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Section II: Analysis of Program Activity Performance to Expected Results
Measuring the direct relationship between CCOHS programs and reductions in injuries and illnesses is not possible due to the many variables that would influence the results. This is the case with most organizations that provide information to effect social change. We can however measure the reach of the programs and gain information on how the information is used.
It is known that the use of appropriate information on occupational health and safety will reduce risks. Our evaluations confirm that there is widespread use of CCOHS information in the workplace and that CCOHS’ products and services have direct application. The evidence to support this includes survey data from customers, users of the Inquiries Service, users of the web site and key informant interviews. Details on the surveys and links to the reports are included in Section V. According to the evaluation, although these data cannot be linked to accident or illness data, the widespread and frequent use of CCOHS information implies that there will be important workplace impacts. "The evaluation has generated substantial data on the use of CCOHS. There can be little reasonable doubt about its widespread use."
Another measure of effectiveness is value for money. The evaluation reports that there is good value for money from CCOHS and the investment of public dollars and cost-recovery funds is cost-effective. The savings in time costs for health and safety professionals and workers in general who would have to access information in other ways is substantial. The evaluation states that, "it is our assessment that CCOHS produces very large quantities of useful information for a relatively modest public expenditure."6
In order to ensure a high level of service, CCOHS seeks feedback from its clients and stakeholders on an ongoing basis. This information helps to improve service, identify needs of stakeholders and identify information needs.
Expected Result: Easy Access to Occupational Health and Safety Information and Service
Total Financial Resources (in thousands $)
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| $1,121 | $1,137 | $1,127 |
Total Human Resources
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 24 | 23 |
CCOHS strives to provide easy access to occupational health and safety information and services. A broad range of products and services is available to the public ranging from our Inquiries Services, OSH Answers web service, publications, various web portals and various information products. Content is continuously reviewed, updated and developed to meet the ever-changing needs of the public. User needs are identified through various methods of contact and sources of information.
This area is also subject to risks in delivering these services. The Inquiries Service is partially funded by voluntary contributions from most Canadian provinces and territories. These funds are subject to the political changes and financial constraints in their respective jurisdictions, which change frequently. Contributions from these stakeholders are made to support the Centre, which is a federal entity.
Another risk in delivering this service is the vast amount of information available over the Internet. To address this area, CCOHS continually expands its internet presences and develops partnerships with credible information resources. Establishing CCOHS, as a trusted and reliable source of information and by keeping content relevant to user needs directly addresses this risk.
Inquiries Service
| 15,088 inquiries are personally answered annually through this free and confidential bilingual Inquiries Service center, in addition to the 6.5 million answers provided through the CCOHS website |
The CCOHS Inquiries Officers are a team of specialists in occupational health and safety and information retrieval. They access all CCOHS publications, worldwide databases, and an extensive in-house library to provide up to date and relevant answers to Canadian inquiries. Over 6.5 million inquiries were answered through the CCOHS internet service “OSH Answers”. By directing routine questions through the self-serve web site, information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Canadians. Specialists in workplace health are available through a free of charge telephone service or e-mail to assist Canadians with more complex questions. This service is confidential and is promoted throughout Canada by the Centre and its stakeholders through various means, such as health, safety and wellness trade shows, the World Wide Web, the blue pages, and the Centres literature. During 2006-7, this service provided responses to 15,088 calls in inquiries through its direct service.
The Inquiries Service is available to answer Canadians through its telephone service, e-mail, fax and internet. The Inquiries come from a variety of sources. This free service is essential to ensure that Canadian workers have access to information that enables them to exercise their right to a healthy and safe workplace. The service is equally important to employers to provide a safe environment and for government to assist with their role in the workplace.
A recent Customer Satisfaction Research Report indicates that clients find the overall quality of the service, the usefulness of the information and the relevance of the information to be the most important to them. With this knowledge, CCOHS can focus efforts in these areas of information delivery. The study also measured client satisfaction on various service attributes. Overall, the Inquiries service resulted in 84% of survey respondents being either satisfied or very satisfied. The complete details are available at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html. Approximately 74% of users' use of information relates to either current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved workplace health and safety.
As part of CCOHS’ commitment to maintaining high quality service standards and seeking input from our clients, ongoing measurement of client satisfaction has been developed. We also track information on the reach and impact of the program.
