Search

CCOHS ANNUAL REPORT

April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018

Council of Governors

  • Executive Board

    • Gareth Jones (Chair)
    • Leslie Galway*
    • Phil Germain*
    • Andrea Nalyzyty*
    • Troy Winters
  • Audit/Risk Committee

    • Leslie Galway* (Chair)
    • Andrea Nalyzyty*
    • Troy Winters
    • Kimberly Henney*
    • Alternates

      • Ross Nairne
  • Human Resource and Governance Committee

    • Phil Germain* (Chair)
    • John Beckett
    • Ross Nairne
    • Troy Winters
    • Alternates

      • Kimberley Henney*
  • Chair

    • Gary Robertson
  • Employer

    • John Beckett Federally Regulated Employers
    • Andrea Nalyzyty* Canadian Bankers Association
    • Marcel Pouliot Transportation Association of Canada
    • Nina Mankovitz Employer Representative
    • Chad Bradley Federally Regulated Employers
  • Labour

    • Sari Sairanen Unifor
    • Troy Winters Canadian Union of Public Employees
    • Tara Peel Canadian Labour Congress
    • Denis St-Jean Public Service Alliance of Canada
  • Provincial and Territorial

    • Trevor Alexander British Columbia
    • Ross Nairne Alberta
    • Phil Germain* Saskatchewan
    • Jamie Hall Manitoba
    • Sophie Dennis Ontario
    • Shelly Dauphine New Brunswick
    • Shelley Rowan Nova Scotia
    • Luanne Gallant Prince Edward Island
    • Leslie Galway* Newfoundland and Labrador
    • Kimberley Henney* Yukon
    • Dave Grundy Northwest Territories

*Term expired

Message from the Council Chair and President

As the Chair of the Council of Governors of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), and newly appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, we are pleased to report on the key initiatives, impact, and work of the Centre.

The overall focus and strategy for 2017-2018 fiscal year was to be at the forefront of health and safety and, through collaboration and partnerships, continue growth, impact and geographic coverage of CCOHS, increase uptake of the resources and services of the Centre, and demonstrate leadership in addressing current and emerging issues to create healthier and safer workplaces in Canada. On the whole, we met our goals and often exceeded them.

Creating psychologically healthy workplaces and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace remain important current issues facing Canadian workplaces. CCOHS set out to help workplaces move from awareness to action by partnering with several jurisdictions on a practical mental health workshop. To increase the impact and geographical coverage, we plan to offer these workshops in more regions across Canada in the upcoming year. CCOHS also partnered with the Government of Canada on a national social media campaign to promote positive action around workplace mental health and violence and harassment. More than five million people in Canada were reached by the campaign, and resulted in 90,000 visits to CCOHS’ violence and harassment resource page. We look forward to assisting stakeholders to better understand and respond effectively to anticipated federal workplace sexual harassment and violence legislation.

CCOHS continued to respond to emerging workplace issues such as the impacts of impairment in the workplace. Our efforts to stay at the forefront of the impairment issue included an updated white paper on cannabis and impairment, as well as podcasts, e-courses, speaking engagements, and media interviews with national and industry publications. We will continue to provide practical advice and guidance to help workplaces navigate the issue of impairment with appropriate policies and programs.

CCOHS lead the efforts to make compliance and enforcement legislation and regulations understandable and implementable for employers and employees in a complex regulatory environment. Health and safety laws are not the same in every province and territory which can pose a barrier for both Canadian and international enterprises. CCOHS conducted legislative scans across all jurisdictions and provided technical analysis with recommendations on potential opportunities to harmonize, encouraging and building compliance, and helping Canadian jurisdictions work together effectively. This project in ongoing and will continue in the years to come.

In aligning our outputs and efforts to strategy, we remained engaged in activities in the identified high risk sectors of construction, transportation, mining, and healthcare. CCOHS developed customized web and mobile apps, and web portals that make information and guidance related to occupational health and safety legislation readily available and accessible. We also leveraged previous work (for example, construction apps), and expanded existing services across jurisdictions. CCOHS made inroads in establishing a presence in the healthcare sector (identified by all jurisdictions as being a concern) to build new relationships and find new opportunities to support.

