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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFD-10-96~~ ~ . ~, F Meeting: Date: Report#: THE COBPORATiON OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLABINGTON REPORT GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE File # ~~ , Res. #~~A-~/c~-96 APRIL 22, 1996 By-Law # File #: FD-10-96 Subject: HIRING AND PROMOTIONAL;t~OLICIES Recommendations: i It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: THAT Report FD-10-96 be received for information. BACKGROUND 1.1 At the Council meeting of March 25, 1996 a request was made that the Fre Chief report on the manner of hiring and promoting in the Clarington Fire Department. A request was also included to provide the number of part time and full time firefighters who have left or been hired since 1990. COMMENTS Hirin 2.1 When hiring staff for the part time we advertise, when necessary, in the local papers. The ads advise of the openings for firefighters, the stations they are required for and where to go to pick up an application. This has not been required for. some time since we are inundated with applications on a regular basis and have a large number presently on file. When an applicant comes into the station for an application they are advised of the requirement to pass the York University fitness and stress test, and we also advise them they must live within close proximity of the station they are applying for. This is required since, as part time firefighters they are required to respond from their homes to the fire station Continued..... P.oE ~®a~~.~.E 8 01 e FD-10-96 -2- when called to respond to an emergency. The need to live as close as possible allows for the vehicles to respond in a timely manner. The York University testing was recommended to Council and accepted as a standard due to the physical requirements of the position. 2.2 At the same time they are requested to provide a drivers abstract and criminal background report when they return their application. This requirement was added in recent years as a protection to the Municipality and at the recommendation of the Durham Regional Police. Once the applications are on file we review them when a position becomes available and the applicants are brought in for testing and an interview. 2.3 When the department hires full time staff we hire for the position of dispatcher, which is the entry level position for the Clarington Fire Department." On many occasions the dispatcher is the first person the public talk to and are called on to give general information such as street locations and other information. The dispatchers are .responsible for answering departmental emergency phones including the 9-1-1 calls which are sent to the department from the CERB centre.. These calls are taken and the appropriate stations dispatched to the emergency which requires the dispatcher to have a working knowledge of the Municipality. They also answer the department's administration phones after hours and when others are busy and unable to answer them. The dispatchers also answer the after hours calls for Clarington Hydro and calls for Municipality of Clarington departments such as animal control, the building maintenance division and public works outside of regular work hours. They are also responsible for producing incident reports for the Fire Marshal's office and keeping computer files updated with various data such as hazardous materials, street locations and pre-plans to mention a few. 2.4 The dispatcher will also be called upon, on occasion, to act as a firefighter. The dispatch centre is the position the department uses for light duty when a firefighter is injured. This allows for the firefighter to keep working and prevents loss of time, which may affect our Workers Compensation Claims. It also allows the department to save on overtime when a firefighter is injured and unable to do his firefighting duties. We have found this to work well in the past and anticipate it will in the future. 2.5 The dispatchers are hired from the part-time ranks which allows us to hire people we are familiar with and have worked with previously. They are also familiar with the area, which comes in very handy when dealing with the public and advising of general information related to the Municipality. It should also be noted that firefighting is a difficult position at the best of times due to the fact that we may Continued..... 802 FD-10-96 - 3 - be required to deal with working conditions not normally found in the day to day public sector jobs. Firefighters are required to deal with members of the public who may have just lost everything they own or must deal with the loss of a family member. Responding to vehicle accidents contributes to the stress and strain of of the job, treating seriously injured people and dealing with fatalities. Like many emergency services, some people are not able to deal with these responsibilities on a regular basis. By hiring from the part-time, the staff we hire have already dealt with the stresses of the position and are ready to deal with them as a full time career. This prevents the hiring of full time staff and the training only to find out later they are not able to deal with these stresses and resign creating a need to start the hiring and training over again. 