Recent Inquiries users reported how information obtained from CCOHS was used. The most common are:
- Assist in complying with occupational health and safety regulations
- Use with workplace health and safety committees
- Personal use or information
- Health and safety programs or policies development and improvement
- Education or training purposes
- Develop best practices
- Keep current on health and safety developments
- Academic or other research purposes
- Gather information on workplace chemicals
- Assist in developing legislation or standards
- WCB claims
- Preparing a Material Safety Data Sheet.
| "You spent a lot of time on this. Thank you very much for your help. This information is very good and we intend to use it in our safety meetings and tool safety program. Not many people would take the time to provide this kind of detailed information. Thank you" |
| "Excellent service, received supporting information by e-mail within days. Person who answered my call listened patiently and answered all my questions and concerns. First rate employee." |
Our reporting generally records contacts with clients as one. However, we know from past surveys that information is shared with many co-workers and others. CCOHS has requested this information in its continuous client feed back form. The results show that the reach of CCOHS is extensive.
Inquiries respondents were asked how many individuals within their organization access the information provided by CCOHS. These answers showed substantial use:
- 11% indicated more than 500 individuals did benefit or share CCOHS information in their organization
- 16% shared CCOHS information with up to 499 individuals
- 37% shared CCOHS information with up to 99 individuals
- 25% shared CCOHS information with up to 4 individuals.
While the contact with the client is counted as one, the sharing of information results in over 1.5 million being impacted by CCOHS information, based upon the above percentages.
Clients also reported that 58% reported that their use of CCOHS information relates to current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved occupational health and safety. This is based upon requests for feedback issued 2 weeks after receipt of information. Previous evaluations showed that 74% reported the information relates to current or future changes in the workplace when surveying clients within the previous nine months. The variance is attributed to the length of time the respondents had access to the information.
CCOHS’ 2007 client feedback indicates high satisfaction ratings for understanding, timeliness, completeness, usefulness, clarity and courtesy. Satisfaction survey is sent two weeks after the client has been sent their information. In 2007, CCOHS has a 22% response rate, which is typical for this type of survey.
| Very Dissatisfied | Dissatisfied | Neutral | Satisfied | Very Satisfied | not applicable | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Has staff understood your question? | 4.3% | 3.9% | 5.6% | 26.3% | 58.5% | 1.3% |
| Time required to receive the response | 5.4% | 4.3% | 7.7% | 29.2% | 52.4% | 1.0% |
| Completeness of the response received | 5.5% | 5.8% | 8.9% | 27.3% | 51.4% | 1.0% |
| The usefulness of the information | 7.3% | 5.8% | 9.3% | 25.8% | 50.6% | 1.2% |
| The clarity of the response | 4.8% | 4.0% | 8.0% | 27.7% | 54.2% | 1.2% |
| The courtesy of the staff | 3.7% | 0.1% | 2.1% | 16.6% | 72.5% | 4.9% |
| Overall, your satisfaction with the response | 6.0% | 6.4% | 6.0% | 24.3% | 56.3% | 1.2% |
The survey also shows that satisfaction would increase in some cases if the information were provided on a timelier basis. This feedback is being used to help improve identification of urgent requests and respond accordingly. This includes improved communications to the client when specialized responses require additional time to complete. The client is advised of this at the time the question is received so their expectations can be met. The survey results also indicated a lack of understanding with information being provided to the client. While the answers were included in the documents sent, the clients had difficulties extracting this information and applying it directly to their question. With this in mind, summaries are being added to the cover letter to assist the client with interpreting the information and applying it directly to their question. The satisfaction with clarity of the response will be closely monitored to see if this change improves the results in future years.
One of the unique features of the Inquiries Service is that telephone calls are answered directly by a highly skilled Inquiries Officer. The needs of the caller are more accurately assessed by this method so the most useful information can be provided. Callers are pleased they have direct access to assistance from one person rather than redirected from one person to another person or to a lengthy voice mail system. The satisfaction levels for courtesy are very high.
One measure of reach is monitoring requests for copyright publication. In 2006-7, 92 requests were received for copyright publication. As a result, information was duplicated over 400,000 times and potentially shared with many more individuals. The organizations included government departments, companies, unions, health care organizations and educational institutions.
CCOHS provides current information on areas of concern to Canadians. In 2006-7 Canadians were concerned about issues such as chemicals and reproductive hazards, ergonomics, indoor air quality, occupational cancer, avian flu, and a large number of questions regarding harassment, bullying and violence in the workplace.
Workers are the primary users of the Inquiries Service again this year, making 33% of the total inquiries received. Another 28% of the questions originated from employers, 2% from government (as legislators and enforcer), and 37% from non-affiliated professionals.
OSH Answers
| Over 6,000 questions and answers are on the website, which answered over 6.6 million inquiries on health and safety this year. |
OSH Answers is a bilingual web-based information service, which covers over 670 topic areas in occupational health and safety.
OSH Answers covers many topic areas in occupational health and safety. The information is presented in a Question-and-Answer format and the topics are based on questions that the Inquiries Service has received over the past 28 years.