Over the year we welcomed many new appointments to the Council: Trevor Alexander (British Columbia), Jamie Hall (Manitoba), Luanne Gallant (Prince Edward Island), Tara Peel (Canadian Labour Congress), Nina Mankovitz (Employers) and Chad Bradley (Employers). Appointments also included returning governors Sophie Dennis (Ontario), Shelly Dauphine (New Brunswick), Shelley Rowan (Nova Scotia), Dave Grundy, (Northwest Territories), Sari Sairanen (Unifor), and Denis St-Jean (Public Service Alliance of Canada). Council is revitalized by the energy and experience they each bring and we look forward to the positive change we will create, and the value we will deliver to all of our stakeholders.

We would also like to thank the outgoing Council members: Andrea Nalyzyty (Canadian Bankers Association), Leslie Galway (Newfoundland and Labrador), Kimberley Henney (Yukon), and Phil Germain (Saskatchewan). We appreciate their service and unique contributions to CCOHS and wish them well.

CCOHS connects Canada with the international stage, increasing our visibility and credibility, providing global leadership, and ensuring Canada benefits from good practices around the world. As the demographics of our workforce evolve and the nature of work changes, so too will the occupational health and safety issues that the Canadian workforce is facing. CCOHS will continue to respond; evolving, collaborating and building partnerships to meet the challenges ahead and to champion a holistic, comprehensive approach to safety, health and well-being of all employees in workplaces in Canada.

Finally, we would like to thank the Council and the CCOHS team for their efforts and valued contributions in helping CCOHS advance its mandate and increase its impact and most importantly, making Canadian workplaces safer.

Gary Robertson, Chair of the Council of Governors

Anne Tennier, President and CEO

#Trending

Cannabis and Impairment

Across the country employers have grown increasingly concerned about the implications of medical and recreational cannabis use and its potential effects on their workers’ health and safety. Cannabis, like other sources of impairment such as fatigue or alcohol consumption, can have serious consequences on the ability of workers to perform their jobs, particularly in safety sensitive positions where the potential for harm to oneself and to others is significant. To help workplaces prepare for the challenges and impacts, CCOHS released a white paper with guidance on how to establish a clear policy and program that addresses the use of cannabis and any other substance that can cause impairment.

CCOHS has guided the cannabis conversation around establishing impairment policy and procedures, implementing accommodation practices where necessary, and fostering a supportive, respectful workplace. The white paper was recently updated in March 2018 to include input from the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and specialists from the Centre continue to deliver sought-after presentations on the developing landscape surrounding cannabis use in Canada and what it means to worker health and safety.

Violence and Harassment in the Workplace

According to the Canadian Initiative on Workplace Violence, one in five violent incidents (including physical assault, sexual assault and robbery) occur in the workplace. With the rise of the #MeToo movement, there is greater awareness that violence and harassment of any kind – whether psychological, physical or sexual – is unacceptable in the workplace. The federal government has proposed stronger legislation, which will apply to parliamentary employers and employees for the first time, to address harassment and sexual violence in federally-regulated workplaces. CCOHS has focused its efforts on supporting Canadian workplaces with information on actionable ways to prevent and address complaints and unacceptable behaviour. A multifaceted social marketing campaign stressed the importance of developing policies and programs to prevent violence and harassment, educating the workforce, knowing how to respond, and reporting incidents whether witnesses or experienced.

Workplace Mental Health

The introduction of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety five years ago helped to drive dialogue about workplace mental health in Canada and the need for organizations to address psychological hazards as well as physical hazards that can affect worker health and safety. Responding to workplace demand for practical, accessible tools to help put the Standard into action, CCOHS delivered on several fronts.

