Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) has filed three safety charges against the village of Point Edward, Ontario, and four charges each against two supervisors after the death of a volunteer firefighter during a training exercise in January, 2010. Gary Kendall, a 51-year-old veteran volunteer firefighter with Point Edward Fire & Rescue, died on the morning of January 30, 2010, when he became trapped under a large ice floe during an ice-water rescue training exercise.
Charges were laid on July 27, 2010, confirms MOL spokesman Matt Blajer. He reports that the village has been issued three charges under the OHSA, as an employer, :failing to ensure that adequate pre-training has been completed, failing to ensure there were an adequate number of rescuers on shore and that adequate rescue equipment had been provided and was available, and failing to appoint a safety officer for the training exercise. In addition, the supervisors have each been charged with failing to have an adequate training plan and an adequate pre-training briefing.
A number of precautions need to be taken when conducting ice-water rescue training, notes Tim Beckett, fire chief for the City of Kitchener and president of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs. (OAFC) Fully encapsulated immersion suits are necessities in any water situation. “It protects firefighters from cold water, but it also protects them from bacteria that might be in the water,” he notes.
For any firefighter training process, a gradual approach should be taken. You want to make sure that your staff are well-trained in the theory component of the subject matter, and then you want to ensure that you do a step-by-step skill set, Beckett suggests, explaining that after training the firefighter in various elements of the process, the simulation training can be introduced.
The defendants are scheduled to make a first court appearance on September 10, 2010.
Remember “ In Ontario, ALL Accidents are Preventable”
‘Play’ and ‘Work’ safe.
Daniel L. Beal
CHSEP – Foundation Level
VP & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.
Excellent information.
This is sweet stuff, its good to be in the know.
Definitely, what a fantastic blog and enlightening posts, I will bookmark your blog. Have an awesome day!
I would like to thank you for this article.
There is apparently a bundle to identify about this. I believe you made good points also.
I saw this really good post today. Thank you.
Very nice blog.
Thanks for every one of your labors on this web site. Ellie enjoys setting aside time for investigations and it’s obvious why. My spouse and I hear all relating to the dynamic tactic you give both interesting and useful thoughts via this website and as well boost contribution from visitors on that article while our princess is truly studying a whole lot. Enjoy the rest of the new year. You’re the one doing a first class job.
Totally dig your website so thanks a lot for the info.
Thank You!
Many thanks !! Extremely useful post!
Great blog.
Great blog.
Great blog.
Great blog.
Excellent.
I have been reading out a few of your posts and I must say nice stuff. I will definitely bookmark your website.
Hello – I must say, I’m impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and information was very easy to access. I found what I wanted in no time at all. Pretty awesome. Would appreciate it if you add forums or something, it would be a perfect way for your clients to interact. Great job!
Thank you for sharing this article. It’s very good and I hope you can share more as I will continue to read. Thanks!
I have been examinating out some of your articles and I can say it is pretty clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your blog.