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Download the TSSA Contractor Engagement Initiative Document - Here

QuoteAs you may recall, in 2012 TSSA began its initiative to gather feedback from a cross-section of contractors in the Elevating Devices and Fuels sectors to help better understand issues that specifically concern you, as contractors, when interacting with TSSA. The primary objective remains focused on improving the working relationship with the ultimate goal of further enhancing safety in Ontario.

Over 200 contractors have provided very constructive feedback through focus groups, one-on-one discussions, TSSA Industry Advisory Councils, meetings with industry associations, emails and various other means. I want to thank everyone for their participation and thoughtful contributions to this process. In reviewing all of the insights a number of common themes have been identified. These include: communication and education; fees and billing; consistency; partnership/enforcement; training and licensing; and TSSA processes. This has been a key step forward as it has allowed TSSA to focus its attention on addressing issues related to these themes as the organization moves forward.

Having gained insights from contractors, the next step was to engage TSSA staff that regularly interacts with fuels and elevating devices contractors. The objective, as with contractors, was to gain further insights related to the relationship between TSSA staff and contractors. Similar to the efforts with contractors, input was provided through a various means. Feedback was received from our inspectors, engineers, training and certification staff, licensing/registration/certification and examination teams, TSSA Contact Centre staff as well as supervisors and managers. Overall these interactions provided insights that were relatively consistent with those identified by contractors.

The process to date has provided very important insights that TSSA is continuing to assess. The next step will be to identify various initiatives to begin addressing the issues identified. With these in hand, we believe it is very important that we re-engage with contractors to discuss the initiatives and use this input to further refine our plans prior to implementation. The intent is to conduct this process between May and July 2013. As with the previous process TSSA will be seeking input through a variety of means including focus groups that will be facilitated by Modus Research, an independent third party organization, who will also be responsible for recruiting participants for these sessions. While focus groups are a very valuable engagement tool, I recognize that they do not provide an opportunity for all contractors to provide input. With that in mind, to assist other contractors who wish to offer input, more detailed information on the insights and feedback gathered through the focus group sessions will also be posted on TSSA's website, www.tssa.org. I would encourage all contractors to review the information and provide their feedback to me via email and/or telephone.

I want to again thank all of those who provided their input previously and look forward to further discussions in the coming months. Finally, please feel free to contact me at any time should you have any questions or comments regarding this initiative.

Sincerely,

Dave Lisle
Director, Research and Education
Tel: 416-734-3330
Email: dlisle@tssa.org