In partnership with the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, and the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, CCOHS released two online toolkits to help workplaces assess and address psychological hazards. Available at no cost, Guarding Minds at Work and StressAssess are offered as different options for workplaces to survey their employees and take practical steps to promote psychological well-being. CCOHS also developed a practical workshop for mental health workplace champions and leaders to move from awareness to action. Held several times in the past year with plans to continue, the workshop consists of a framework and resources needed to develop and implement a comprehensive program that includes mental health as part of a healthy workplace.

Serving Canada to Improve the Lives of Workers

Everyone has a part to play in the health, safety, and well-being of workplaces, and the people who work there. An important part of CCOHS’ role is to inspire organizations to take action on creating healthy workplaces and preventing work-related illness and injury. By taking a balanced approach to how it serves all of its stakeholders, the Centre ensures both workers and workplaces have access to credible information, tools, and resources to work safely and foster a culture that values, respects and protects employees.

To ensure this access, maximize reach, and make the greatest impact, CCOHS develops a wide range of useful resources and services, in a variety of accessible formats, freely available, in both English and French.

Answering Questions

Workplace health and safety can be complex and overwhelming. Employees and employers across Canada alike have questions they need answered. With financial support from the provinces and territories, CCOHS provides a two-pronged service to meet this need for credible information and assistance: self-serve online fact sheets and the person-to-person Safety InfoLine.

OSH Answers Fact Sheets

For 20 years, the OSH Answers fact sheet collection has been available at no charge via the CCOHS website, with thousands of questions and answers on more than 630 topics ranging from ergonomics to health promotion, to indoor air quality and noise exposure.

OSH Answers Fact sheet and Safety InfoLine chart
[Text version of OSH Answers Fact sheet and Safety InfoLine chart]

By keeping this resource easily and freely accessible to all, and by adding and updating fact sheets, CCOHS continues to serve workplaces in Canada with reliable information to improve worker health, safety and well-being. These fact sheets also serve as the foundation for many of CCOHS’ informational assets such as publications, posters, and articles, and are widely cited by media and organizations. This year, CCOHS added 31 new fact sheets on topics such as impairment, temperature conditions, occupational diseases, and working safely with hazardous products, while also covering workplace safety topics specific to occupations such as food and beverage servers and road traffic control workers.

OSH Answers is CCOHS’ most widely used public service with 9,535,306 visits this year - 26% of which were from users in Canada.

The OSH Answers mobile app continues to be helpful to workers who want health and safety information at their fingertips, especially when working in remote areas without an Internet connection. Available for iOS and Android, and in English and French, the app provides users with direct access to the entire fact sheet collection, right on their devices. This past year, the app was downloaded 10,328 times (20,333 total downloads since launch).

Safety InfoLine [person-to-person]

The confidential and bilingual Safety InfoLine service provides more in-depth information and direct one-on-one support for those who need it. CCOHS’ team of health and safety technical specialists research and respond to incoming telephone and email requests with information to help people make informed decisions about specific health and safety issues in their workplaces.

This year, the Safety InfoLine service responded to 8,041 inquiries. Employers made up more than half of the users (52%), followed by labour (26%), the general public (20%), and governments (2%). CCOHS surveys each user of the service to gather feedback regarding the usefulness and quality of the service and for continuous improvement purposes. This year’s survey results revealed 85% of Safety InfoLine users were very satisfied with the information they received, while 65% said that their use of information obtained from CCOHS will lead to current or future changes to the workplace designed to improve health and safety.

Safety InfoLine charts - users of the service and users by province

[Text version of Safety InfoLine Users of the Service]
I found the service very informative and helpful. In the past week I have referred 5 different employees to the CCOHS website.It was very thorough and I have shared the response with another federal department. This central service is extremely useful.The legislation applicable to our workplace was quoted which was extremely useful. This is truly a centre of expertise.

Safety InfoLine Users by Province

[Text version of Safety InfoLine Users by Province map]
My question was answered very fast and had lots of information given. That information was then forwarded to my health and safety committee to assess what they need to bring forward to the company to make sure that the necessary changes and modifications need to be done.

