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Iqaluit to get permanent safety officer

Former director of public works requested safety enforcer for years

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Iqaluit's outgoing director of public works may get his wish after all.

Jim Grittner, the former director of public works for the City of Iqaluit, said the city needs a full-time worker devoted exclusively to enforcing the city's health and safety standards. (PHOTO BY GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS)

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Jim Grittner, who was fired this month, said in an interview this week that he has been lobbying the city for at least four years to hire a full-time employee to enforce health and safety procedures.

And as Nunatsiaq News has learned, Grittner got his wish, possibly at the cost of his job.

In an interview, city administrators confirmed they will be looking for a "risk management officer," someone who would oversee the health and safety procedures of the municipality. Although administrators say they decided last month to create the position, the job has yet to be posted.

Over the four years that Grittner was pushing for such a position to be created, three pedestrians were killed by city vehicles, the territory's vehicles inspector ordered poorly maintained city vehicles to stay in the garage, and a health and safety auditor gave the city a dressing down for not investigating accidents involving its employees.

During Grittner's tenure, which spans 14 years with the city as a bylaw officer, human resources manager, and public works director, the City of Iqaluit has failed in many respects to prove that it is implementing its health and safety policy. An audit of most city departments in the summer underlined that the city needs to make immediate improvements to its worker training, accident investigations and hazard control. Until last month, city personnel were either not investigating accidents, or not writing their investigations down.

Grittner said the key to fixing these problems is hiring one person to ensure safety procedures are being followed.

The health and safety officer will come as part of the administration's oft-cited restructuring efforts. This is the same overhaul that prompted Grittner's dismissal, according to city sources.

"What I've been told is they're restructuring, the CAO [Chief Administrative Officer Ian Fremantle] has that authority," Grittner said of the reasons he was given for being fired. "My type of management is what he doesn't want anymore so he's going to restructure."

However, Grittner said he didn't know why the city wanted different management.

"My type of management is ... I listen to everybody, I look at all the parameters, try to make the best decision I can that is in the benefit of the city and the employee," he said. "But I believe the employees are the most important. Without employees, you can't do a job. They'll always be number one in my mind."

City clerk Dennis Egyedy said part of the reason Grittner was fired is the city wants a public works director with a trade, profession or background in public works. Grittner originally came to the North as an RCMP officer.

"You need someone who can relate to the employees and know what's going on," Egyedy said of the future director of public works. "Anybody in public works is usually an engineer or a tradesperson."

The firing and re-hiring of a public works director was done in the public's interest, Egyedy said.

"It [the restructuring] is to make the city more efficient and better deliver services," Egyedy said. "The city has grown but we haven't grown in the respects that we need."

While Egyedy and Grittner agree that population and traffic growth in Iqaluit have contributed to the problems of public safety, they don't see eye to eye on how a public safety officer should tackle those problems.

For Egyedy, who will be writing the job description, the "risk management" officer will be in charge of evaluating problems such as lack of supplies, and how to prevent health and safety hazards by keeping the city's shelves well stocked. For example, the officer would ensure that the pool never runs out of chlorine. The officer would also oversee that safety procedures were being followed, but wouldn't be directly involved in their day-to-day enforcement.

Grittner's vision was much more involved. He pictured a safety officer who would be in the public works garage every day to ensure drivers were inspecting their vehicles, and be present to support drivers if they believe a vehicle is unsafe to drive.

Applications for the new director of public works position are due by Dec. 1. City officials hope to have the position filled by January.

Dave St. Louis, co-chair of the city's Health and Safety Committee, said he wasn't aware the city was considering a full-time health and safety officer. "That's news to me," he said.

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