ARCHIVED - Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

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The Message

CCOHS is Canada’s national occupational health and safety resource which was created to provide a common focus for and coordination of information in the area of occupational health and safety. 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 vision of CCOHS has not changed: to eliminate workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths, and that at the end of every working day, Canadians return home healthy and safe. CCOHS relies on its tripartite Council of Governors for vision, direction and support. CCOHS is governed with representation from labour, business and provincial, territorial and federal governments. This tripartite structure helps to ensure that CCOHS remains an independent and a trusted source of unbiased information for employers, workers and governments.

CCOHS focuses on providing management tools, information, training and education to help create safer workplaces. During the past year, the Centre expanded its outreach to Canadians by developing several communication channels such as Workscape, an online discussion board where people interested in health and safety can share experiences, and exchange ideas and information.

Other services include new publications, public services, software and tools to help Canadians work safely. CCOHS has worked hard to continues to evolve its services and products to meet the ever-changing needs in Canadian workplaces.

It is the fundamental right of all Canadians to a healthy and safe workplace that is the cornerstone to the mandate of CCOHS. By working together, we can provide the guidance, information and resources to improve workplace health and safety.

S. Len Hong
President and CEO

Section I: Departmental Overview - Summary Information

Raison d’être

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety was founded by an Act of Parliament in 1978 with a mandate to promote health and safety in the workplace and to enhance the physical and mental health of working people.

Responsibilities

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) operates under the legislative authority of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act S.C., 1977-78, c. 29 which was passed by unanimous vote in the Canadian Parliament. The purpose of this Act is to promote the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment by creating a national institute (CCOHS) concerned with the study, encouragement and co-operative advancement of occupational health and safety.

CCOHS is Canada’s national occupational health and safety resource which is dedicated to the advancement of occupational health and safety performance by providing necessary services including information and knowledge transfer; training and education; cost-effective tools for improving occupational health and safety performance; management systems services supporting health and safety programs; injury and illness prevention initiatives and promoting the total well-being – physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working people. 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. Its funding is derived from a combination of appropriations, cost recoveries and collaboration with the provinces. It is expected that 50% of the budget will 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.

CCOHS is a recognized leader in providing effective programs, products and services, which are based on the centre’s core knowledge, its collection of occupational health and safety information, and its application of information management technologies.

CCOHS is governed by a tripartite council representing governments (federal, provincial and territorial), employers, and labour. The Council of Governors provides guidance in the creation and delivery of a trustworthy and complete occupational health and safety service. Our key stakeholders are directly involved in the policy, governance and strategic planning for the organization. They also assist with reviews of programs and services to help ensure our information is impartial. Our inquiries service is also supported and funded from contributions provided by federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Strategic Outcomes

In order to pursue its mandate, CCOHS has the following strategic outcome:

Canadians will be provided with unbiased occupational health and safety information and services for the prevention of work-related illnesses and injuries.

Program Activity Architecture

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

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.

Strategic Outcome

Canadians will be provided with unbiased occupational health and safety information and services for the prevention of work-related illnesses and injuries

Program Activity

Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration

Program Sub- Activities: Expected Results

• Easy access to occupational health and safety information and services
• Application of 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

Inquiries

• Web access/design
• New Resources
• Osh Answers Content
• New risks
• Refinement of existing products

• OHS management System
• High quality Information
• Improved Application in workplaces
• Foster collaboration
• Education

• National Forum
• Training, conferences and presentation
• Enhance web presence
• Resources for Chemical health and safety
• Health and Safety Report

• OHS products

 

1.2 Performance Summary

2008–09 Financial Resources ($ Thousands)

2008-2009
Planned	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
4,713	5,312	4,925

Planned spending represents the amount authorized through the main estimates process. Authorities represents the total amounts authorized for the entire year, including the main estimates. The increase in total authorities represents funding received for compensation relating to collective bargaining, rollover amounts and other transfers. Details are provided in our annual report at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html The difference between total authorities and actual spending is due to timing of cash receipts at year end. A large portion of revenues are earned and collected at year-end and it is not feasible to responsibly spend all these funds within a short time frame. The resulting carryover is used in the next fiscal period.

