Known Questions Flashcards
It is May long weekend and your new and returning park patrol will be arriving at the park soon. What will you do as a supervisor to get them prepared for the weekend and how will you fit this in with your regular duties as a Conservation Officer?
Department Employee Orientation Check List
Safety Orientation Check List
Before staff arrive
- Call staff to confirm 1. start date 2. location to report to first day 3. supervisor contact information 4. accommodation information
- Prepare district tools (flashlights, radios, baton, OC, etc.)
- Prepare PP vehicle
- Prepare bunkhouse
- Create district “bible” or guide
- Print the two checklists for each staff member
Administration
- Scheduling (required days off throughout the summer, weekly schedules, start time, end time, breaks, vacation, sick days, night shifts, shift premiums
- Contact information forms for district (PPCs, CO’s, DS, RFS, RSS, maintenance, KA3, ambulance, police, etc)
- Review union collective agreement and where to find it
- Review employee assistance program and how to access
- Review payment schedule and introduce to clerk for questions
- Review operational directives (officer grooming, officer notebook, problem black bear in built up area, use of force, etc)
- Chain of command
- Radio etiquette (call signs, scramble, 911 contact, making phone calls)
- inform employee of evaluation procedure and criteria
Safety
- Safety equipment location (AED, first aid kit, eye wash station, fire extinguishers)
- PPE (eye protection, ear protection, hard hat, PDFs and gloves)
- Safety communication board and safety data sheet (SDS) location
- Respectful workplace policy
- Working alone and at night policy
- Reporting unsafe work procedure
- Right to refuse unsafe work policy
- Reporting safety incidents
- Safety committee opportunity
- Emergency plans (evacuation, fire, tornado)
- Emergency contact information form
- Voluntary disclosure of allergies or medical conditions
- Common sense (don’t use equipment you’re not trained on)
Technical
- Distribute district gear (radios, baton, OC spray, etc.)
- Staff introductions (KAs, maintenance, RCMP, EMS, etc)
- Tour (DO, CGO, CG, group use, lunch spots, gas station, maintenance yard, bunkhouse, fishing spots, etc)
- Tool box talk expectation
- Bunkhouse (inventory, rules, guest policy)
- Vehicle (km limits, fuel, accident protocol)
- Practice scenarios
- Boat orientation
- ATV orientation
- problem wildlife control review
- Additional training requirements (PCOC)
1 on 1
-resource or police aspirations
Managing with other CO duties
- Complete together to save time
- Doesn’t have to be completed in one day
- Use PPCs & clerk need be
What is essential in every situation?
Safety, notes, communication (tell your supervisor) and follow up
What do you think is the 5 best characteristics all supervisors should have and explain why
Empowering, positive attitude, loyal, reliable, trust worthy
Honesty, trust worthy, reliable, loyal, professional, empowering, team building, encouraging, mentoring, positive outlook and attitude, ask for input & respect input, provide direction. Treat others the want to be treated.
An individual calls and reports a forest fire. What information do you request from them?
Their contact information
Location
Water source near by
Fire activity (colour of smoke (white = smouldering. Black = burning hot) is there spotting?
Size
Visible flame
Weather conditions, including wind direction
What’s burning (field/forest)
Values nearby (houses, schools, stores, gas station, cottages)
Are there people there trying to fight the fire
Access to the fire - road, railroad, fly in
An individual calls and reports a forest fire. You call back and get all necessary information. What are your next steps?
Contact regional fire control and pass along all information
Fire control has the ability to dispatch water bombers and IA
If the fire is in your region and you have a fire crew in the yard, you can dispatch your fire crew (inform regional fire control)
See if PP can assist through traffic control
Inform your supervisor
Good notes
Be on standby
Give your best example of when you had to enforce any kind of law and explain you role as an officer and what the overall outcome was to your decision.
-fishing licence at Adam lake - fishery inspection, taking statements (police warning, charter, officer information, subject information, date/time) good supervising skills (Got Chelsea to observe me taking statements, then take her own), active listening,
Give you best example where you showed good supervisory skills
-Shannon not knowing what was going on (practice tickets, practice scenarios, reviewing the guides, empowering him to take the lead and make decisions, (after attending site, and getting ID/information, reviewing scenarios, disciplinary (with mid season review), framing the negative with two positives, loyal (when Shannon made calls that I wouldn’t necessarily make, I still had his back. I was loyal to him and his growth as an officer, while at the same time, using followup discussions to explain what I would have done differently. Struggled with paperwork, so repeatedly demonstrated how to do it and did practice forms.
One of your employees has been neglecting their regular duties and showed up late for work. This is the first time this had happen, as a supervisor explain what action you would take to prevent this or what actions you will take if it is reoccurring.
Always take good, detailed noted with the date, time, occurrence and who was there. Levels of reprimand
-verbal direction
-written direction/reprimand – consult with your supervisor - cc’ district supervisor
-one day suspension, must come from regional superintendent
-anything beyond one day is through HR
If this was the first time it happened, a conservation and detailed notes would likely be satisfactory. If you open a dialogue with “I noticed you were late today, if everything okay?” This would be mutually beneficial as a team building exercise, as well as empowering the employee to provide an answer without being accusatory. There may be unknown factors (stopped to talk with public, got a work call, was checking a bear trap), or even personal challenges such as divorce, grievances, etc, which as a supervisor you can provide information on work supports such as the call line, and insurance information.
Which are the primary acts CO’s are responsible for
Crown Lands Act, The Ecological Reserves Act, The Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act, The Environment Act, The Fisheries Act, The Forest Act, The Forest Health Protection Act, The Offroad Vehicle Act, The Provincial Parks Act, The Polar Bear Protection Act, The Resource Tourism Operator Act, The Water Act, The Water Rights Act, The Wildfire Act, The Wildlife Act, The Wild Rice Act,
What do you read a person while taking a statement if you expect they’ve committed an offense
Charter them (read them their rights and ensure with verbal confirmation that they’ve understood. Read police warning. If you have lost contact with someone, you must read them the purged warning as well.
Resistance continuum
Psychological intimidation Verbal noncompliance Passive resistance Defensive resistance Assaultive behaviour Death or GBH
Force continuum
Officer presence Verbal direction Soft empty hand Hard empty hand Intermediate weapon Lethal force
In 2 minutes please provide us with all the relevant education and experience that has given you the ability to be here today.
- Growing up I was a self appointed stream inspector, deer tracker, and weather forcastor. I would do anything to get outside, and when asked what I wanted to go when I grew up, “Wildlife Conservation Officer” was always my answer (even though I didn’t know if that position existed)
- Academics preparing me (undergrad thesis, masters thesis)
- 4 years as an RO2
- Bird biologist, it’s the I don’t want to be a bird biologist
- Born to be a conservation officer i
Explain a time when you were given a task to complete with minimal supervision and time and how you were able to complete the task along with your regular duties.
Place holder
Provide an experience that demonstrates your ability to manage time effectively. What were the challenges and results?
Working for the University of Manitoba, Clayton H Riddell, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources as the Special Projects Coordinator. Multiple Objectives. Major vs Minor Priorities. Time sensitive deadlines. Delegating tasks. effective oral and written communication. Scheduling weeks in advance.
