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ARCHIVED - RPP 2006-2007
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
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Section I: Overview
A.Minister's Message
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is committed to helping Canadians ensure a safe and healthy workplace by providing high quality information and resources essential to improving workplace health and preventing injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
As Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, I am proud to present the Centre's Report on Plans and Priorities for 2006-2007.
In this rapidly changing economic landscape and the challenges of global competition, Canada needs to apply its knowledge and resources to support and foster a Canadian workforce that is among the best in the world. As new economic sectors grow and older sectors fade, the one constant is the need to provide an adaptable workforce to fulfil employment needs.
A healthy, knowledgeable productive workforce will always be a huge asset. Today we have the knowledge to enable the creation of a healthy, productive and innovative Canada by creating holistic healthy workplaces focused on workers well being in concert with high productivity. This alignment will lead to an ever improving, engaged capability to provide a prosperous and healthy Canada able to evolve and compete successfully in the world.
The immediate task for us all is to use the collection of knowledge to focus on the health and well being of Canadian workers and citizens as the foundation of our future.
CCOHS is well placed to assist Canadians by its focus on securing the best available knowledge. This resource can be used to provide the most useful and practical resources for workplaces to be well informed, engaged in good safety and healthy training, utilize concepts and knowledge for developing the corporate safety, health and well being of all.
We will maintain our focus on all Canadians to assist them with the needed products and services, for the ongoing improvement of occupational health and safety.
The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
B. Management Representation Statement
|
I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2006-7 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide to the Preparation of Part III of the Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities.
Name: S. Len Hong Title: President and Chief Executive Officer |
C.Program Activity Architecture
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.
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.
Through health and safety information development, 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 product or service provided by CCOHS is to 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 the health and safety initiatives.
D.Summary Information
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.
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.
Financial Resources ($000)
(Appropriated amounts)
| 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009 |
| $ 4,484 | $ 4,484 | $ 4,484 |
Human Resources
| 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009 |
| 96 | 96 | 96 |
Departmental Priorities by Strategic Outcome
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.
| Planned Spending ($000) | ||||
| Expected Results (Use appropriated funding for) | Type | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009 |
| Easy access to occupational health and safety information and services | ongoing | $1,121 | $1,121 | $1,121 |
| Application of occupational health and safety (OHS) information to improve workplace practices | ongoing | $1,121 | $1,121 | $1,121 |
| Increased awareness and understanding of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace | ongoing | $1,121 | $1,121 | $1,121 |
| Partial recovery of costs from user fees (raise other revenues) | ongoing | $1,121 | $1,121 | $1,121 |
In 2005/6 CCOHS conducted an Evaluation and Performance Measurement study as part of our ongoing implementation of Modern Comptrollership and various other Treasury Board policies. As a result of this initiative, the presentation of the expected results have been re-aligned to focus on the key results expected in relation to the strategic outcome. The actual programs of CCOHS have not changed, but rather the reporting has been improved to highlight outcomes, not activities. The recommended logic model is shown in Exhibit 1. A cross-walk between CCOHS' former performance reporting methodology is shown in Exhibit 2. The model shows that there is overlap between activities and outputs to the key results. As CCOHS is an information-based organization that also generates revenues from information, these overlaps are an important facet that enables the effective and efficient use of resources.
As CCOHS has one program activity and strategic outcome, the performance reporting is based upon expected results. Financial resources have also been updated to allocate equally between the expected results as there is overlap between various activities on expected results. CCOHS is a small organization where resources and staffing are sharing amongst various programs.
Exhibit 1 - CCOHS logic model
Exhibit 2 - Previous focus in CCOHS' strategic performance reporting
Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
A. Operating Environment
CCOHS serves to promote health and safety in the workplace to help establish high standards for occupational health and safety performance, and to foster consultations and co-operation among governments, labour and employers to reduce or eliminate occupational illnesses and injuries.
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 CCOHS 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 |
|
2.1 Key Stakeholders and Partners
CCOHS is governed by tripartite council 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. 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 (NAOSH), International Labor Organization (ILO) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Further information on the many partnerships is available at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html and in our annual report.
Collaborative projects are undertaken for the development of resources and to provide additional high quality OSH resources to Canadians. CCOHS also provides high quality electronic information products, a series of over 20 CD-ROMs that contain databases, publications and full text Canadian health, safety and environmental legislation. The service has subscribers in more than 50 countries. These products are also delivered via the Internet.
