[Northern Light]

I believe lifeguards must be on the pool deck at all times (unless rescuing someone) to have a full view of the pool.

This is correct, but......

I don't know what protocol is at the moment, but it used to be standard to have 1 or 2 more life guards on duty, than are required.

This is what facilitates washroom breaks and meal breaks w/o closing the pool down.

On a really hot day, it used to be the norm than the supervisor came out and told a guard who'd been in the chair too long on a hot day to take 20, and they would start by taking a dip, and then going and sitting in the office or the shade and having a cold beverage (no not beer! LOL) You rotated who was out in the sun.

 

[evandyk]

What the city appears to have done is take this guideline, which is produced by a union advocacy organization, and apply it mindlessly to all tasks being done by city workers.

Humidex-based Heat Stress Calculator and Plan (Indoor Workers) - OHCOW

The following Humidex-Based Heat Stress Calculator from OHCOW uses temperature and humidity percentage (%) to calculate humidex and provides recommended actions.

www.ohcow.on.ca

If you are doing strenuous outdoor activity, it makes sense that things can get dangerous as it gets hotter, and maybe a humidex of 45 is too hot to do that type of work at all. When you're a lifeguard at a pool, you don't need to stop working because of a specific humidex reading. Your ordinary breaks are probably plenty, as long as you are properly hydrating.

 

[Northern Light]

We have a candidate list for Scaborough South-West.....

Two names jump out:

Former Councillor and perennial NDP candidate Neethan Shan

And Anu Sriskandarajah who is the wife of Scarborough South West Councillor Parthi Kandeval

 

[christiesplits]

We have a candidate list for Scaborough South-West.....

View attachment 661354

Two names jump out:

Former Councillor and perennial NDP candidate Neethan Shan

And Anu Sriskandarajah who is the wife of Scarborough South West Councillor Parthi Kandeval

In addition to Shan and Sriskandarajah, Shawn Allen should also be competitive. He's endorsed by Councillors Burnside and Bradford, suggesting he has some centre-right/conservative machinery behind him.

 

[Northern Light]

In addition to Shan and Sriskandarajah, Shawn Allen should also be competitive. He's endorsed by Councillors Burnside and Bradford, suggesting he has some centre-right/conservative machinery behind him.

Lets hope Brad loans out the folks who managed his Mayoral campaign.

 

[PL1]

Lets hope Brad loans out the folks who managed his Mayoral campaign.

Brad's FB self congratulation/rage farming/pre-mayoral candidacy posts are so transparent and cringeworthy. And yet they will resonate with a certain demographic

 

[DSCToronto]

Brad's FB self congratulation/rage farming/pre-mayoral candidacy posts are so transparent and cringeworthy. And yet they will resonate with a certain demographic

Yes, he has turned into (or been revealed as?) a bit of an idiot but, as we know, idiots DO sometimes get elected around here :->

 

[Admiral Beez]

Brad's FB self congratulation/rage farming/pre-mayoral candidacy posts are so transparent and cringeworthy. And yet they will resonate with a certain demographic

Isn't he the guy who had a friend locked in his basement?

 

[Northern Light]

Isn't he the guy who had a friend locked in his basement?

Not locked.......

His supposed bestie was renting his basement for 1k a month.

Toronto politician getting roasted over dude who lives in his basement

Monday evening's Toronto mayoral debate went a bit off the rails when a candidate not included in the event stormed the stage, but the eventful debat…

www.blogto.com

 

[afransen]

Mayor Olivia Chow vows to end pool closures during extreme heat

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says she will be bringing forward a motion to make sure the city's pools stay open during blistering hot days.

toronto.citynews.ca

One arm of the City telling people to stay safe in the heat by cooling off in a local pool; meanwhile Parks is closing the pools for staff safety.....

OMG, SMH and some other NSFW things on top of those....

@DSCToronto is there anything this department can't mishandle?

Maybe some strategically located misting fans could help with keeping staff comfortable during heat waves. It's not logical to close pools during heat waves.

 

[evandyk]

It's not logical to close pools during heat waves.

And pretty embarrassing to try to blame provincial health and safety regulations, which require no such thing.

 

[DSCToronto]

And pretty embarrassing to try to blame provincial health and safety regulations, which require no such thing.

In fairness, there ARE Provincial regs about employees working in extreme heat conditions but it is clearly ridiculous that IF the staff were in a working environment that was too hot the City could not find a way to cool them down.

 

[evandyk]

You certainly have to keep your employees safe while working in the heat, but the press release blamed the closures on "45+ protocols" which is not found in any legislation/regulation anywhere.

“Given provincial requirements related to heat and humidex (45C+) protocols, some outdoor pools had intermittent closures today to ensure staff health and safety. Staff remained on site to re-open pools as soon as possible,” the City said in a statement.

There are no such specific provincial requirements. The city may have its own protocols, but those are self-imposed.

 

[christiesplits]

A deep dive () into Pool-gate from the Toronto Star:

But the problem goes much deeper than pools. The incident illustrates how the city and the province are struggling to protect residents and workers from the accelerating threats amid a changing climate.

...

In fact, the city had been warned much earlier about how heat puts lifeguards at risk — four years earlier, in fact, according to Ministry of Labour records provided by CUPE local 79, the union that represents recreation workers.
During an intense heat wave in July 2021, lifeguards at the Pine Point outdoor pool in Etobicoke initiated a work refusal — a legal right provided to Ontario workers to refuse conditions they believe to be unsafe. According to ministry records, the lifeguards said they had been exposed to unsafe levels of heat and humidity without reasonable access to shade.

...

A Ministry of Labour inspector who visited the pool in July 2021 sided with the workers. The city had violated provincial health and safety laws, he found, ordering it to “protect workers from the hazard of heat-related illness while working in the hot summer days.” The city had not provided any way to measure humidity levels, the order states, without which workers couldn’t follow the plan to take increasingly longer breaks as the humidex rose to higher and higher levels. The humidex-based plan the city uses is one designed by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, and is widely used by Ontario employers.

Doug Ford, Olivia Chow and the closed pools: What really happened — and why

Toronto’s mayor and Ontario’s premier found themselves at odds over city pools, each pointing a finger after more than a dozen closed at the peak of a record heat wave.

www.thestar.com

 

[Admiral Beez]

In fairness, there ARE Provincial regs about employees working in extreme heat conditions but it is clearly ridiculous that IF the staff were in a working environment that was too hot the City could not find a way to cool them down.

It summer, it's hot, the city's residents want to use the pools. Make it work, Olivia. Summer is not a surprise.

Number of Days with a Temperature ≥ 30°C - Annual data for Toronto

Chart and data: Number of Days with a Temperature ≥ 30°C - Annual data (25 years) for Toronto for Toronto, Ontario, Canada

toronto.weatherstats.ca

Or are you still sorting out how to clear the sidewalks and roads - it's winter, it snows, figure it out.

This season thing seems to catch our city management by surprise. What's next, come autumn the city is shocked and ill-prepared to collect leaves?