The most popular documents subjects include:
- diseases, ergonomic and repetitive strain injuries, topics such as Ganglion cysts, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Raynaud’s phenomenon, legionnaires’ disease, and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
- Stress in the workplace
- Personal Hygiene documents such as Hand Washing: Reducing the Risk of Common Infections, and Universal Precautions
- Bullying, and Violence in the Workplace
- Shift work
- Legislation issues such as, due diligence
- Chemical information such as what is an LD50? WHMIS
- Microwave ovens
- Office Ergonomics- various documents (how to buy/setup a chair, stretching, etc.)
- Seasonal subjects such as Extreme Hot and Cold Temperature Conditions, Maximum Temperature Limit for Working, and Driving Tips for Winter
The Inquiries Service started the OSH Answers with question-and-answer (Q&A) documents on various hazards - biological, chemical, ergonomic, physical (noise and radiation) and other safety hazards found in workplaces. We also answer questions about the diseases and injuries that can result from the hazards people are exposed to or the risks from the work activities they do.
Other work-related issues on OSH Answers are safety programs, accident and injury prevention, personal protective equipment (PPE), occupational health and safety legislation including WHMIS (right-to-know legislation). OSH Answers will cover more and more topics as it continues to grow and evolve to serve the needs of Canadians.
The target audiences for the OSH Answers are the workers, managers, supervisors, joint health and safety committee members who are the "end users" of the information in the workplace. The internet has played a key role in helping CCOHS to reach millions of Canadians since this service was established several years ago. Workers are the primary users of the Inquiries Service followed by employers and professionals. In 2006-7, CCOHS successfully reached approximately 2.5 million inquirers and responded to over 6.6 million questions, through OSH Answers.
In order to meet the changing needs of Canadians, CCOHS’ information resources are continually reviewed and updated. OSH Answers updated 32 OSH ANSWERS and added 12 new documents. A customized survey will be completed in 2007 to identify and further assess the reach and impact of CCOHS information. Existing OSH Answers are being reformatted and reorganized to increase an ease of use for visitors.
In our 2005 evaluation, website users were asked how many people in their organization could or would benefit from CCOHS’ information. 23% of respondents indicated that 1-10 persons would benefit, 32% said between 11 and 100 persons, 18% said 101 to 500 persons would benefit and 17% said that more than 500 would benefit. Information was being used most for the following:
- Resolving workplace issues
- Improving health and safety programs
- Developing best practices
- Complying with occupational health and safety regulations
- Providing information for health and safety education or training purposes.
CCOHS’ goal to satisfy inquiries users and to share as much information as possible in order to affect change in Canadian workplaces is being achieved. Overall the number of visitors increased by 8% and the number of times OSH Answers was accessed increased 6% from the previous year. In order to make the service more accessible, selected OSH Answers are being offered in Spanish. Usage of the Spanish language has grown to 38,000 hits per month from over 3,000 unique users.
CCOHS provides products and services in various formats to serve the needs of Canadians. Information is available in paper copy, internet, intranet, web, compact disc formats and DVD. Electronic delivery of information is presented in highly useable and searchable formats to serve the client. CCOHS provides many databases and other information sources within its product line.
Health and safety guides inform people of workplace hazards to reduce risk and help prevent injury, and are designed for use on-the-job as reference tools and information sources. Over 80,000 of these guides have been distributed. New and revised publications are developed each year to meet the needs of Canadian workers. In 2007, the newest guide, Health and Safety for Custodial Workers was published. Two other guides were updated. Each year over 20,000 copies of various guides are sold throughout Canada.
| New publications are produced to meet the expressed needs of Canadians. Publications are an inexpensive method of getting specialized information directly to workers to be used at the worksite. |
In our recent evaluation, of the clients who purchased CCOHS products and services, 77% said that their use of CCOHS information relates to current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved occupational health and safety. In terms of the overall importance of CCOHS in meeting the health and safety needs of their organization, 78% of respondents said that CCOHS was either very important or important.7
CCOHS recently began measuring its client satisfaction with the delivery of services relating to products. The survey was sent to clients contacting customer service for information, service requests and product orders or technical support. We measured their satisfaction with five service elements, similar to the common measurement tool. Client satisfaction was extremely high with an overall average of 88%. Most clients had one contact (66%) and 2 contacts (21%) to receive what they wanted. This is in line with client expectations as outlined in our 2004 Client Satisfaction Survey. Clients stated they received what they needed in 87.3% of the time and part of what they need 6.7% of the time.
Expected Result: Increased Awareness and Understanding of Occupational Health and Safety Issues in the Workplace
Total Financial Resources (in thousands $)
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 1,121 | 1,138 | 1,127 |
Total Human Resources
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 24 | 23 |
CCOHS’ goal is to increase awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. This is accomplished through many means of public promotion, training, web information, partnerships and information delivery.
