to enter program Tentative An application has not yet been received. 4.0 Victoria/Saanich For consideration in amending the 2012 OGs, add wording to ADM2 to the effect that THARRP participating departments cannot charge a fee-for-service to participating employers in the department s home jurisdiction or defined area (as in Regional Team) as part of their agreement to participate in THARRP. 5.0 Eagle West Cranes & Burnaby Fire D. Schouten distributed a copy of the current WorkSafeBC guideline G4.13(3)(a) for rope rescue which clearly states there isn t a requirement for inspection during erection/dismantling of crane. Regarding Eagle West s concerns, during maintenance periods the crane would be fully erected, inspection can be requested. D. Schouten clarified the matter with Eagle West Budget to Actual to June 30 th As of June 30 th the Program was under budget by $254, JIBC Course Costs C. Lange was informed that the JIBC has not yet aligned their courses to the current NFPA 1006 Standard. They did add a day to a course part way through the year and increased the cost of the course. In future the JIBC Fire & Safety Division will endeavour to advise the Committee in advance of changes to course fees. C. Lange assured the Committee that the 2012 budget took into consideration potential fee increases Budget Development (see attached for details) a. Inflation 2.25% (verified with ) b. JIBC course costs (as noted above) c. Crane inspections Number projected (increased by 20% as per ) d. Mileage/accommodation/per diems (WorkSafeBC rates as at April 1, 2011) e. Collective agreements as of July 1st Surrey negotiated an increase of 5.5% as follows: Jan % July % Jan % July % At the recommendation of a projected 3% increase was included with the 2012 budget on backfill costs. f. Request from Saanich/Victoria project an additional increase for 2012 of 4-5% As above, increased by 3% Final December 12, 2011

10 g. Stipend increase Abbotsford if instructors increased This was taken into account in the budget. h. Replacement vs Refresher C. Lange conducted an informal survey earlier in the year. As a result the Committee agreed to increase the projected number of replacements from 12 to 20 and decrease the number of refresher course attendees from 28 to 20. i. BCCSA overhead Forecast was based on 2% of BCCSA s overall budget. Projected at $20,000, S. Pezsel to confirm. In addition, line item for program administration of $12,000 needs to be verified by S. Pezsel. j. Structure of budget line items Motion to accept the 2012 budget as prepared, not to exceed $855,000. M. Magnison Stephen will prepare 2013 and 2014 projected budgets to reflect inflationary rates of 2.25% per year. Budgets will be ed to the Committee for review and approval before October 14th. 9.0 Program Administration (Replacement for Cathy Lange) C. Lange has made the decision, after 11 years, to resign from managing the Program. S. Pezsel will take over until a suitable candidate can be found Other Business Arising None 11.0 Date of Next Meeting November 16 th at 1:30pm Final December 12, 2011

11 HIGH ANGLE ROPE RESCUE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES Draft December 12, 2011 Location: Conference Call Present: Absent: Tammy Oliver Director Operations, BCCSA Dave Earle Employer Representative, COCA Don Schouten Industry and Labour Services Manager WorkSafeBC Cathy Lange Chair, Consultant Marv Magnison - Industry Union Representative, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council # 38 Tim Wilkinson - Representative, BC Fire Chiefs Brian Leavold - Representative, BC Professional Fire Fighter s Association 1.0 Adoption of Minutes of October 6, 2011 meeting Motion to accept the minutes of October 6, 2011 as presented. M. Magnison 2.0 Business Arising from October 6, 2011 meeting None 3.0 Steering Committee membership update C. Lange advised the Committee that Mike McKenna would be representing BCCSA on the THARRP Steering Committee with Tammy Oliver as his alternate. ACTION: C. Lange to amend membership list and distribute to Committee. Draft December 12, 2011

12 4.0 Terms of Reference, Change to Chair Motion to change the THARRP Terms of Reference to allow the program Consultant, currently Cathy Lange, to Chair the Committee. The tie-breaking vote and authority to sign off on the annual Operating Guidelines will be given to the BCCSA Executive Director. ACTION: C. Lange to make changes to the Terms of Reference and distribute to Committee Operating Guidelines 5.1 ADM2 pg 3 of 6 Entitlement to Service at no Cost From a regulatory perspective the employer has to comply with the WorkSafeBC Regulation and let the fire department on site for an inspection and sign off. The OGs are directed to participating fire departments, not employers. The THARRP Committee agreed to request Jackie Brown Communications Coordinator for BCCSA create a one-pager outlining the program that can be posted on the BCCSA website, included in a BCCSA newsletter, and provided to WorkSafeBC Officers/Crane team as a handout for employers. The THARRP Committee should have an opportunity to review and comment. ACTION: C. Lange will liaise with T. Oliver in January to ensure that J. Brown is asked to work with C. Lange and D. Schouten on development of the one-pager. 5.2 Rounding reimbursement amounts C. Lange suggested that the 2012 guidelines remain consistent with the past to stay in line with the budget. This means rounding course costs and leaving crane inspections/stipends/equipment allowances as proposed. In addition, there was a duplicate increase made to the course costs in error. Hence, course costs should be changed as follows: Current Proposed Awareness/Level & II combined $3, $3, FSI $ $ Tower Crane $ $ Technician/Refresher $1, $1, Total $6, $6, Draft December 12, 2011