Unbiased and credible occupational health and safety information is obtained in co-operation with Canadian and worldwide sources. CCOHS is a trusted source of credible information for Canadians. Information is made available in many forms through our website, Inquiries services and products and services. With the vast amount of information available on the Internet, providing information that Canadians can rely on to be unbiased and credible is an increasingly important key objective of CCOHS.
2.2 Major Initiatives
A unique Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) management system has been developed to support the 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.
E-learning was launched late in 2004 to provide consistent high quality training programs and shows significant potential for future growth based on the response by Canadians. Plans for 2006-7 include expanded course offering and customized courses designed to meet the needs of specific groups. Classroom based courses are also offered.
A national forum on occupational health and safety will be held late 2006/7. As a result of the success of the last forum, "Strategies for Recognizing and Preventing Occupational Disease", this event will be held on a bi-annual basis. The recommendations that emerged from the workshops reflect the results of the opportunity provided to researchers, health and safety practitioners, healthcare personnel and others to share ideas on how to improve occupational health and safety and disease prevention.
Management initiatives include improved performance management reporting with the implementation of ongoing measurement tools for data collection in keeping with the new logic model. Ongoing performance measurement is being incorporated into operating plans for 2006. In addition, the Policy on Service Standards on External User fees is being implemented. While CCOHS user fees do not fall within the User Fees Act, the Policy on Service Standards is applicable.
2.3 Risks and Challenges
The fiscal challenge for CCOHS is balancing the role between providing free-of-charge public services and cost-recovery programs. CCOHS is required to fund 50% of its annual budget through cost recovery via sales of products and services. However, it is an ongoing challenge to generate profits of $4.3 million dollars annually given the limited human resources and absence of working capital. In addition, uncontrollable changes in the competitive global market place such as foreign exchange, life cycle of products, technological changes and the Internet have seriously hampered the ability of CCOHS to meet sales targets.
As a Schedule II department, CCOHS has certain administrative responsibilities that are not conducive to revenue generation to the extent of $4.3 million per year. This includes limits on advertising, embargos on advertising due to policy changes or 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.
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. Information products by their nature are expensive to develop and maintain as they require continual updating to be useful. This requires extensive work by a wide range of professionals who rely on the latest technologies. Generating revenues while operating in a competitive marketplace is an ongoing challenge while complying with government policy restrictions.
Since most products and services are delivered electronically, it is a continual struggle to keep operating systems and software technically current to meet the requirements of clients. Failure to maintain current market place standards would result in our products not working on changing operating systems and internet browsers.
While the internet provides many opportunities, it also is a risk factor. Information is readily available from many sources. CCOHS strives to distinguish itself as a reliable trusted source of unbiased and credible information. The trend towards CCOHS provided e-learning may offset losses due to the internet and changing needs of users. However, the development and implementation of e-learning courses is very labour intensive and requires a heavy investment prior to the realization of revenues.
CCOHS is committed to addressing the challenges it faces through expanding and renewing information services and technology. The products are continually updated to reflect changing technologies as funding permits.
As with many organizations, succession planning is a serious concern for CCOHS. Almost half of its existing staff is over the age of fifty and many are eligible for retirement in the next five years. CCOHS does not have the funding to hire additional staff to mirror existing positions.
2.4 Government Initiatives
CCOHS contributes to the priorities of the government in the following way:
Canada's Role in the World
- CCOHS contributes to greater collaboration among nations to promote the sharing of information and knowledge for social programs relating to 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.
Strengthening Canada's Social Foundation
- 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. 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 and advocates in the public and private sectors to improve the health of Canadians. Details of specific projects are noted throughout this report and 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 the workplace health affiliate. CCOHS' forum on occupational diseases supports this government priority. http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text59.html
- CCOHS contributes to fostering safe communities by providing information resources and various programs to promote safety to the many communities throughout Canada.
Sustainable Development
- CCOHS provides extensive information on chemicals and their impact on health and the environment. CCOHS is a major source of environmental health information for government regulators, the chemical industry, manufacturing sectors and citizens. This helps Canadians become well informed and prepared to work for a clean and healthy environment.