Providing Access to Information

CCOHS is committed to positively impacting health and safety in Canada by providing bilingual, credible, and useful health and safety information in accessible and user friendly formats. CCOHS’ website and topic-specific websites serve as central and convenient hubs for workplace safety information and resources.

CCOHS Website

At the heart of CCOHS lies its website (ccohs-cchst.ca), the core vehicle used to deliver its subscription and public services. This year the website was enriched with new content and resources, including a topic page focused on impairment in the workplace, to better serve workplaces in Canada and beyond.

As in past years, the overall website traffic continues to hold strong, with 10.7 million visits, of which 33% came from Canada. Overall, the website enjoyed more than 16.9 million views of content pages, with 22% of those views on the French language side of the website.

CCOHS/CCHST Website highlights chart
[Text version of CCOHS Website's highlights]

Topic-specific Websites

There will always be aspects of workplace health and safety which need greater attention at certain times. CCOHS develops and maintains specialized websites to meet the demand for information and resources on these evolving topics – from gender and work, mental health, new and young workers, healthy workplaces, to infectious disease outbreaks. This year, CCOHS focused on updating the content offered across all of its topic websites, and enhancing each site with new tools, multimedia assets and resources.

Flu and Infectious Disease Outbreaks

An infectious disease outbreak or pandemic can have devastating consequences for workplaces and communities. This year, CCOHS improved its Flu and Infectious Disease Outbreaks website, and introduced a mobile friendly layout and design, along with updated resource links intended to help keep workplaces operational and people healthy, working, and thriving during a widespread flu outbreak, or a pandemic. As a result, the website generated 11,520 page views, up 12% from the previous year.

Young Workers Zone and Teaching Tools

Every worker deserves to start their job on safe footing. For nearly ten years, the Young Workers Zone has served as an online resource dedicated to providing young workers, parents, teachers, and employers with information to help keep workplace health and safety top of mind. This year the website was updated and refreshed with new content and a new layout to make it more accessible to all users. The focus has also expanded to include all new workers of any age. Plans to further enhance the website in the coming year include new resources and multimedia such as videos. This year, the website received 83,144 page views.

Available within the Young Workers Zone, the Health and Safety Teaching Tools resource continues to serve as a useful aid for school teachers, youth groups, employment centres, and immigration settlement programs. This year, all information in the chemical safety module was updated to reflect the latest version of WHMIS, ensuring the dissemination of the most current information on how to work safely with chemical hazards. Overall Teaching Tools web pages experienced growth with more than 132,000 page views, up 12% from last year.

Healthy Minds at Work

As workplace mental health awareness and organizational commitment to prevention grows across the country, there is an increasing need for resources to help workplaces integrate mental health into their comprehensive workplace health and safety program. The Healthy Minds at Work website serves as a single access point to a collection of helpful tools and information related to mental health such as fact sheets, research papers, and courses. The website also served as the main resource and call to action in the Centre’s mental health social marketing campaigns. This year, the website had 46,866 page views.

CanOSH

The CanOSH website is a one-stop online resource that helps users easily find Canadian workplace health and safety information hazard alerts, and statistics, from federal, provincial, and territorial governments and agencies. The website launched eighteen years ago and continues to be widely accessed. This year, the site had 24,569 page views.

Healthy Workplaces

Developing a culture that balances work, life, safety, health and wellness brings many positives, including a more enjoyable work environment, increased productivity, and happier workers who feel encouraged, supported and rewarded for their efforts. The Healthy Workplaces website offers useful information, tools, and resources from around the world to help employers, workers, and practitioners participate in making their workplaces healthy and safe. The website had 30,321 page views this year.

Gender, Work, and Health

Both the physical (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences between women, men, and gender-diverse people influence the work we do, and understanding these differences can help to improve worker health and safety. CCOHS created the Gender, Work, and Health website in 2017 as a result of its knowledge translation partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Gender and Health. The website provides users with links to credible information, tools, research, and resources on topics such as: sex and gender differences in the workplace, injury and illness, gaps in knowledge, and improving risk prevention. This year, the website received 3,348 page views.