13 Motion to leave inspection reimbursement, stipend and initial equipment costs as is and round course costs as suggested for minimal impact on budget. ACTION: C. Lange to amend course costs in FIN2 of the 2012 OGs. 5.3 FIN2 application for reimbursement time line C. Lange raised the issue that the fire departments are often not submitting requests for reimbursement within the 60-day timeline as per the operating guidelines. Departments are often waiting until all training is completed before submitting. The Committee agreed that rather than change the guidelines, C. Lange should have discretion to accept requests after the 60-day timeline as long as it is within the year the training took place and corresponding budget period. Motion to leave wording in FIN2 regarding requirement for applications for reimbursement to be submitted within sixty days after course completion. The Program Consultant has discretion to reimburse late submissions as long as training took place in the same calendar year and budget period. 5.4 OPS 2 Crane inspections & self erect cranes (Don Schouten) D. Schouten explained that under WorkSafeBC regulations, the definition of tower crane includes self-erect cranes. The THARR Program hasn t covered these in the past. WorkSafeBC Crane team has brought this to our attention and requested that inspections be done. D. Schouten will work with the Crane team to define when this type of crane will require inspection e.g. if it has an access ladder up the mast; or elevated cab with high angle; and minimum time period the crane is to be in place. Draft December 12, 2011

14 At this time the Committee agreed to not include this in the 2012 OGs. An amendment will distributed when finalized. Furthermore, the Committee agreed to reimburse 2011 inspections on self-erect cranes as submitted by the fire departments until a definition is communicated. ACTION: D. Schouten will provide definition to C. Lange for distribution to the Committee once he has finalized with the WorkSafeBC Crane team. 5.5 Vancouver Fire & Scaffolding inspections/forms C. Lange explained that a couple of departments have been called to inspect sites where scaffolding has been erected. Vancouver Fire recently asked if there was a form available to them for completing this type of inspection where they can outline possible hazards and rescue protocols (e.g. ensuring solid foundations, adequate decking, sufficient ties, no mixed scaffolding parts, non slip surfaces etc.) In addition, would they be reimbursed the inspection fee? The Committee agreed that this is not the function of the Program. It is up to employers to ensure safety of equipment and that a rescue plan is in place. T. Oliver suggested that the BCCSA may be able to address this concern another way. She will look into it and let C. Lange know. ACTION: C. Lange to communicate outcome to Vancouver Fire and liaise with T. Oliver to determine whether the BCCSA is able to provide support for Vancouver Fire s needs. As there are no further amendments to the Operating Guidelines C. Lange asked for a motion to approve. Motion to approve amendments to the 2012 Operating Guidelines as circulated by C. Lange with the additional change to FIN2 course costs as approved during this meeting Budget Victoria/Saanich Regional Team & Forecast Regional Team C. Lange advised that there are three issues: 1) 2012 budget did not include wage increases for quarterly training exercises, the budget should have been $58, Draft December 12, 2011

15 instead of $54,026.00; (2) on occasion the departments are unable to train within the quarter and may have two sessions in the following quarter if this acceptable to the Committee; and (3) training costs may be higher than the allotment in some quarters and lower in others, is it acceptable to provide the departments with an annual budget? Motion to advise Saanich/Victoria of increased quarterly training allowance for total annual funding for 2012 of $58, Expectation is that there are four joint training sessions ideally one per quarter. Funding for each quarter may or may not be distributed evenly. M. Magnison ACTION: C. Lange will draft letters to Victoria and Saanich advising them of 2012 annual reimbursement amounts. 7.0 Request to Replace: Port Coquitlam A THARRP funded instructor was in a vehicle accident this past year and has yet to return to work. His return date is unknown. He did not attend tower crane training so has technically not completed his three years. Reimbursement for other courses was in Replacing this instructor would not have an impact on the budget. Approve replacement as requested by Port Coquitlam Fire. M. Magnison ACTION: C. Lange will advise Port Coquitlam of the Committee s decision. 8.0 Other Business Arising None 9.0 Date of Next Meeting January day to be announced Draft December 12, 2011