2009 FACILITIES OPERATIONAL FORUM AGENDA
Just over 50 years ago, the recreation director and seven hockey players lost their lives in the collapse of the Listowel Memorial Arena. More recently, the City of Orillia, Parks and Recreation department, experienced the closure of their primary recreation facility. This occurred just before the start of the winter season when an engineer’s inspection determined that the facility was unsafe for use. What followed in both cases was a media frenzy that included stakeholders such as user groups, political officials, and senior municipal staff and recreation personnel. This session will highlight the importance of scheduled facility maintenance and qualified building inspections in order to mitigate potential disastrous outcomes.
Presenters: Ray Merkely, Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Orillia and Steve Hardie RRFA, CIT, Municipality of North Perth, Parks and Recreation
The Ministry of Labour controls the key obligation of recreation infrastructure inspection under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) - Duties of an employer, Section 25
(1) An employer shall ensure that, (e) a floor, roof, wall, pillar, support or other part of a workplace is capable of supporting all loads to which it may be subjected without causing the materials therein to be stressed beyond the allowable unit stresses %established under the Building Code Act.
What does this section of the Act mean to you and to your facility operation? This session will remind you of your obligation for facility inspection and workplace environment safety under the OHSA.
Presenter: Wayne De L’Orme, Provincial Coordinator, Industrial Health & Safety Program, Ministry of Labour
Requiring that a facility inspection be completed is one thing - requesting the right type of inspection is another. All too often a facility manager tries to have the inspection drawn to fit his/her current financial capability – this is the wrong approach. Building age and design, original materials used and the type of regular maintenance performed, will dictate what type of engineering inspection should be considered and how often it should be done. This session will help you better understand how to plan and execute a detailed facility inspection specific to your operations.
Presenter: John Gamble, P.Eng., Consulting Engineers of Ontario
The other major consideration, together with aging recreation facility infrastructure, is the reality that over the next few years a significant number of senior recreation facility staff will have retired.
Unlike the previous generation, who had years to learn their “craft in the field”, the newer generation of facility supervisors and managers are required to hold job-specific skills and knowledge prior to assuming the positions.
This session will address succession planning. Specifically, it will highlight the importance of replacing the loss of seasoned recreation staff with the hiring of newer staff that have both academic credentials and practical facility work experience.
Presenter: Terry Piche RRFA, CIT, Technical Director, Ontario Recreation Facilities Association
