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ARCHIVED - RPP 2007-2008
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety


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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome


A. Operating Environment

CCOHS 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
  • Easy access to occupational health and safety information and services. This includes providing Canadians with information through a free inquires service to assist with occupational health and safety concerns. Client satisfaction and results are evaluated annually. This also includes ensuring that information is available in many forms such as publications, internet, CD-Rom, DVD and training. Information on the various products and services can be found at: http://www.ccohs.ca/products/subject.html
  • Increase awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. This includes providing advice and guidance, training and promoting health and safety. Understanding is measured through evaluations.
  • Application of occupational information to improve workplace practices measured through reach of information and impact on changes in the workplace. This is demonstrated through evaluation reports.
  • Partial recovery of costs from user fees through sales of products and services in addition to providing public service. Results are measured through revenues generated from sales while also balancing the needs of the public to have access to free or low cost information.

2.1 Key Stakeholders and Partners

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.

2.2 Major Initiatives

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.

2.3 Risks and Challenges

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.

2.4 Link to the Government of Canada Outcomes

CCOHS contributes to the priorities of the government in the following way:

International Affairs - A safe and secure world through international co-operation

  • CCOHS contributes to greater collaboration among nations to promote the sharing of information and knowledge for programs relating to occupational health and safety to reduce injuries and illness and improve conditions for workers. CCOHS participates in promoting and supporting occupational health and safety initiatives with global organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health, International Labour Organization, United Nations Environment Program, Organization of American States (OAS) and European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Details of various collaborations and results can be found in our annual report at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.

Social Affairs – Healthy Canadians

  • Occupational diseases, illnesses and death are serious health risks to Canadians. The government plans to strengthen our social foundations by improving the overall health of Canadians starting with health promotion to reduce the incidence of avoidable disease. One of the most effective strategies in reducing ill health is prevention of ill health. CCOHS' primary role is to support Canada's capability to improve prevention of work-related illness and disease by providing information and services to enable Canadians to identify hazards and risks in the workplace and assist them to address issues and take remedial action. CCOHS continues to engage many health care providers, health science professionals, educators and advocates in the public and private sectors to improve the health of Canadians. Details of specific projects are noted throughout this report and in our annual report. CCOHS also contributes to this priority through its work with the Canadian Health Network (a Health Canada initiative) as the lead for organizing and implementing the workplace health program. CCOHS' national forums on timely health and safety issues contributes to this priority.
  • CCOHS contributes to fostering safe communities by providing information resources and various programs to promote occupational health and safety to the many communities throughout Canada.

Economic Affairs - A clean and healthy environment

  • CCOHS provides extensive information on a wide range of health hazards on hazardous chemicals and their impact on health and the environment. CCOHS is a major source of environmental health information relied upon by government regulators, the chemical industry, manufacturing sectors, fire fighters and citizens. These information products and services helps Canadians protect work places and ultimately the environment by increasing understanding of dangerous chemicals and how they impact the environment and people.

B. Total Planned Spending by Strategic Outcome

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
  • Satisfaction with and ease of access and retrieval of OHS information from Inquiries Service, web access and other sources
  • Proactively identify new resources to meet Canadians current information needs
  • Expand content provided from the internet via OSH Answers
  • Enhance CCOHS' internet usability through improved technology and website design
  • Identify emerging high risk OHS issues and needs, and develop appropriate products/services to address the needs, such as guides, web portals and forums
  • Ongoing development and refinement of existing OHS products and services
$1,157 On going
Increased awareness and understanding of Occupational Health and Safety issues in the workplace
  • Hosting national forums on key issues
  • Promoting healthy workplaces and OHS information through internet, training, conferences and presentations
  • Enhancement of website presentation and its searchability
  • Provide additional key resources on chemical health and safety
  • Increase content through partnerships such as the Canadian Health Network
  • Provide Health and Safety Report as an electronic newsletter delivered to Canadians via the internet
  • Develop internet chat group capabilities mechanism to assist Canadians to efficiently exchange ideas on health and safety
$1,157 On going and new
Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to Improve workplace practices
  • Increase workplace effectiveness through provision of health and safety management systems
  • Provide unbiased high quality OHS information
  • Improve application in workplace through promotion of healthy workplace
  • Foster collaboration and exchanges in ideas through national dialogues, forums and conferences to increase applications in workplace and improve practices
  • Collaborate with education sector, youth groups, and partners to expand and improve teaching health and safety in the school system
$1,157 On going
Partial recovery of costs from user fees
  • Sale of products and services that meet the objective of improving health and safety in the workplace
  • Increase revenues in new product lines
  • Customize products to provide added value for clients and increase knowledge for workers
$1,157 New and on going

2.5 Easy Access to Occupational Health and Safety Information and Service

Plans and Priorities


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:

  • Expand information available through OshAnswers by providing additional content delivered from the Internet
  • Continue to review citizen satisfaction through ongoing performance measurement surveys to establish improvements to customer service and content.
  • Enhance the CCOHS website usability through improvements, organization of information for various occupations, enhancing content and searchability
  • Increase awareness of the Inquiries and Client Services to Canadians and key stakeholders.
  • Identify emerging needs and develop products such as guides, web portals, forums in response to needs
  • Ongoing development and refinement of existing OHS products and services to ensure the content is current and relevant

Rationale

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.

Monitoring

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.

Resources


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.

2.6 Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to Improve Workplace Practices


Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to improve Workplace Practices - Notional planned spending for 2007-8- $1,157

Plans and Priorities

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.

  • Produce new health and safety guides relating to current needs in occupational health and safety and update existing guides
  • Expand the number of e- learning courses delivered
  • Improve the availability of information through enhancements to the CCOHS website and improve the searchability of the website content
  • Develop and provide additional needed resources on chemical health and safety
  • Provide and make publicly accessible more workplace health and wellness content information and engage partnerships with organizations such as the Canadian Health Network, Advancement of Healthy Workplaces and HRSDC
  • Foster collaboration and exchanges in ideas through national dialogues, forums and conferences to increase applications in the workplace and improve practices
  • Collaborate with the stakeholders, international organizations on various health and safety issues

Rationale

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.

Monitoring

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.

Resources


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.

2.7 Increase Awareness and Understanding of Occupational Health and Information Issues in the Work Place

Plans and Priorities


Increased awareness and understanding of Occupational Health and Information issues in the Work Place - Notional planned spending in 2007-8- $1,157

  • Hosting National forum on key issues
  • Promoting healthy workplaces and OSH information through internet, training, conferences, presentations and the Bringing Health to Work Web Portal
  • Enhancement of website presentation and its searchability
  • Provide additional key resources on chemical health and safety
  • Increase content through partnerships such as the Canadian Health Network
  • Provide Health and Safety Report as an electronic newsletter delivered to Canadians via the internet
  • Promote nation wide the importance of health and safety in the workplace
  • Host webinars (on-line broadcasts) to increase the reach of various presentations
  • Participate in collaborative projects with different levels of government and other organizations throughout the year.

Rationale

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.

Monitoring

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.

Resources


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

2.8 Partial Recovery of Costs from User Fees


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

Rationale

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.

Monitoring

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.

Resources


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