2.6 The people we hire from the part-time are trained in the firefighting duties and have been equipped with protective equipment. This allows for an easy transition from part-time to full time. 2.7 The hiring process includes the writing of an aptitude test as well as a department test, a physical fitness and stress test at York University and an interview. Once the successful candidate is chosen they are than put through an appropriate amount of training before they are assigned to their new duties. 2.8 With the resignation of Captain Elyea and the subsequent promotion of a firefighter to the position of captain it will result in the promotion of a dispatcher to the rank of firefighter to cover the opening created. This will leave the department short one dispatcher. To address this shortage we have posted for the position of dispatcher and will be the filling the position in accordance with the hiring policy. The hiring and training process will take approximately 6 to 8 weeks and the department will be operating short staffed until the process is completed. Promotions 3.1 The promoting of part-time firefighters to the position Captain and the promotion of a part-time Captain to the position of District Chief are done in accordance with the fire department's establishing by-law and includes the use of such written and oral exams as may be required. This practice has proven to be very successful in the past and will continue to be the practice in the future. 3.2 The promotion of a dispatcher to the position of firefighter is presently done in accordance with the collective agreement between the Municipality of Clarington and the Clarington Professional Firefighters' Association, and includes the use of written and practical promotional exams. This promotional clause was duly negotiated and approved by the membership of the firefighter's association and appears to be working. Continued..... 803 FD-10-96 -4- 3.3 The promotion of a firefighter to the position of Captain is also done in accordance with the collective agreement between the Municipality of Clarington and the Clarington Professional Firefighter's Association, and includes the use of written and practical promotional exams. This promotional clause, as previously stated, was duly negotiated and approved by the membership of the firefighters' association and also appears in this case to be working. Staffing 4.1 With regazds to the change in staff I would advise that there has been a total of 70 part time staff who have resigned from the fire department since 1990. These resignations were for various reasons including retirement, moving out of the municipality, and a lack of time available for training and responding to calls. The training commitment required has increased due to the new requirements for O.H & S. & W.H.M.I.S. Clarington Fire Department's training program has also been updated due to constant changes and innovations in the fire service. The training program was noted in the Fire Marshal's review of the Municipality's Fire Department, and was identified by the Fire Marshal's staff as being very progressive, addressing the up-to-date needs of the fire service. The time constraints related to responding to emergencies has increased over the years from approximately 900 responses in 1990 to over 1400 responses in 1995. As you can appreciate, this cuts into available family time and caused many of the members with young. families to re-evaluate their ability to commit to the department. Another contributing factor was the introduction of full time staff at the Bowmanville and Courtice stations. 4.2 The number of part time staff hired in this period was 93 and this was done to insure an adequate number of staff available to respond from the various stations in case of an emergency and during that period of time we added a new station in Enniskillen. Staffing levels in the part time division must be monitored since, in most cases, not all staff are available at any given time due to their full time jobs and other responsibilities. We must, therefore, maintain a reasonable staffing level. These staffing levels were established and approved by council. 4.3 It should be noted that the maximum number of staff per station is not being maintained at the present time given the need to optimize the budget dollars. The staffing levels are below full complement at the various stations and the responses aze being monitored to insure a sufficient number of firefighters aze available. If it is determined there is a problem the situation will be addressed accordingly. Continued..... 804 w N FD-10.96 -5- 4.4 As for the full time staff, 3 members have left in the aforementioned time period. Firefighter Brian Piggot resigned and returned to his previous career as a paramedic, but remains as a part time captain at Station 2, Newcastle Village. Captain Lyle retired and Captain Elyea left to take a Deputy Chief's position in Orillia. As for the number hired in this time frame I would advise we have hired 20 staff members. The major contributing factor to the number of staff hired was the introduction of full time staff at the Courtice station and the increase to 24 hour coverage at the Bowmanville station, as well as the addition of the fire prevention inspector. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that report FD-10-96 be received for information. Respectfully submitted, Michael G. Creigl on, AMCT(A), CMM1 Fire Chief. Reviewed by W. H. Stockwell, Chief Administrative Officer MC/ April 15, 1996 805