ARCHIVED - Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety - Report

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

Section II – Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

---

Strategic Outcome

Improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well being of working Canadians.

Program Activity: Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration

Program Activity Descriptions

The goal of this program is to provide free information on occupational health and safety to support Canadians in their efforts to improve workplace safety and health. Citizens are provided information through a free and impartial personalized service via telephone, e-mail, person-to-person, fax or mail. Alternatively they can independently access a broad range of electronic and print resources developed to support safety and health information needs of Canadians. This may include cost recovery products and services and is supported financially by contributions from various stakeholders.

CCOHS collects, processes, analyzes, evaluates, creates and publishes authoritative information resources on occupational health and safety for the benefit of all working Canadians. This information is used for education and training, research, policy development, development of best practices, improvement of health and safety programs, achieving compliance, and for personal use. When the products or services provided by CCOHS are used by identifiable external recipients with benefits beyond those enjoyed by the general taxpayer, a user fee is charged.

CCOHS promotes and facilitates consultation and cooperation among federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions and participation by labour, management and other stakeholders in the establishment and maintenance of high standards and occupational health and safety initiatives for the Canadian context. The sharing of resources results in the coordinated and mutually beneficial development of unique programs, products and services. Collaborative projects are usually supported with a combination of financial and non-financial contributions to the programs by stakeholders and result in advancement of occupational health and safety initiatives.

 

Program Activity:Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ in thousands)			2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)
Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending	Planned	Actual	Difference
2,350	2,706	2,816	73	67	6

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Easy access to CCOHS Occupational Health and safety information and services	Satisfaction with and ease of access and retrieval of OHS information from Inquiries Service, web access and other CCOHS resources (such as our website, web portals, articles and presentations)	Over 80% or higher on client satisfaction survey, web statistics and evaluation data	Met all
Increased awareness by 10% through various contact points and communications sources.	Number of distributions of OHS information to employees and their employers to improve their understanding of OHS	Increase awareness by 10% through various points an communications sources	Met all
Application of occupational health and safety information to improve workplace practices	Information is being applied in the workplace by employees, government and employers	Target of 72% using information to make change in the workplace	Mostly met

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

As a national institute, CCOHS undertakes a wide range of activities to achieve its objectives. These activities include the following:

• The provision of technical documents, data and related safety information to workers, workplaces and the health and safety community, Canadian workplace communities and the education system. An important element of these activities is to improve the coordination of the flow of occupational health and safety information.
• The promotion and evaluation of research on occupational health and safety issues.
• The provision of expert advice and training in occupational health and safety.
• Participation in meetings and conferences to contribute to improving prevention of safety and health problems.
• Other activities consistent with the mandate of promoting improved health and safety in the workplace and enhance the physical and mental health of Canadian workers.

Maintaining the health of Canadians is an important goal for Canada. Workplace health is an essential component of overall health of Canadians. CCOHS contributes to Canada's goal of a healthy population, sustainable development, improving workplace productivity, safe communities, and Canada's role in the world. CCOHS works closely with labour, business and all levels of government to establish high standards for occupational health and safety, to foster consultation and co-operation, and reduce or eliminate occupational hazards.

CCOHS organizes its activities to meet the expected results linked to our program activity and strategic outcome:

• Easy access to occupational health and safety information and services
• Application of occupational health and safety (OHS) information to improve workplace practices
• Increased awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace
• Partial recovery of costs from user fees (raise other revenues)

Easy access to occupational health and safety information and services

This service is partially funded by contributions from Canadian provinces and territories. The primary risk to this goal is the funding provided as each jurisdiction has its own goals and priorities and there are no guarantees funding will continue. Another risk is the large volume of information available from other sources free on the internet. In order to mitigate this risk, CCOHS strives to distinguish itself as a trusted and reliable source of information by keeping information current and relevant to users. CCOHS also adds value by providing information web portals and partnerships with trusted organizations so users can rely on the credibility of the data provided.

CCOHS offers an Inquiries Service that has fully trained information officers who specialize in occupational health and safety and information retrieval. CCOHS has extensive publications, worldwide database and an in-house library to provide current and relevant answers to Canadian Inquiries. In addition, we have a self-serve website, OSH Answers that answers 6.6 million on-line inquiries to 4.2 million unique visitors. Our person-to-person service answered 9,985 inquiries directly. Our recent client satisfaction survey provided results as follows:

Level of Satisfaction with CCOHS Inquiries Service (% of respondents indicating either very satisfied or satisfied)

Inquiries Service Satisfaction Survey

Inquiries Service Satisfaction Survey April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011
	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	not applicable
Has staff understood your question?	4.0%	3.9%	28.4%	61.9%	1.8%
Time required to receive the response	5.8%	8.5%	40.9%	43.1%	1.6%
Completeness of the response received	4.3%	6.6%	30.2%	56.4%	2.5%
The usefulness of the information	5.5%	6.5%	28.9%	56.8%	2.2%
The clarity of the response	4.2%	4.1%	32.2%	57.5%	2.0%
The courtesy of the staff	3.2%	0.7%	19.8%	70.9%	5.4%
Overall, your satisfaction with the response	4.6%	6.3%	28.1%	59.0%	2.0%

Source: CCOHS survey of clients April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, 897 respondents.

