04 Annual Program Cycle and Calendar

The safety management system runs on a yearly cycle of Plan, Do, Check, Act (ISO 45001:2018, cl. 4.4 and 9 to 10). This note puts every recurring governance event on one calendar so that the audit feeds the management review, the review feeds the budget, the budget feeds the programs, and the JOHSC sees each step as it happens. The detailed inspection, test and renewal rows are in Annual Inspection and Review Schedule; this note carries the governance events and the headline operational cycles so the fire chief and the co-chairs can see the year on one page.

The year opens in April with the management review, which reads the audit report (issued March 1) and the program appraisals (due March 15), sets the objectives, decides the resources and signs off the policy review. Program teams start their work plans. Spot-audits run five categories a quarter. Quarterly updates land 15 days after each quarter. The annual report goes to council in June. The budget worksheets are consolidated for the municipal submission on {{Budget submission date}}. The culture survey or pulse runs in November. The annual internal audit runs January to February. Appraisals are written in February and March. The year closes with the audit report, the appraisals and the JOHSC self-evaluation on the chief’s desk for the next April.

• Fiscal year April to March. For a January to December year, move every row back three months (management review in January, audit in October to November, appraisals due December 15, council report in March). For any other year end, keep the sequence and the gaps: audit report at least six weeks before the management review; appraisals at least two weeks before; management review at least {{Weeks}} before the budget submission; council report within three months of year end.
• Budget submission. Municipal budget calendars vary. Record {{Budget submission date}} in the header and move the “resources” session of the management review to at least four weeks before it, splitting the review if needed (Management Review section 7).
• Seasons. Wildland, water and ice rows are tied to seasons, not the fiscal year; they do not move.
• Stage. A Stage 1 department runs the rows marked S1 and skips the rest in year one; every row is on the calendar from the start so the gaps are visible.

Print and post in every station office and the chief’s office. Dates are defaults for an April to March year.

Loop test. The audit report is late: fieldwork slipped because of a major fire in January. The senior officer H&S logs the slip in the register in February, moves the management review to the first week of May with the fire chief’s agreement, tells the JOHSC and the program managers in writing, and the next calendar carries a note that fieldwork needs a two-week buffer. The members see the date change on the wall calendar, not in a rumour.

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.