Promoting Health and Safety

By serving up health and safety information in a variety of formats, CCOHS is able to deliver important messages to the workplaces in effective and relevant ways. From posters, stickers, bookmarks, infographics and handouts on topics such as mental health, impairment, and fatigue, these resources continue to see widespread use and impact.

In recent years, CCOHS has seen a shift in how workplaces prefer to share information, from traditional posters and pamphlets to a greater appetite for tools that are portable, easy to distribute, and shareable on social media.

Infographics and Posters

Meeting the demand for helpful and visually engaging content, CCOHS regularly produces topical infographics in an accessible, convenient format and size that makes for easy sharing via e-mail and social media. To further extend reach and impact, CCOHS adapts the most popular infographics into fast fact reference cards, distributing them at conferences and other events and making them available from the website.

This year, six new infographics were produced, bringing the total number to 18. New infographic topics this year included distracted driving, preventing slips, trips, and falls, noise, healthy hygiene practices, workplace stress, and WHMIS 2015 transition tips.

The most popular infographic covered slips, trips and falls, followed by bullying and harassment, and fatigue. Overall, the infographics web page had 55,893 page views this year.

In addition to these infographics and fast fact cards, CCOHS’ collection of awareness tools include handouts, bookmarks, stickers, buttons, and more than 40 posters to help workplaces reinforce health and safety messages, techniques, and good practices.

Podcasts [Health and Safety To Go!]

Almost nine years ago, CCOHS launched the podcast program, Health and Safety to Go! to provide Canadians an alternative vehicle to access health and safety information. Available in audio format through CCOHS’ website or an iTunes subscription, the podcasts provide safety tips in 5 minute segments that can be downloaded and listened to on smart phones, tablets, and MP3 players.

This year’s episodes featured interviews with Dr. Angela Colantonio, Director of the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto; Threads of Life speaker Elaine Keunen; and Occupational Health Nurse Michelle Tew from the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers. New topics this year included Day of Mourning, hand arm vibration syndrome, impairment in the workplace, brain injury awareness, and WHMIS 2015.

The podcasts were popular this year, garnering a total of 84,718 listens, a 13% increase in overall listens over the previous year.

The Health and Safety Report

The Health and Safety Report e-mail newsletter is CCOHS’ largest and most popular communications channel. Available free of charge, in English and French, the monthly report is filled with original articles on a wide variety of health and safety topics. Readership includes health and safety professionals and leaders, health and safety committee members, human resource professionals, other workers and employers, and researchers. Subscribers use the contents of the newsletter as a source for health and safety meetings, tailgate meetings, newsletters, and for health and safety promotion at their organizations.

A valuable tool to keep me aware of current and future legislative changes. Provides helpful information to assist in maintaining safety policies and insight into changes coming in the near future.Your publication is very informative and has shed light on health and safety issues that we had not thought were applicable to our organization.I distribute the email publication to all local staff and also share with the construction company that my husband works for. In fact, I believe that they have since signed up to receive the e-mails directly. Thank you for a quality and informative publication.

Although its reach is global, the Health and Safety Report enjoys a strong following in Canada, representing nearly three-quarters of the 21,279 subscribers. This year, CCOHS improved access to the newsletter with the use of a new e-mail marketing system that enables real-time subscriber management. That ensures new subscribers get the latest issue within an hour of sign-up.

The results from the annual readership survey confirm the quality and high appreciation for the newsletter. Year over year it earns a 99% overall satisfaction rating with the content and format.

The value of the newsletter extends beyond the individual subscriber, with 97% saying that the newsletter provides value to their organization, and 76% indicating that they use the information in the newsletter to make current or planned changes in their workplace that might improve occupational health and safety.

The impact of the newsletter extends beyond its subscriber base. Articles from the newsletter were widely repurposed by other publications, media outlets, and organizations. Informal tracking of the 70 publicly shared reprints over this year yielded more than 800,000 impressions of extended reach.

