On Sept. 1, the Canada Games Centre will close at 3 p.m. to provide staff with extensive training in emergency procedures and customer service, as well as enable staff to train together as a team.
Krista Mroz, manager of recreation for the City of Whitehorse, said the CGC has over 120 staff operating various shifts - operations, member services, programming and aquatics.
During the winter, the CGC is open 17 hours per day, seven days a week. Some operational staff work outside public hours so coordinating training for staff on all shifts is challenging, said Mroz.
“That approach can create a silo of information and a limited understanding of day-to-day operations as each branch is focused on training relevant to their own area,” said Mroz.
“One of the objectives of the all staff in-service approach is to break down those barriers and provide a consistent approach to safety and service so that everyone is working from the same set of expectations.”
Mroz also said several of the staff have only known operations under the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need to help them understand what to expect when we return to normal operations,” said Mroz.
For this reason the CGC will shut down from 3 p.m. to closing time on Wednesday.
“It provides an interactive platform to communicate what a return to normal operations looks like, allowing staff to contribute,” added Mroz.
The emergency procedures CGC still will cover include building evacuations, test responses to fire, ammonia and chlorine alarms.
“The closure enables the department to debrief with all staff following each simulation, and identify potential issues or updates required,” said Mroz.
To test the systems during operations, has an on impact to facility users, vendors and service delivery, said Mroz.
The CGC does conduct emergency procedure testing annually with the public inside the building, but testing is limited to those on shift.
“Not all staff benefit,” said Mroz.
There have been several “significant changes” to CGC operations, programs and services during the pandemic and Mroz said those changes have created inconsistencies.
“The closure provides an opportunity to reset and communicate to all staff a consistent direction and help them to understand and ask questions about what service should look like moving forward,” said Mroz.
In services training, Mroz said the department is looking to improve “safety for both staff and patrons.”
“(We want) to improve our customer service culture by coming together as a team,” said Mroz.
The CGC will be open for regular hours on Sept. 2. The pool is closed for annual maintenance and will reopen on Sept. 7.
Contact John Tonin at john.tonin@yukon-news.com