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A. Operating EnvironmentCCOHS is a national centre dedicated to providing Canadians with access to information on workplace hazards and conditions to assist all Canadians to reduce injuries and illnesses. The Centre was created to provide a common focus for and coordination of information in the area of occupational health and safety. CCOHS functions as an independent departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. Its funding is derived from a combination of appropriations, cost recoveries and collaboration with the provinces. It is expected that 50% of the budget be funded through cost recoveries from the creation, production and worldwide sales of fee-for-service and revenue generating occupational health and safety products and services. Free information is delivered to Canadians by provision of occupational health and safety information, via mail, telephone, e-mail or from the Internet website. In addition to this free public service, extensive self-serve information is made available through the CCOHS website. The resources and funds for supporting and providing the Inquiries Service are derived from a combination of provincial, territorial and federal government funding and monies from cost recovery. |
Key Results |
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CCOHS is an independent government department managed by a Council of Governors comprised of representatives from labour, business and all levels of Canadian government. This governance structure helps to ensure that CCOHS remains independent and a trusted source of unbiased information for employers, workers and governments. Our key stakeholders are directly involved in the policy, governance and strategic planning for the organization. They also participate in reviews of programs and services to help ensure our information is impartial. Our inquiries service is also supported and funded from contributions provided by provincial and territorial governments.
In addition to these partnerships, CCOHS is actively involved in many collaborative arrangements with national and international occupational health and safety organizations. These include the World Health Organization (WHO), the Canadian Health Network, North American Occupational Safety and Health week (NAOSH), International Labor Organization (ILO) , Enhancement of Occupational Health and Safety in Brazilian Industry (EOHSBI) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Further information on the many partnerships is available at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html and in our annual report.
Collaborative projects serve many purposes at CCOHS. They are opportunities to enhance our information holdings, generate revenues and work with partners worldwide. This contributes to greater collaboration among nations to promote the sharing of information and knowledge for programs relating to occupational health and safety.
CCOHS also provides high quality electronic information products delivered in CD, DVD and web based formats, publications, training programs and full text Canadian health, safety and environmental health legislation. These services have subscribers in more than 50 countries.
CCOHS is a trusted source of unbiased and reliable information for Canadians. Information is obtained from world-wide sources and made available to Canadians through our Inquiries Service, subscription products and our website. With the variety of information available world wide, it is important that Canadians have CCOHS as a trusted source for occupational health and safety information.
The MSDS management system, a fee for service product, was developed in 2005-6 to meet the need for a more customized product and also to address the issue of declining revenues from our current products. This service supports our goal of assisting workers to be more effective in safely using hazardous chemicals. The service is designed to give users the ability to build and maintain a customized collection of the material safety data sheets (MSDS) that they use in their work place. Customized collections are automatically updated and the subscriber is notified of changes in the MSDS in their collection.
Another important initiative is the expansion of e-learning programs. This extends the reach of traditional class room based courses. Plans for 2007-8 include expanding the number of course offerings and offering customization of existing courses. The e-learning programs continue to be successful and allow for benefitting a greater number of workers. Class room courses will include an additional course and also more external trainers will be used.
A 2nd CCOHS national forum on "Emerging Health & Safety Issues from Canadian Workplaces" will be held in Vancouver in 2007. The forum will bring together subject experts, workers, employers and governments to share their knowledge and experience around this pan-Canadian issue and to discuss problems and solutions. It is expected that Forum '07 will stimulate the discussions of creative solutions among attendees to help Canadians to be more effective in addressing these problems.
Internal management initiatives include continued enhancement of performance management for the new internal organizational structure. The implementation of the new internal organizational structure will better support the goal of enhancing products and services to better meet the needs of our stakeholders. Other management priorities include succession planning, improving risk management and formalizing management information technologies security procedures and practices.
CCOHS continues to face the fiscal challenge of generating 50% of its budget through cost recovery. Generating revenues of $4.3 million is challenging given our limited human resources, the absence of working capital and additional administrative costs of a government organization. In addition, CCOHS is subject to changes in the market place such as foreign exchange fluctuations, technology change, the life cycle of products and the availability of free information on the internet. These factors make it increasingly difficult to sustain a viable level of revenues.
As with all government departments, CCOHS has administrative responsibilities that are not conducive to revenue generation. This includes dollar limits on advertising, embargos on advertising due to policy changes, elections and the lack of funding for new product development and promotion. CCOHS does not have any working capital to finance accounts receivable or inventories that are carried on its balance sheet. These restrictions place CCOHS at a competitive disadvantage for proper cost-recovery. CCOHS also cannot carry over funds, which makes multi-year planning and product development difficult.
Sales are also impacted by the general state of the economy, and CCOHS' ability to keep abreast of changing technologies, and global competition in occupational safety and health information. CCOHS products are information based and must be kept current and unbiased in order to be useful and credible. Maintaining information products is very labour intensive and requires a wide range of professionals who rely on the latest technologies. Government policy restrictions inhibit revenue generation to the extent required to maintain operations.
In order to serve the public, CCOHS must keep up to date with today's technologies. Our products and services need to be delivered using the latest operating systems and software. Failure to maintain current market place standards would result in our products not working on changing operating systems and internet systems.
Free information available on the internet continues to be a challenge and has negatively impacted sales of traditional products. CCOHS must work diligently to distinguish itself as a reliable source of unbiased and credible information. CCOHS has adapted to these challenges through the development of new products and services to meet the continually changing needs of Canadians. The timeframe between new product development, implementation and ultimately sales is problematic as it generally does not coincide with the fiscal year end and there is no opportunity for financing of these initiatives.
