Continuous Improvement

The City uses proven continuous improvement (C.I.) tools and methods to tackle process problems and engage staff in problem solving. Learn more by searching ‘continuous improvement’ at StJohns.ca

Continuous Improvement Success

The St. John’s Regional Fire Department is mandated to provide fire and life safety inspections of public assembly buildings in the region. The date for re-inspection (six months, one year, 18 months, 2 years, etc.) is based on a risk assessment model. On average, 1,400 inspections were conducted each year with each inspection taking approximately three hours to complete. CASE STUDY FIRE INSPECTION PROCESS

C.I.

The Challenge

When this project began, rework in the fire inspection process was impacting capacity. Inspectors were taking notes manually and having to enter and re-enter data in the system.

The Solution

A project team came together to implement continuous improvement methodology and tools with the goal of streamlining the inspection process and improving capacity: • Violations previously tracked by paper were documented electronically and sent to property owners by email. • A review of the risk assessment model was conducted to determine if and when properties were required to have an inspection and what service standard was necessary. • Tablets were piloted to allow for easy on-site documentation and one-time data entry. As a result of these improvements, the time required to complete each inspection was reduced by 30 minutes, thereby allowing for improved capacity. The St. John’s Regional Fire Department continues to monitor the process to identify opportunities for additional improvements.

How You Benefit

One of the City’s strategic goals is to develop and deliver programs, services and public spaces that build safe, healthy and vibrant communities. Fire inspections ensure that spaces where the public gather are safe and code compliant. It is essential that property owners have inspections conducted in a timely manner and that firefighters responding to these buildings have accurate and updated information. By improving the inspection process, all stakeholders benefit.

The City of St. John’s is committed to continuously looking at what we do and how we do it to ensure we are performing effectively and achieving results. Through continuous improvement, we are making our processes more efficient to deliver more value to our citizens.