2008–09 Human Resources (FTEs)

2008-2009
Planned	Actual	Difference
96	90	6

The difference between actual and planned is that there are more FTE’s in the estimates than can be funded. Since CCOHS must earn a substantial portion of its operating funding, we must earn the funds prior to making the commitment to spend. This includes assurance of available funds for the staffing of additional needed positions.

Strategic Outcome: Canadians will be provided with unbiased occupational health and safety information and services for the prevention of work-related illnesses and injuries
Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Satisfaction with access and ease of use for resources	Over 80% satisfaction ratings for Inquirers and clients	Overall satisfaction of 80% inquirers and 82% clients
Increase awareness and understanding	Increase of 10% of distributions of information	Increase of awareness through increase distribution of information materials and web site – over 11%
Application of occupational health and safety information	72% used information to make positive change in the workplace to improve health and safety	75% used information to make change
		Overall satisfaction with key stakeholders

Summary of Achievements against Priorities

• Achieved an 80% satisfaction rating from Inquirers from average of six attributes measured through an independent evaluation.
• Achieved an 85% satisfaction rating from customers (average of six attributes) from independent evaluation of clients through an evaluation.
• Most of the uses 75% for Inquirers and 76% for purchaser of CCOHS information relate to either current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved workplace health and safety.
• When asked CCOHS’ importance to meeting the health and safety needs of their organization, 83% of respondents said that CCOHS was either very important or important.
• Increase in distributions of health and safety report, website and e-learning participants greater than 11%.
• Key informants were nearly unanimous in their positive assessments about the high quality of its products and services.

In thousands (000’s)

Program Activity	Expected Results	2008-09			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Occupational health and safety information development, delivery services and tripartite collaboration.	Easy access to Occupational Health and Safety Information And Service Increased Awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. Application of occupational health and safety information to improve workplace practices.	4,713	5,312	4,925	Healthy Canadians
Total		4,713	5,312	4,925

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcomes

Operational Priorities	Type1	Status	Linkages to Strategic Outcome(s)
Provide additional resources on chemical health and safety	New	Met all	Linked to improved workplace conditions and practices that enhance the health, safety and well being of working Canadians
Importantce relates to high incidence of questions relating to chemicals and need to provide safety tools for their safe use		Launched new product CANWrite MSDS writing software involved in evaluating regulatory requirements and hazard communicaton. Developed WHMIS training for Safety inspectors course. Developed occupational and environmental cancer: recognition and prevention course aimed at medical professionals. Developed Global Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of chemicals information such as posters, courses and information sheets.	Working with chemicals safely is essential to workplace safety. It is important that safety inspectors and the medical community fully understand the issues and health concerns.
Promoting healthy workplaces through internet, training and eduation	ongoing	Mostly met	As above
Awareness is key to changing attitudes which leads to change in the workplace		Provided Health and Safety Report via the internet with 96% satisfaction ratings Promoted health and safety via webinars, podcasts, NAOSH week, awards, Day of mourning, presentations and posters Development and re-design of OHS information portals Creation and launch of Workscape OHS discussion Board	Information resources apply directly to enhancing well being of working Canadians eg. Healthy Workplaces, Young Workers Zone and Workspace
Expand e-learning resources including customized courses	ongoing	Met	As above
Training has direct impact on improvements in workplace		Added 15 new courses this year and additional public awareness events on important occupational health and safety topics.	Improves direct knowledge of workers for application in the workplace to improve health and safety.

¹Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to the subject year of the report; ongoing—committed to at least three fiscal years prior to the subject year of the report; and new—newly committed to in the reporting year of the RPP or DPR.