The risk in achieving this goal is directly impacted by the financial and human resources available. This includes funding and cost-recovery to generate the required funding. CCOHS also relies on partnerships with many other organizations and therefore relies on funding and other resources to achieve this goal. Some of the primary programs to increase awareness and understanding are highlighted below.
The Canadian Health Network (CHN) is a bilingual Internet- based health information service that ensures that Canadians have access to trustworthy information on health promotion and disease prevention. Developed in partnership with Health Canada, CHN is built on a "network of networks" with over 600 health information providers contributing resources.
CCOHS has been involved in the Canadian Health Network (CHN) since 1999. It is
- A not for profit internet-based health information service
- A website that ensures that Canadians have access to trustworthy information on health promotion and disease and injury prevention by showcasing only high-quality, reliable, non-commercial resources.
- Developed in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
CCOHS was selected as the affiliate partner because:
- We are a trusted, credible organization that can bring together existing Workplace Health expertise and proven information sources
- We have successfully delivered Workplace Health information to Canadians for over 27 years.
As the affiliate partner, CCOHS is responsible for:
- Leadership and content expertise on Workplace Health Developing and supporting a growing network of over 80 organizations providing workplace health and wellness issues
In 2006 a CHN Workplace Health user survey indicated that
- Workplace stress/mental health at work is the leading topic of interest.
- Most visitors are finding information 'often' at the workplace section that satisfies their information needs.
- An overwhelming 95% of respondents indicated they would refer the Workplace Health section to family, friend or colleagues.
- The top three categories of respondents were: workplace health and safety practitioners, workers, and workplace health promoters.
CCOHS promotes CHN, at meetings, conferences, by delivering presentations and through publication of workplace health and CHN articles. An e-bulletin, Health@work/Sante@u travail, is distributed to more than 830 subscribers. CHN and CCOHS are also prominently featured in the Resource Well of Canada's Healthy Workplace Week website. CCOHS is responsible for updating and maintaining the Resource Well.
The Health and Safety Report, CCOHS’ free e-newsletter, is an initiative that increases impact of Canadian workplace health and safety. In addition to providing relevant content, the Report is regularly and widely reproduced by organizations to enhance their health and safety educational and information efforts.
This service, launched in January 2003, has a distribution of 16,325 subscribers in more than 100 countries (as of Mar 31/07). This represents 40% growth in subscribers from the previous fiscal year. Beginning in January 2006, the Report includes icons in the sidebar linking to OSH Answers and the Bringing Health to Work portal. It is expected that this will help drive traffic to CCOHS’ website and promote the free public services CCOHS provides to advance the improvement of workplace health and safety in Canada.
In the February 2007 readership survey, the Report received a
- 98.4% overall satisfaction rating
- 69.4% of the respondents being “very satisfied”
- 68% have used the information occasionally or frequently for training
- 51% use it for their own resources or their own organization's newsletter, occasionally or frequently
- 74% say they share the report with 4 or more people, and 14% of respondents share it with 50 or more people
- The survey also indicated that a third of the readers print the Report and use the information within to develop health and safety policies and procedures, for training purposes and as a resource for their own newsletters, bulletin boards and employee orientation kits
- 83.7% of respondents say they use the information to make the workplace safer
- 88% say the find the information provided helpful
Seventy-five percent of the respondents to the survey replied that they will or are planning to use the information in the Report to make changes that may improve health and safety in their workplaces. As the readership of the Report continues to grow, so does CCOHS’ commitment and efforts to increase outreach and provide credible, useful information that could help prevent work related injuries and illnesses. This is a cost effective method of reaching many Canadians on important health and safety issues. Results show that readers value this service and do use the information in the workplace for improvement.
Subscriptions to this free service can be submitted to: http://www.ccohs.ca/resources/communications/mailinglists/enews.html
As part of its awareness campaign, CCOHS also promotes the National Day of Mourning, to remember the occupationally caused deaths, and ill or injured workers, and to give employees and employers an opportunity to publicly renew their commitment to improve health and safety in the workplace. Promotions include a website presence, national media releases, a memorial event, a banner headline and promotion through the Health and Safety Report. While overall access was low, there was a 60% increase in the users of the web site. A free poster was also created and 2,944 copies were distributed, a 93% increase from previous years.
Awareness campaigns also include participation in The North American Occupational Health and Safety Week. This included offering live webinars, hosting the website and participating in the national NAOSH Canadian launch event.
CCOHS seeks ongoing feedback from its stakeholders as part of its role to deliver independent and unbiased services. Through its evaluations, the level of satisfaction in the quality and impartiality of the centre is reviewed. In addition, CCOHS utilizes tripartite participation in the review of new programs, products and services to provide objective advice for the relevancy, credibility of new unbiased products and services. This has been invaluable in the development of e-learning courses and publications. The Council of Governors, composed from representatives of labour, business and governments, assures that CCOHS is independent and operates as a tripartite organization. The Council meets three times a year to review operational plans and provides input from its constituents. All Governors are volunteers representing most provinces and territories throughout Canada, major employer groups and labour unions.
