Checklist - Records and Information

Category 6 audits whether the department keeps the records the law, the standards and its own programs require, keeps them for as long as required, protects the ones that are confidential, turns them into statistics that someone acts on, and gets safety information to every member on every shift and at every station. It covers the records system and retention, statistics and indicators, privacy of medical and behavioural records, exposure records, safety bulletins and lessons distribution, and communication across shifts and stations.

It leaves to other categories: the control of policies, procedures and other documents (category 4); the indicator definitions and targets themselves (category 18); the content of medical, fitness and psychological programs (categories 10 and 11); and audit records (category 19). This category asks whether the record exists, is complete, is kept, is protected and is used.

The CFAI column in the checklist crosswalks each item to the 10th edition performance indicator where one applies (CPSE, 2019); the 11th edition applies to agencies appearing before the Commission from 2027, and the crosswalk will be re-mapped then (CPSE, 2024).

1. Score D, I and E for each item 0 to 3, then derive the item score (01 Audit Program section 5).
2. Both-required evidence codes (D+I, D+O, O+I) need each type before I can exceed 1.
3. Weights C3, K2, S1; L items must score at least 2 or the category fails its legislated floor.
4. Category score = sum(weight x item score) / sum(weight x 3). Effectiveness index uses E.
5. Record a finding, owner and due date for every item below 3, and give each finding its grade and priority (01 Audit Program section 6): a major nonconformity is P1 (Imminent) or P2 (Serious) by risk, a minor nonconformity P3 (Moderate), an opportunity for improvement P4 (Improvement). Every finding enters the Corrective Action Register within five working days (a P1 the day it is found), with the due dates its priority sets.

Loop test. A career firefighter notices on a Monday that their lifetime exposure record is missing three working fires from the previous winter. They tell their captain; by Wednesday the custodian has the incident numbers, by Friday the record is corrected and the firefighter has confirmation, and within the quarter the HSO has sampled 20 other records for the same gap, found the cause (a reporting form that did not sync from one station), fixed it, and reported the finding and the fix to the JOHSC.

Answer from observation or interview only; record the evidence.

1. Ask the records custodian to retrieve, while you watch, one member’s training record, one apparatus inspection record from 18 months ago and one JOHSC minute from three years ago. How long did each take, and was each complete?
2. Ask five members what happened to the last thing they reported (hazard, near miss, exposure, suggestion). How many got an answer, and how long did it take?
3. Ask members whether they can raise a concern about how their medical, exposure or behavioural health information is handled and get an answer, and whether they trust that it stays confidential. Did they name a person and a response?

1. (Custodian) Show me the records inventory and the retention schedule. Pull the oldest record you hold of each type.
2. (Custodian) What happens when a member leaves? Who gets their exposure record?
3. (HSO) Walk me through building last month’s indicator report from the raw records.
4. (Occupational health provider or custodian) Who can open a medical file, and how do you know who has?
5. (Member) After your last working fire, how and when did you record your exposure? Show me on your phone or the station form.
6. (Member) When did you last see a safety bulletin, and what was it about?
7. (Volunteer) How do bulletins and change notices reach you? Who told you about the last one?
8. (Officer) What safety items did you pass on at the last shift change?
9. (Observe) The station notice board or screen: policy, JOHSC minutes, last inspection, reporting routes, bulletins, dates.
10. (Observe) A reporting form being completed: how long, how clear, where it goes.
11. (Everyone) Who would you tell if a record about you was wrong or had been seen by the wrong person, and what would happen?
12. (Everyone) What one thing about records or communication would you fix first?

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.