MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM — Property damage that city employees cause because of how often they use public roads continues to be the No. 1 safety issue city hall faces, with four departments causing the most problems.
The human resources department investigated 50 safety incidents during the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 30 incidents during the same period in 2022, according to a recent city council report.
The data for 2022 and 2023 from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 show:
- First aid: 8 / 13
- Dangerous occurrence: 1 / 0
- Loss-time injury: 6 / 3
- No loss time: 4 / 5
- Near miss: 0 / 13
- Motor-vehicle collision: 6 / 2
- Property damage: 5 / 11
- Non-occupational involving non-employees: 0 / 3
“The initiative (to enhance safety) is to promote near-miss reporting, safe driving habits and workplace inspections,” the report said. Furthermore, the goal this year is to direct prevention techniques to address safety-related hazards and powered mobile equipment operations.
The corrective actions city administration plans to pursue are to develop a safety management system and educate employees better, the document continued, adding there must be “precise communication” about “all levels of involvement and deliverables.”
Meanwhile, the data from Q3 to Q4 of last year showed:
- First aid: 5 / 13
- Dangerous occurrence: 1 / 0
- Loss-time injury: 0 / 3
- No loss time: 1 / 5
- Near miss: 15 / 13
- Motor-vehicle collision: 1 / 2
- Property damage: 5 / 11
- Non-occupational: 1 / 3
The data also showed that the departments of transit, streets and roads, parks and recreation and water/wastewater had the most total safety incidents last year, while streets and roads committed the most property damage incidents, followed by transit, bus fleet and parks and recreation.
“Safety hazards and their sub-categories are the trending hazard the City of Moose Jaw is currently mitigating to prevent future occurrences,” the report continued.
The document noted that training workers to operate complex machinery properly requires more time than usual to meet industry standards. To correct these problems, city hall is increasing training hours for operators who use these vehicles, the report continued.
Furthermore, it is implementing more supervision of operations on city streets by ensuring there is a pilot vehicle present, while it is conducting regular and scripted safety meetings based on previous incidents and seasonal risks.
Labour relations
CUPE filed four new grievances during the fourth quarter, while an arbitration award was received for one CUPE grievance and Unifor withdrew one grievance, the report said. Also, as of Dec. 31, 2023, there were 12 active CUPE grievances, which is an increase of one from Q3.
City demographics
There were 297 employees with the City of Moose Jaw as of Dec. 31, 2023, which was an increase from 294 as of Sept. 31, 2022, the report said.
Furthermore, the work experience data among the 297 employees show:
- Less than five years: 40.8 per cent
- Five to 10 years: 20.4 per cent
- 10 to 15 years: 15.1 per cent
- 15 to 20 years: 8.9 per cent
- 20 to 25 years: 8.2 per cent
- More than 25 years: 6.6 per cent
Also, age data show:
- Under age 20: 6.6 per cent
- 20 to 30: 11.2 per cent
- 30 to 40: 26.6 per cent
- 40 to 50: 26.3 per cent
- 50 to 60: 17.8 per cent
- Over 60: 11.5 per cent
Also, the data show that men comprise 61.2 per cent of the workforce and women make up 38.8 per cent.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, March 11.
