Planning activities for future regulatory training program
With the generous support of the Dr. Neil Lowry Award, the MLHU would like to create this new, enhanced, evidence-informed, and comprehensive regulatory training program.
The MLHU plans to achieve this goal by designing training that is based on best methods supported by literature, which takes into account the experiences of owners, operators, lifeguards of recreational water facilities, and public health inspectors.
The steps the MLHU plans to follow include:
1. Comprehensive needs assessment:
a) Undergo an inspection report audit.
i. To determine the most commonly occurring non-compliance issues observed during recreational water facility inspections over the last three years.
b)Complete focus groups with owners, operators, and lifeguards who have previously attended and who have never attended the MLHU’s public pool and spa operator information sessions.
i. To determine what is expected and needed from a health unit provided regulatory training program. Anecdotally, it appears there are facilities who continue to experience non-compliance issues despite attending previous sessions.
c) Conduct in-depth interviews with public health inspectors.
i. To identify knowledge gaps and perceived barriers to compliance. Questions to ask could be: What have public health inspectors experienced in the field? What are their perceptions as to what will be effective to improve compliance?
2. Identification of effective intervention methods:
a) Design and engage in an environmental scan of pool and spa training programs among other public health units or regions across Canada.
i. To determine what types of pool and spa training programs are being offered by other public health units or regions.
b) Complete a literature review of legislative compliance training programs.
i. To identify features of other programs shown to be effective.
c) Complete a literature review of effective adult learning principles.
i. To enhance the delivery of evidence-informed material.
3. Assess the effectiveness of an enhanced training program:
a) Design and engage in a post-training survey.
i. To determine whether training increased knowledge about the relevant legislation.
b) Undergo a pre- and post-comparison assessment of compliance items.
i. To determine whether the training improved compliance of pool and spa premises.
Looking towards a future regulatory training program
By engaging owners, operators, and those who work in roles that support recreational water facilities, and incorporating their feedback, it is anticipated the MLHU’s future training program will become a product that adds value to the recreational water facility landscape. The goal of this proposed new training program will be to provide those who are in positions of responsibility with the skill set necessary to operate their facilities in accordance with the respective regulations. Ideally, this will allow them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities with respect to maintaining safe and sanitary recreational water facilities. The ultimate goal will be to decrease the number of non-compliance items observed at each location, reducing the risks that lead to recreational waterborne illnesses and injuries. The Dr. Neil Lowry Award will allow the MLHU to enhance its current training program, which could become the foundation for a system that other public health agencies could adopt and use for their own training purposes.
Anne-Maria Quin, B.Sc. is a public health inspector on the Safe Water and Rabies Prevention and Control Team at the Middlesex-London Health Unit. Quin is the recreational water program lead and can be reached via e-mail at anne-maria.quin@mlhu.on.ca.
Fatih Sekercioglu is an environmental health manager for the Middlesex-London Health Unit and has more than 10 years of public health experience. He is currently enrolled in the PhD program at Western University. Sekercioglu can be reached via e-mail at fatih.sekercioglu@mlhu.on.ca.
