Training or Tragedy - The Importance of Operator Education

CEUs

0.6 CEUs

Description

This one day workshop profiles how training is a water operator’s best insurance. Lax practices can miss or ignore the signs of deteriorating water quality that may lead to disaster. The lag between stated regulation and enforcement may wrongly be seen as condoning poor practices. This course will profile the multi year decline of a municipal water system that could have been prevented if the water operators possessed the knowledge and skill sets that only proper training would have provided.

This workshop is presented by Bruce Davidson, co-founder and spokesmen for The Concerned Walkerton Citizens, a group that was formed in direct response to the Walkerton Water Tragedy. Since 2000, he has been involved in outreach, education and policy development regarding the protection of drinking water sources across Canada.

Delivery Formats

There are no available options for this course at this time - please contact .

Outline

*Lunch will be provided for registrants.

Note: AWWOA presents "Ensuring Safe Drinking Water" by Dr. Steve Hrudey, which is taking place the previous day to this workshop. Check the listing for course details and registration information.

Topics Include:
1) Examine the three week acute phase of the Walkerton Tragedy, noting the factors that contributed to the disaster including actions, inactions, and decisions that led to a complete failure of the municipal water system.
2) Explore how the culture of complacency and decades of false assumptions created a blueprint for disaster. Without proper training poor decisions combined with ineffective regulatory enforcement and supervision led to disastrous consequences years later.
3) Finally examine the legal ramifications of failing to comply with regulations and how ignorance of federal and provincial law is not an effective defense against prosecution.

COURSE MATERIALS:
No manuals are required for this workshop - the instructor will provide any relevant material on-site.

Cost

$250.00 Must have current AWWOA Membership

$350.00 Non-Members

$187.50 (For in-class courses only) Must have a current AWWOA Membership and be an operator of a small public rural water/wastewater facility.