The City of Greater Sudbury has declined another interview request regarding Ministry of Labour orders which Greater Sudbury Fire Services currently face.
The first denial was in early August, when in addition to declining an interview request, city spokespeople also refused to answer a series of written questions Sudbury.com sent regarding a lapse in ladder truck training which has barred access to the apparatus in recent months.
Since that time, Sudbury.com learned through an anonymous tip that there were a few other Ministry of Labour orders regarding Greater Sudbury Fire Services training shortcomings.
Although city communications staff sent Sudbury.com the latest Ministry of Labour site visit reports regarding these orders and issued a written statement in time for our initial story on the additional orders published on Sept. 4, a phone interview was not granted in time.
This interview request, which was submitted on Sept. 3, was denied without explanation on Sept. 5.
As part of the phone interview request, Sudbury.com submitted four key questions to city staff from which follow-up questions would have stemmed had the request been granted.
A city spokesperson responded to these key questions with ambiguously worded written statements attributable to Chief Joseph Nicholls, which were as follows and verbatim:
Q: I don't know if orders of this nature are unique, so is this at all unusual or out of the ordinary?
A: The MLITSD (Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development), upon inspection of a workplace, may issue orders for several reasons. These may include a requirement to provide additional information, training, and provide instruction to workers or document specific job-related processes that would fall under the duties of an employer in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. When such gaps are identified, orders are not out of the ordinary.
Q: Has Greater Sudbury Fire Services faced any consequences for these orders thus far?
A: The orders received have been both plan orders and compliance orders, requiring corrective action within a set period. Our focus is on addressing the identified gaps to better protect workers and meet all requirements. This will involve some costs and extra work, including more training and updates to our programs.
Q: What kind of timeline is in place for full compliance?
A: Portions of the MLITSD orders have compliance dates normally within 30 or 60 days, others are more specific to the training requirements. When required, an extension of time maybe requested to facilitate the development of new processes and the development and delivery of training to our workers who are on schedules workers who have 24/7 or variable work schedules.
Q: How did it get to the point of Ministry of Labour orders being in place (if this is at all unusual)?
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) was brought in by the employer as part of a labour process. During their initial visit, they identified areas that needed improvement and issued orders. Work is now underway to address those gaps.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.