Management Priorities	Type	Status	Linkages to Strategic Outcome(s)
Enhancement of e-commerce to attract more clients to contribute to our requirement to pay 50% of operating costs.	Ongoing	Exceeded expectations Increased sales 107% in e-commerce	As above Important to make our information and resources accessible electronically 24 hours and to improve our cost recovery to support our public programming.
Improve website	New	Met expectations: Common look and feel update Updated infrastructure Improved reporting and statistics using google analytics Improved IT security	As above Important to stay current with IT infrastructure to meet the needs of the Canadians.

Risk Analysis

CCOHS relies on partnerships and resources from many organizations and governments to deliver its programs. Governments and non-profit organizations are subject to changing priorities and limited resources. These changes in priorities impact stakeholders’ and partners’ ability to support CCOHS and fiscal changes within those organizations also impact CCOHS. Risks include funding levels, support and participation in programs and access to information and revenue streams for CCOHS. In order to address these risks, CCOHS keeps in close contact with its stakeholders and is proactive in dealing with risks and anticipating change. CCOHS continually seeks ongoing partnerships with a variety of organizations and does not rely on limited range of organizations.

From the internet, the public has increased access to world wide information making sales of traditional CCOHS databases less relevant. CCOHS must continually update and expand its product offering in order to remain financially viable. With this trend of reduced database sales, it became evident that CCOHS would not be financially viable without replacement income. CCOHS addressed this situation with the development of e-learning courses and also with customized MSDS management services and OHS management services.

CCOHS is impacted by overall economic conditions such as foreign exchange fluctuations and economic slowdowns since we rely on revenue generation from the business sector. CCOHS continually reviews its products and services and makes improvements to keep these offerings relevant to users.

The availability of free information on the internet continues to strain CCOHS’ ability to generate sales from information products. It is difficult to balance the role of providing a free of charge public service with our need to generate funds through cost recovery. When operating in a government environment it is difficult to achieve financial success, as the goal of helping people does not always coincide with the mandate to achieve cost recovery.

Data from performance management feedback surveys clearly indicates that provision of current OHS information is essential to operating a credible service. CCOHS products are information based, which require constant updating to remain current. In addition, with continually changing technologies, our infrastructure must be updated on an ongoing basis. Information, secured from other sources, for CCOHS’ information infrastructure and product development, frequently requires payment of royalties and CCOHS is at risk from business decisions being made at other organizations. Examples include the recent discontinuation of the Canadian Health Network resulting in a significant loss of income.

CCOHS’ traditional database resources have been declining in revenue for many years. With this trend, generating 50% of its budget from these sources is not realistic. CCOHS has mitigated this risk by developing OHS management programs as more of a value added service. This included the development of e-learning courses, customized MSDS management services and OSH management services.Recent product additions include the offering of of a MSDS authoring program, CANWrite.

Similar to other organizations, a significant portion of our staff will soon become eligible for retirement. This is a serious concern as technical, scientific and business knowledge will be lost and it will be difficult to replace. In order to plan for the retirement of staff members, the staff have been re-organized into working groups or teams. This promotes knowledge transfer in anticipation of retirements so there are other trained individuals available to replace the loss of key employees.

Expenditure Profile

Departmental Spending Trend

For the year 2006-7 to 2008-9 periods, the total spending includes all Parliamentary appropriations, Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates, Treasury Board Vote 10, 15 and 23. It also includes carry forwards and adjustments. The planned spending represents the main estimates.

CCOHS’ funding remains consistent from year to year other than increases for compensations. Fluctuations in funding are primarily due to carry forward amounts and recovery of paylist shortfalls relating to retirements and maternity leave. Spending is impacted by the ability to raise revenues to cover the un-funded portion of the budget.

Voted and Statutory Items(in thousands)

Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety	2006-2007 Actual Spending	2007-2008 Actual Spending	2008-2009 Main Estimates	2008-2009 Actual Spending
25	Operating expenditures	3,544	3,672	3,682	3,929
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	962	979	1,031	996
	Total	4,506	4,651	4,713	4,925

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