In the 2005 evaluation, the key informant interviewees reported that CCOHS has a strong reputation within Canada. OHS experts, professional leadership, unions, workers and employers with health and safety committees tend to be quite familiar with CCOHS. The high level of awareness was attributed primarily to CCOHS’ own efforts and from partnerships with other organizations and the high level of visibility maintained by CCOHS executive. Respondents also noted that CCOHS does a good job of synthesizing research findings into unbiased information products that are useful and easy to understand for health and safety professionals, employers and workers alike.8
The satisfaction of the stakeholders is also demonstrated by the many collaborative projects completed throughout Canada. Details are available in our annual report http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.
The support of various levels of government and industry for CCOHS can be demonstrated by various collaborative projects, which were led by CCOHS during the year. Some of the initiatives include:
- Pandemic Planning Web Portal: this portal was developed to provide credible, single source of practical pandemic information and planning resources for Canadian businesses and workers. This was funded by HRSDC.
- Public Policy Investigation on Occupational Health and Safety of Migrant Labourers in Chongqing, China: a project to address the issues of injury prevention and insurance for migrant workers. This project funded by CIDA will enable members of the organizations to learn from Canada about our experience in workplace health and safety and insurance of new and migrant workers. They will also use the Canadian experience to help improve the local legislation of Chongquing.
- National Young Worker Web Site: In collaboration with the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation (CAALL) this web portal was designed to help prevent injuries and illnesses to new and young workers by assisting them to find relevant health and safety information. It provides a one point access to information from all Canadian jurisdictions on young workers OSH issues, for young workers, teachers and parents. The site can be viewed at www.jobsafecanada.ca. In fiscal 2006-7, 24,472 visitors accessed this site more than 207,477 times.
- Canadian Health Network: Workplace Health Affiliate http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text59.html. This includes extensive partnerships with numerous health organizations to keep Canadians informed of their health.
- WorkSafe Saskatchewan website was developed in collaboration with the Saskatchewan Labour Department as an information resource to help prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. Content expanded to include workplace health, mental health, fragrances and indoor air quality. In 2006, over 270,000 website sessions were logged. Satisfaction indicators suggest that this information is shared in the workplace and used to improve workplace health and safety.
- Prevention Practices database and OSH for Everyone – Ontario: a development for the Workplace Safety Insurance Board of Ontario reached an average of 22,000 visitor sessions viewing 62,000 – 79,000, monthly. The prevention practices website averages 6,500 visitors per month.
- Transport Canada: the Marine Inspectors’ Bookshelf was created for those working in remote areas without internet access to assist inspectors carry out their duties. Over 300 Transport Canada Marine Inspectors use this.
- Enhancement of Occupational Health and Safety in Brazilian Industry: CCOHS is leading the development of an OSH information portal appropriate for workplace participants in Brazilian industry.
- Customized courses for private companies and government organizations.
- Presentations and representation at various conferences and events for labour, business and government throughout Canada.
- Bringing Health to Work Web Portal Service: provides Canadian employers, employees and practitioners easy access to a comprehensive range of credible resources and practical tools for creating and promoting healthy workplaces. Statistics indicate 25,002 visitors accessing the portal 42,429 times for English-language information and 6,646 visitors accessing 10,252 times for French language information.
Information about these and other collaborative projects is included in our annual report. The continued support of government, business, and all levels of government is a strong indicator of satisfaction with CCOHS.
CCOHS is recognized as a world leader in the advancement in occupational health and safety. This can be demonstrated by CCOHS’ development of the IPCS INTOX program, for the World Health Organizations (WHO), International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS). It provides an integrated operational system, consisting of a databank and software, used at Poison Centres around the world to manage information on poisonings. Another project is the IPCS INCHEM, also produced through co-operation with the WHO. The program consolidates information essential for the sound management of chemicals that affect the environment and human health. IPCS INCHEM is an authoritative source of chemical related health, safety and environment reports from inter-governmental organizations.
This information has been released free of charge to enable access to people from developing countries. This service compiles chemical-related health, safety and environment documents and databases from several international organizations. On average, 182,000 unique visitors from 170 countries per month visit this site. A recent survey found that 90% of respondents felt the INCHEM service was useful. The wide spread global use indicates the need for this program.
IPCS INCHEM has achieved worldwide recognition for its high quality service, disseminating authoritative and peer-reviewed publications from trusted intergovernmental organizations to help prevent workplace injury and illnesses.
IPCS INTOX is a collection of documents aimed at those working poison centers or who are involved in the diagnosis and managementof poisoning or in dealing with the health aspects of chemical incidents. On an annual basis 67,500 unique visitors from over 145 countries accessed information last year. INTOX documents were accessed more than 2.4 times last year. Many users rely on this information for primary care relating to chemical exposures and poisonings.