CCOHS performs its own surveys on an ongoing basis as evaluations are done every 4 to 5 years. Our internal surveys are done within two to four weeks after service delivery.

CCOHS provides additional information through copyright requests resulting in 71,230 copies of CCOHS information being made available to the public through many institutions. These distributions are shared with many more users.

CCOHS developed and maintains several web portals on various topics such as workplace health, pandemic planning, CanOsh, and NAOSH. OSH Answers provides over 685 documents answering over 6.6 inquiries to 4.2 million unique visitors to the site. CCOHS monitors trends and current developments to provide current information to meet the needs of Canadians.

CCOHS also publishes guides each year to reach workers as an on the job tool. There are currently 22 titles available. This year, a new booklet Implementing an Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Program was issued. Revisions were done to two other guides. Our satisfaction survey for publications indicates a 93% satisfaction rate and a 93% recommendation rate. Clients feel this publication delivers good value for money, stating 96% satisfied or very satisfied. Over 93% said that the publication helped them improve their understanding of health and safety. Over 74% said this publication may lead to changes in the workplace that may improve occupational health and safety.

Application of occupational health and safety (OHS) information to improve workplace practices

The expected result of CCOHS activities is to improve the application of occupational health and safety to improve workplace practices. This includes several priorities to achieve this goal. CCOHS promotes collaboration and exchanges through national dialogues, forums and conferences to increase applications in the workplace and improve practices. We work closely with the education sector and partners to expand and improve teaching of health and safety in schools and providing them with resources. CCOHS promotes application in the workplace with tools such as the CanOSH website, to help Canadians locate Canadian occupational safety and health information for the purpose of legal compliance, improving workplace health and safety practices and ultimately to facilitate the acquisition of information required for the reduction of workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. This website helps Canadians navigate 14 governmental jurisdictions and multiple websites. In 2010-11, more than 18,584 people accessed this site 59,141 times.

CCOHS promotes and manages many other web portals including pandemic planning, EU-Canada collaboration, Canadian Health workplaces month, young workers zone, to name a few.

Details are about these websites as well as their reach are included in our annual report. CCOHS has an extensive communications program to promote occupational health and safety throughout Canada.

CCOHS measures the application of its programs through surveys asking if information provided will result in changes in the workplace. Our evaluation survey indicate that 79% of the uses of CCOHS information relate to either current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved workplace health and safety. This clearly demonstrates that CCOHS goals are being met.

In terms of the overall importance of the CCOHS Inquiries Service in meeting the health and safety needs of their organization, 86.3% of respondents said that CCOHS was either very important or important.

Training and education remains one of the most effective ways to improve both employers' and workers' awareness of their rights and responsibilities for health and safety. A recent study found only one in five Canadian workers received training in their first year of a new job.³ The risk to health is related to the workers newness to a job, a lack of training and hazardous work conditions. CCOHS offers courses in various environments that include traditional classroom, customized courses and e-learning to help meet the needs of Canadians. Courses are reviewed by tri-partite external reviewers to ensure relevancy and comprehensiveness.

CCOHS continued to expand its internet based e-learning courses this year. There are currently 13 new courses and a total of 72 bilingual courses. There are also free courses available on the website for the general public. These courses have been accessed over 23,000 times this year. E-learning courses have helped train thousands of workers and have a very high satisfaction rating of 97.5% and a recommendation rate of 95.9%. The students reported 95.6% helped improve their understanding of occupational health and safety and 66.4% say the information will be used to make changes in the workplace. We continuously monitor feedback from course participants and have received 2,284 responses this year.

³Smith, Peter and Mustard, Cameron, How Many Employees Receive Safety Training During Their First Year of a New Job?, Injury Prevention, 2007, Volume 13, Issue 1

Increased Awareness and Understanding of Occupational Health and Safety issues in the Workplace

CCOHS' goal is to increase awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace.Awareness is the first step leading to changes that will result in reductions in workplace illness and injuries and death.This is accomplished through a wide variety of communications methods.

The primary risk in achieving this goal is the limits of financial resources and staffing. CCOHS also relies on partnerships with other organizations to expand its reach. During the year, CCOHS undertook many initiatives to increase awareness and understanding of health and safety.