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 |
|
$1,121 | On going |
| Increased awareness and understanding of Occupational Health and Safety issues in the workplace |
|
$1,121 | On going |
|
New | ||
|
On going | ||
|
New | ||
|
On going | ||
|
New | ||
|
On going | ||
| Application of Occupational Health and Safety Information to Improve workplace practices |
|
$1,121 | On going |
| Partial recovery of costs from user fees |
|
$1,121 | 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 2006-7 - $ 1,121 |
The Inquiries Service is the national resource centre that provides free and confidential access to occupational health and safety (OH&S) information, in English or in French, to the Canadian working population. Specialists in workplace health and safety are available to assist Canadians with their questions via a telephone service, e-mail or fax. In addition, we develop and provide OshAnswers, available as a 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. Emerging risks for OHS issues and needs are identified so appropriate products and services can be developed.
The goals for the upcoming year are:
- To increase the amount of information available through OshAnswers by providing additional content delivered from the Internet
- Further understand citizen satisfaction by employing user surveys and research to establish improvements
- Enhance the CCOHS website usability through improvements to its searching capabilities and content presentation
- Increase awareness of the Inquiry Service to Canadians
- 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
These services are monitored through reviews of website statistics, service impact statistical reports, direct client feedback and user satisfaction surveys. Periodic evaluations are also conducted to include performance measurement information in addition to key informant interviews.
Resources
| Forecast Spending 2005-2006 | Planned Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in thousands | |||||||
| $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
| 1,148 | 22 | 1,121 | 22 | 1,121 | 22 | 1,121 | 22 |
CCOHS fully supports and has in place plans and priorities to maintain Canada's goal Partnerships for a Healthy Canada. CCOHS continues to address the health of Canadians and provides information to help protect against occupational diseases and workplace injuries. Prevention is the most significant priority to keep Canadians healthy and safe. Sound information, from CCOHS is a crucial necessary beginning for assisting Canadians to make their workplaces safe, healthy and productive.
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 2006-7- $1,121 |
Plans and Priorities
The application of occupational health and safety information in the workplace is important to achieve reductions in injuries and illnesses. Providing information that is useable in the workplace and giving Canadians tools that enhance workplace conditions is important.
- Produce three new health and safety guides relating to current needs in occupational health and safety
- Increase the availability of e-learning material to expand the range of requested OSH course offerings
- Improve the availability of information through enhancements to the CCOHS website and improve the searchability of the website contents
- Develop and provide additional resources on chemical health and safety
- Provide and make publicly accessible more workplace health and wellness content information through partnerships with organizations such as the Canadian Health Network
- Provide tools such as the healthy workplace web portal and health and safety management systems
- Foster collaboration and exchanges in ideas through national dialogues, forums and conferences to increase applications in workplace and improve practices
- Collaborate with the education sector, youth groups and partners to improve the teaching of health and safety in the school system
Rationale
The rationale for CCOHS' development of products and services is to promote changes, both today and in the future, in Canadian workplaces for improved occupational health and safety programs and systems to reduce the number of illnesses and injuries and improve workplace capability.
Information is provided in different methods to provide Canadians with equivalent opportunities to access CCOHS' services. Providing useable information that can be directly applied in the workplace is essential to achieving our goals. The 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 various methods 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 2005-2006 | Planned Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in thousands | |||||||
| $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
| 1,148 | 23 | 1,121 | 23 | 1,121 | 23 | 1,121 | 23 |
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 Increased 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 2006-7 - $1,121 |
- Hosting National forums on key issues
- Promoting healthy workplaces and OSH 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 to assist Canadians to efficiently exchange ideas on health and safety
- Promote nation wide the importance of health and safety in the workplace
- To participate in various collaborative projects with different levels of government and other organizations throughout the year.
Rationale
Understanding the issues of occupational health and safety is the first step in recognizing 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 promotions and awareness campaigns and website statistics.
Resources
| Forecast Spending 2005-2006 | Planned Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in thousands | |||||||
| $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
| 1,147 | 23 | 1,121 | 24 | 1,121 | 24 | 1,121 | 24 |
2.8 Partial Recovery of Costs from User Fees
Plans and Priorities
| Partial recovery of costs from the sale of products and services that meet the objective of improving health and safety - Notional planned spending $1,121 |
Rationale
CCOHS' funding structure requires that 50% of its budget 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.
Resources
| Forecast Spending 2005-2006 | Planned Spending 2006-2007 | Planned Spending 2007-2008 | Planned Spending 2008-2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in thousands | |||||||
| $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE | $ | FTE |
| 1,147 | 22 | 1,121 | 22 | 1,121 | 22 | 1,121 | 22 |