CCOHS’ skills and expertise in information development and knowledge transfer are also recognized internationally. CCOHS is a member of a consortium of Canadian public and private sector organizations which formed a Brazilian-Canadian partnership to address occupational health and safety needs within selected industrial sectors in small and medium sized enterprises in Brazil. CCOHS is leading the development of an OSH information portal appropriate for workplace participants in Brazilian industry and conducting training to health professionals.
In our last evaluation, respondents in the key informant interviews reported CCOHS is perceived as one of the world’s leading sources of OHS information, with a higher level of recognition than many other OHS national institutions.
The report also states that “by providing accessible information products that synthesize recent research including international research sources (e.g. WHO, UN) CCOHS has clearly increased the amount of information available, and has therefore contributed to the growth of knowledge of OHS” . The international relationships have enhanced the availability of information to benefit all Canadians.
Expected Result: Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to Improve Workplace Practices
Total Financial Resources (in thousands $)
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 1,121 | 1,137 | 1,126 |
Total Human Resources
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 24 | 22 |
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. These priorities include providing high quality occupational health and safety information and management systems. This also includes application of integrated occupational safety and health principles in the workplace through the promotion of a healthy workplace. Fostering collaboration and exchanges through national dialogues, forums and conferences to increase applications in the workplace and improve practices. CCOHS also works closely with the education sector, youth groups and partners to expand and improve teaching of health and safety in schools and providing them with resources.
CCOHS works with international organizations to secure up to date information for the benefit of Canadians. CCOHS has worked globally to enable the free distribution, via the internet of national collections of OSH information. For example CCOHS developed a web portal for the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health http://www.whoocchealthccs.org. This portal provides each national collaborating centre with a site to present its own occupational health information, and links to other information within their country. This web portal, that was recently developed, is in addition to the CIS Centres Information Network http://www.ciscentres.org. CCOHS also represents Canada at the Tri-National Working Group of Government Experts in Occupational Safety and Health. This initiative was organized under the provisions of the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC). CCOHS was the Canadian representative in two of the four Technical Working Groups formed – Developing a Tri-national Website and Hazardous Substances. CCOHS maintained and enhanced a website to facilitate communications among working group members from Canada, USA and Mexico, and to provide OSH information from the three countries. http://www.naalcosh.org/index_e.htm
| A national website for the 14 governmental jurisdictions of Canada will help Canadians negotiate easily through the maze of regulations and information on occupational health and safety, compensation and labour. |
| www.canoshweb.org |
To assist Canadians with the application of occupational health and safety information in the workplace, CCOHS created the CanOsh website. The purpose of CanOsh website is to enable Canadians to easily and independently locate Canadian occupational safety and health (OSH) information for the purpose of legal compliance, improving workplace health and safety practices and ultimately to facilitate the acquisition of information required for reduction in workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. It is designed to provide Canadians with a convenient and efficient way to access the health and safety information provided by the federal, provincial and territorial government agencies responsible for OSH, Workers' Compensation Boards and CCOHS. This site can be reached at http://www.canoshweb.org/. By using this site, Canadians can easily search and navigate 14 governmental jurisdictions and multiple websites. In 2006-07, 62,425 people accessed this site 363,626 times.
The quality of the Centre’s products as measured in an independent evaluation study rates the over all satisfaction as follows for percentage of respondents who were very satisfied or satisfied:
Level of Satisfaction with CCOHS Products (% of respondents indicating either very satisfied or satisfied)
| Indicator | % satisfied |
|---|---|
|
Timeliness |
89% |
|
Completeness |
85% |
|
Usefulness |
92% |
|
Clarity |
86% |
|
Reliability |
87% |
|
Overall satisfaction |
80% |
Source: Data for CCOHS is from a survey of users conducted by TNS Canadian Facts in 2005.
In terms of value for money, 96% of respondents who answered this question said that CCOHS products were above average value for money or average value. In addition, In terms of overall importance of CCOHS in meeting the health and safety needs of their organization, 78% of respondents said that CCOHS was very important or important to them.
In 2004, CCOHS had an independent client satisfaction survey completed to measure the satisfaction with services and products, in keeping with the Common Measurement Tool and Citizen’s First Research. The purpose was to identify satisfaction with various products /service attributes and compare to the importance of these attributes. This can be used as a baseline for future client satisfaction research. Overall, performance scores were high and are summarized below.
Training and Education
Training and education are effective means of improving employers’ and workers’ awareness and knowledge of their rights and responsibilities with regards to OSH and are directly applicable to the workplace. 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.