The Health and Safety report is a monthly free e-newsletter distributed to everyone who signs up for the service. The content is widely reproduced by other organizations to enhance their own health and safety program. The service is very popular with an 8.39% increase this year to over 29,687 members. Each year a readership survey is conducted and it showed a 97.9% satisfaction rating and 96.7% saying the newsletter provides value to their organization. They also reported that 66% of respondents said the use of the information from the Report is directly/indirectly related to changes in their workplace that might improve health and safety. The report is often used for other newsletters, bulletin boards and orientation kits. 92% of subscribers share the report with others. CCOHS expanded its poster program this year to 14 posters on topics ranging from workplace violence and bullying to WHMIS symbols and crane hand signals to lifting tips. This program has been very successful with over 30,479 free downloads, representing an increase of 24.2% over the prior year. Sales of posters increased to 3,941 these posters are seen by thousands of workers and promote awareness of workplace health and safety issues.

CCOHS provides two services, a list-serv and a web discussion board to encourage knowledge exchanged amongst occupational health and safety professionals. These two services have a combined total of 1,904 members. This service is popular with health and safety professionals as well as many others interested in improving the workplace.

CCOHS also provides a webinar program to encourage people to host webinar sessions as an easy and efficient means to share information. These programs have been held to promote NAOSH week and Healthy Workplace week. CCOHS partnered with the Institute for Work and Health to present two webinars on different aspects of Return to Work. CCOHS has also begun a social media campaign using Twitter, Slideshare and Facebook to increase awareness to promote workplace health and safety and improve understanding. CCOHS also has a successful podcast program available on smart phones, MP3 players etc. This public service provides content on the go with 36 podcasts this year with a total number of active episodes of 54. They are distributed from iTunes and the CCOHS website. They program has listens of 37,637 this year and they are very popular in the bilingual format. CCOHS is being recognized as a leader in program delivery using social media.

A summary of the quantitative data establishing the reach of CCOHS products and services in Canadian workplaces is shown in Exhibit IV-4. The key point of this exhibit is that not only does CCOHS have a large number of users and clients of its products and services but that the information and products they provide have a large number of users within the organization. Using the data in Exhibit IV-4, (together with a relatively conservative assumption that the "more than 500" category is 750) allows us to calculate the average number of workers affected by the products, services and information in each of the three columns of the exhibit. This average number of workers who could benefit from the information is 81 for the Inquiries Service, 80 for paid web products, 97 for other paid products and 208 for information supplied to users of the web site.⁴

⁴CCOHS Program Evaluation and Financial Capacity Assessment, 2009

Exhibit IV-2 Reach of Information in Organizations Using CCOHS Products and Services

Persons using within Organization	Inquiries Service	Paid Web Products	Other Paid Products	Web Site
1-10	62.4%	62.3%	65.6%	28.7%
11-100	25.3%	26.6%	15.6%	36.1%
101-500	7.0%	4.8%	12.5%	17.0%
More than 500	5.6%	6.2%	6.3%	18.1%

Partial recovery of costs from user fees

CCOHS generates 42% of is own revenues through cost recovery initiatives and support from other organizations. CCOHS was directed to recover costs to finance 50% of its budget, so it is necessary to have a cost recovery program. While it is extremely difficult to finance, CCOHS develops products to promote workplace health and safety and encourage attitudes and methods that will lead to improved worker physical and mental health. Our public services are extremely popular and well received by the public. Generating revenues from the sale of information will always be a challenge.

Our annual report outlines many cost recovery initiatives.

Lessons Learned

CCOHS has learned to carefully monitor client satisfaction and seek their feedback in order to meet their needs with respect to products and services. By monitoring trends and changes in the work place, CCOHS can develop and provide information in more meaningful ways to reach a more diverse audience. This communication strategy allows for a wider audience via webinars, podcast, e-newsletters, posters and e-learning. CCOHS has learned to use social media to reach its audience.

Program Activity: Internal Services

Program Activity Descriptions

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Material Services; Acquisition Services; and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.

Program Activity: Internal Services

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ in thousands)			2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)
Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending	Planned	Actual	Difference
2,706	2,910	2,622	23	23	0

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Measurement of employee satisfaction	Satisfaction of employees	70% or greater	Met all

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

This is the second year for segregating and reporting on Internal Services separately. While we did have an employee engagement survey the previous year we did not complete one this year. The next survey will take place in the fall of 2011. CCOHS continues to work on issues identified in the engagement survey.

Lessons Learned

Seeking feedback from employees is an opportunity to identify areas for improvement and improve communications. This exercise can be positive an experience that promote change and has employees feel their input is important.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page