As our workforce ages, succession planning is a serious concern. Recently several staff have retired and many more retirements are anticipated within the next five years. The internal re-structuring will assist with development of skills with the remaining staff members.
CCOHS contributes to the priorities of the government in the following way:
CCOHS is a national centre dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of unbiased information on occupational health and safety. CCOHS provides Canadians with information about occupational health and safety that is trustworthy, comprehensive, and intelligible. The information facilitates responsible decision-making, promotes improvements in workplace health and safety, increases awareness of the need for a healthy and safe working environment, and supports occupational health and safety and education training.
CCOHS has one overall program activity, occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration. The department's policies and programs are directed to the pursuit of the following key results:
Planned Spending by Strategic Outcomes (in thousands)
Expected Results | Priorities | Associated Resources | Type of Priority |
Easy access to Occupational Health and Safety information and service |
|
$1,157 | On going |
Increased awareness and understanding of Occupational Health and Safety issues in the workplace |
|
$1,157 | On going and new |
Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to Improve workplace practices |
|
$1,157 | On going |
Partial recovery of costs from user fees |
|
$1,157 | New and on going |
To provide wide range of products and services to meet the needs of Canadians notional planned spending for 2007-8 - $ 1,157 |
Specialists in workplace health and safety resources are available to assist Canadians with their questions via a telephone service, e-mail or fax. They also assist with supporting products, providing information and assistance selecting workplace health and safety products. The Inquiries and Client Service is the national resource that provides confidential access to occupational health and safety (OH&S) information, in English or in French, to the Canadian working population. In addition, we develop and provide OshAnswers, available as a bilingual web based information service that covers over 600 topics in occupational health and safety. The health and safety information is presented in a question-and-answer format and answers more than 3,500 questions.
CCOHS also offers extensive information on its website and through various products and services. Service is also provided in selection of products, technical support and general information. Emerging risks in OHS, issues and needs are identified so appropriate public and cost recovery products and services can be developed.
The goals for the upcoming year are:
These services are delivered in various methods to ensure that Canadians have access in their preferred method of service and to efficiently provide services coast to coast from one location.
The key partners for the delivery of the person-to-person Inquiries services are the provincial and territorial governments who contribute financially and through their participation on the CCOHS Council of Governors. Other partners include various international organizations who share their information with CCOHS.
This service is reviewed through direct user feed back and satisfaction surveys. In addition, independent periodic evaluations and customer satisfaction reports are undertaken. This also includes web surveys and key informant interviews.
Forecast Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | Planned Spending 2009-2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
in thousands | |||||||
$ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
1,168 | 22 | 1,157 | 22 | 1,157 | 22 | 1,157 | 22 |
CCOHS fully supports the goal for a Healthy Canada and has many programs and services to help achieve this goal. By working on prevention initiatives, Canadians are provided with more unbiased information to assist them to prevent occupational diseases and workplace injuries. CCOHS also promotes Healthy Workplaces. CCOHS focuses on promoting a culture of prevention as it is the most effective means to keep Canadians healthy and safe.
Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to improve Workplace Practices - Notional planned spending for 2007-8- $1,157 |
The application of occupational health and safety information in the workplace is important to achieve reductions in injuries and illnesses and improve workplace productivity. Providing information that can be used to reduce illness and injuries in the workplace is a key requirement.
The rationale for CCOHS' development of products and services is to promote improvements, both today and in the future, in Canadian workplaces for more effective occupational health and safety programs and higher quality systems to reduce the number of illnesses and injuries and improve workplace capability.
Information provided in different methods for Canadians is essential to provide equal access to CCOHS' services. Providing practical information that can be directly applied in the workplace is essential to achieving our goals. Key partners for delivering services can be found at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html.
The outcomes from this program are measured through analysis of a variety of metrics, data and activities including website statistics, distribution of publications, copyright applications, and evaluative information on the sharing of information and use of information in the workplace. Client surveys and focus groups are also conducted to obtain user feedback on the accessibility and usability of products and services. The latest reports can be reviewed at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.
Forecast Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | Planned Spending 2009-2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
in thousands | |||||||
$ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
1,171 | 23 | 1,157 | 28 | 1,157 | 28 | 1,157 | 28 |
These services directly contribute to improving Canada's social foundations by improving the overall health of Canadians with health information to help reduce the incidence of avoidable disease.
Increased awareness and understanding of Occupational Health and Information issues in the Work Place - Notional planned spending in 2007-8- $1,157 |
Recognizing the importance of occupational health and safety is the first step in identifying problems and working towards solutions that ultimately lead to reduced injuries and illness.
The measurement of success is the distribution of information and the wide reach and use of these services. This can be measured through distribution statistics, participation in presentations, courses and special events, awareness campaigns and website statistics.
Forecast Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | Planned Spending 2009-2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
in thousands | |||||||
$ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
1,171 | 23 | 1,157 | 24 | 1,157 | 24 | 1,157 | 24 |
Partial recovery of costs from the sale of products and services that meet the objective of improving health and safety - Notional planned spending 2007-8 $1,157 |
CCOHS' receives 50% of its budget through appropriations. The remaining 50% must be funded through the sale of products and services. The extent of programming is dependent upon the ability to generate the necessary revenues.
The success of this program is measured through the revenues generated from sales and the ability to meet operating expenses. Sales of products and services relates specifically to occupational health and safety to improve workplace health.
Forecast Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | Planned Spending 2009-2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
in thousands | |||||||
$ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
1,171 | 22 | 1,157 | 22 | 1,157 | 22 | 1,157 | 22 |