In 2007, CCOHS continued to expand its delivery of Internet based e-learning courses. Currently there are twenty-three courses available on-line (English and French) and in addition there are three in development. There have been 11,541 seats sold this year. User feedback indicates a high satisfaction rate with this service with 96.5% satisfied and a recommendation rate of 94%. The courses undergo an extensive tri-partite review prior to release. Course participants also have the opportunity to seek clarifications from a CCOHS instructor. These features are unique to CCOHS. Customized courses have been completed and additional partnerships are continually being sought.
| “faculty through the Academic Support Package. We make available several key products and research guides to develop our students' knowledge and skills about environmental and occupational health and safety... One of the most popular is OSHLINE™ with NIOSHTIC...” |
Academic Support Package
The CCOHS Academic Support Program (ASP) is offered exclusively to universities and colleges as both a resource to support the education of students about environmental and occupational health and safety and to assist Universities and Colleges in their efforts to provide a safe and healthy working environment. In the ASP program there are 103 universities and colleges, many of them very prominent, serving over 3 million students, faculty and staff.
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This information serves students, faculty, researchers and on-site health and safety staff, and workers. As future leaders, today’s students need to be aware of occupational health and safety and how to prevent injuries and illnesses.
CCOHS also established an occupational health and safety scholarship fund in the memory of Dick Martin, a pioneer of workplace health and safety in Canada, to support post secondary students to study subjects in occupational health and safety. Information about the program and the winners for 2006-7 are posted at: http://www.ccohs.ca/scholarship/winners/.
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Recently, almost 110,000 young people were seriously injured on the job in one year alone. These statistics mean injured young people (ages 15–29) represent one in every four injured workers in Canada. |
It is funded through private donations and by stakeholders. This program is promoted to 26 post secondary schools across Canada, and provides monetary awards to students who are successful in an annual competition for this scholarship.
CCOHS fosters collaboration and exchanges in ideas through increase applications in the workplace and improve practices through educational presentations and participation in conferences and workshops.
CCOHS will be hosting a national forum to explore health and safety issues that are emerging from changing workplaces. With “Emerging Health & Safety Issues in Changing Workplaces: A Canadian Discussion” as the theme, this two-day event 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.
This will be CCOHS' second national forum. The first one held in 2005 brought together nearly 350 Canadians who shared concerns, debated issues and made recommendations on the issue of occupational disease. The benefits of the forum were extended to thousands more who reviewed the information and outcomes which were posted on the CCOHS website. It is expected that Forum '07 will generate a similar interest and enthusiasm, and will help stimulate creative solutions among Canadians to help ensure people can be safe and healthy at work.
We also facilitate an on-line list serve, HS-Canada, as a means of distributing messages to a group of individuals with interests in occupational health and safety in a Canadian context.
Some of the events that CCOHS participated in are listed below:
Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops and Presentations
CCOHS’ objective of promoting OSH is supported by the activities in engaging diverse audiences by attending more than 31 events over this fiscal year through participation in meetings, conferences and presentations in most regions of Canada. Participation in these events serves both marketing and communications objectives by providing opportunities to showcase the wide range of products and services of the Centre. Specific audiences can be targeted to promote healthy workplaces throughout Canada. Important interaction between the participants and CCOHS helps ensure we are in touch with the needs of our Canadian workers.
| Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) Conference 2006 Regina, SK – Apr 9-11 Exhibit |
63rd OASBO Annual Conference & Education Industry Show Ottawa, ON – April 27 Table Exhibit |
| Workplace Workgroup – Healthy Workplace Innovation Series Hamilton, ON – Apr 19 Task Force Committee |
Corrections and Public Safety and Justice Saskatchewan OH&S Conference Saskatchewan – May 1 Materials Only |
| OPSEU Toronto, ON – Apr 20-21 Exhibit |
NAOSH Week National Launch Vancouver, BC – May 1 Speaker / Table Exhibit |
| Truck World 2006 Toronto, ON – Apr 20-22 Exhibit |
IAPA Health and Safety 2006 Toronto, ON – May 1-3 Exhibit / Speakers |
| Canadian Occupational Health Nurses Assoc National Conference Halifax, NS – Apri26-28 Exhibit |
McMaster University’s NAOSH Week 2006 Hamilton, ON – May 4 Table Exhibit |
| Canadian Conference on Disaster Management and Emergency Planning Toronto, ON – May 1-2 Exhibit |
Canadian Society for Safety Engineering (CSSE) Conference 2006 Ottawa, ON – Sept 10-13 Exhibit / Speaker |
| PIASS Annual Safety Seminar 2006 Banff, AB – May 3-5 Exhibit |
2006 Professional Conference on Industrial Hygiene San Jose, CA – Sept 16-19 Exhibit |
| Western Conference on Safety 2006 Vancouver, BC – May 8-9 Materials Only |
International Forum on Chemical Safety Budapest, Hungary – Sept 25-28 Attended |
| AQHSST-28 Congress Quebec City, PQ – May 9-11 Exhibit |
Chemical Hazard Communication Meeting Washington, DC – Sept Attended |
| Automotive Parts Manufacturers Assoc Annual Conference and Exhibition Hamilton, ON – May 10-11 Table Exhibit |
Le Grande Rende-Vous en sante et securite du travail Quebec – Oct 11-12 Exhibit |
| OALT / ABO 2006 Conference St. Catherines, ON – May 10-14 Speaker |
Health, Work and Wellness Conference 2006 Vancouver, BC – Oct 12-14 Materials Only |
| American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHCE) 2006 Chicago, Il – May 13-18 Exhibit / Speakers |
WHSCC New Brunswick 25th Annual Health and Safety Conference St. John, NB – Oct 22-23 Exhibit |
| Transportation Health and Safety Assoc of Ontario (THSAO) 64th Annual General Meeting Toronto, ON – May 24-25 Exhibit |
Peterborough Health Unit Peterborough, ON – Oct Speaker |
| International Conference of Safety Net and Canadian Assoc for Research on Work and Health
(CARWH) St. John's, NL – Jun 7-10 Exhibit / Speaker |
Alberta Health & Safety Conference And Trade Fair Edmonton, AB – Nov 21-22 Speaker |
| Canadian Institute for the Relief of Pain and Disability Vancouver, BC – Jul 7-9 Materials Only |
Human Resource Professionals Conference of Ontario (HRPAO) 2007 Toronto, ON – Jan 31-Feb 2 Exhibit / Speaker |
| McMaster Faculty of Engineering Hamilton, ON – Jan Speaker |
Occupational Hygiene Association of Ontario Spring Symposium Mississauga, ON – Mar 28 Speaker |
Expected Result: Partial Recovery of Costs from User Fees
Total Financial Resources (in thousands $)
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 1,121 | 1,137 | 1,126 |
Total Human Resources
| Planned | Authorities | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 24 | 22 |
CCOHS receives approximately 50% of its funding from appropriations and the balance of funds are generated through cost recovery initiatives and support from other organizations. CCOHS was a fully funded organization until 1989. A Cabinet decision was made at that time directing CCOHS to be become revenue self-sufficient. Appropriations were reduced a couple of years later with a directive that CCOHS cost recover to fund the Centre’s program. It has been a long a difficult struggle to establish products and services and generate sufficient funds to offset costs. In 2002, a program review recommended re-aligning the funding balance to 50% appropriations and 50% cost-recovery. Products and services are developed with CCOHS goal of improving occupational health and safety.
Over the years CCOHS developed many products and services. Recent market changes with the internet and ready access to information has resulted in a significant strain on CCOHS ability to generate funds. In addition, the decline in the US dollar has resulted in loss of income. Many of CCOHS’ products are sold in the US and internationally. Given the recent changes in market conditions, CCOHS’ has made changes to increase revenues. Recently e-learning was added as a tool to increase course offerings throughout Canada. In addition, a MSDS management system was added. These new additions have helped offset the losses in our traditional product lines and US dollar losses. CCOHS is developing an occupational health and safety management system for use in meeting the specific needs of Canadian enterprises. This web based program will help organizations maintain and enhance their existing OH&S programs, as well as to understand and meet the requirements of the national and international standards.
CCOHS fulfils its mandate to promote workplace health and safety, and encourage attitudes and methods that will lead to improved worker physical and mental health, through a wide range of products and services. These products and services are designed in cooperation with national and international occupational health and safety organizations with an emphasis on preventing illnesses, injuries and fatalities.
A summary of our revenues is listed below:
| 2007 $ |
2006 $ |
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|---|---|---|
| Proceeds from sales | ||
| Subscription – CCINFOdisc | 417,646 | 436,061 |
| Subscription - Specialty discs | 255,198 | 308,187 |
| CCINFOWeb | 740,940 | 670,696 |
| Specialty products - web | 650,297 | 617,127 |
| Single copy publications | 144,230 | 154,147 |
| Training and education | 403,549 | 188,299 |
| Other | 12,432 | 12,479 |
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| 2,624,292 | 2,386,996 | |
| Projects and collaborative agreements | ||
| Collaborative projects | 863,263 | 986,883 |
| Contributions to Inquiries Service | 454,000 | 454,000 |
| Recovery of travel expenses | 57,093 | 28,414 |
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| 1,374,356 | 1,469,297 | |
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| 3,998,648 | 3,856,293 | |
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Revenues above are recorded using the full accrual method of reporting, recognizing revenues when earned. These amounts may differ from reporting for government reporting purposes as revenue is recognized when collected or credited to the vote. The difference in reporting methods is outlined and reconciled in the notes to the audited financial statements.