The Health and Safety Report chart
[Text version of The Health and Safety Report chart]
As a small business owner, I find this invaluable. It is difficult to keep up with ever-changing legislation and stay on top of health and safety issues. This site supports us in supporting a culture of workplace safety for our team members.I like this report as it gives me a snapshot of current happenings and upcoming events. It assists in planning toolbox meetings and safety meeting and any current issues that may affect our business.I post the information on our bulletin boards in Calgary and in Edmonton as newsworthy issues.

International Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Awareness Day

Pains and strains from the work we do are more than just an occasional nuisance. Over time, they can be debilitating and costly. Musculoskeletal disorders are the most frequent type of lost-time injury and the single largest source of lost-time costs in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, each year 2.3 million adults experience a musculoskeletal disorder serious enough to limit their normal activities; the majority of these injuries are work-related. To promote awareness and prevention, CCOHS joins workplaces around the world in commemorating International Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Awareness Day each year on February 29 (February 28 in non-leap years) – the only “non-repetitive” day on the calendar.

CCOHS maintains a dedicated page populated with infographics, shareable social media cards and messages, fact sheets, posters, and podcasts about musculoskeletal disorders. This year the web page was updated with new visuals and enhanced with special badges that organizations could place on their websites to help promote the day and this resource page. Awareness continues to grow, as the web page experienced a 5% increase in views over the previous year.

Dick Martin Scholarship Award

Each year, CCOHS supports the next generation of health and safety leaders and professionals by hosting a scholarship competition for students looking to further their studies in the field of occupational health and safety. The Dick Martin Scholarship Award was established by CCOHS’ Council of Governors to encourage interest in the field of workplace health and safety. The scholarship is offered annually to post-secondary students enrolled in a degree or diploma granting occupational health and safety related program in Canada. Two scholarships of $3,000 each are awarded to a university and college student and $500 is awarded to each winner’s school.

CCOHS announces the scholarship winners in conjunction with Occupational Safety and Health Week held in May. This year, the winning students were from the University of Toronto (Ontario), and Saskatchewan Polytechnic (Saskatchewan).

Connecting with Canadians

Effecting meaningful change in Canadian workplaces requires an understanding of what workers are experiencing and need in order to stay healthy and safe. From crossing the country to exhibit and speak at conferences to connecting with stakeholders on social media, CCOHS ensures it has an ear in each corner of the country to listen and learn about issues and priorities that are important to workplaces and industries in each province and territory.

Engaging with our Community

Exhibits and Speaking Engagements

CCOHS creates awareness about current health and safety issues and the work it does by exhibiting and presenting at conferences and events in every province and territory. It’s an important initiative that establishes credibility, reaches new audiences, and gathers input about specific concerns that may impact the work they do.

Attending conferences across the country allows CCOHS to reach employers and employees across all provinces and territories, to learn more about the specific issues each region faces. This year, through 57 events, the Centre had a presence in ten provinces and two territories, spanning various industries and high risk sectors.

Staying on top of pending and new changes to health and safety legislation is key to maintaining the relevancy and effectiveness of this program. Recognizing that there were growing concerns about impairment and its potential impacts on the workplace, CCOHS responded quickly by developing a much sought-after speaking presentation about addressing impairment in the workplace.

Reflecting its tripartite governance structure, CCOHS also attended labour, government, and employer events. A specific focus was placed on attending high-risk industry-specific conferences in the mining, construction, and transportation sectors, as well as conferences specifically for Indigenous people. By securing speaking opportunities at the majority of these events, CCOHS was able to connect with industry leaders about partnership opportunities. Consistent attendance at these events reinforces the Centre’s reputation as a credible and reliable health and safety resource for a diverse audience of industries and communities, and opens the door to new business development opportunities.

Covering the Country: Exhibiting and Speaking Engagements

CCOHS Conferences on Canada Map: 30 Speaking engagements. 57 Conferences and events. 34,547 Overall conference reach.
[Text version of Covering the Country: Exhibits and Speaking Engagements map]

Social Media

Social media is an important vehicle in CCOHS’ mission to promote a comprehensive approach to workplace health and safety. Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, CCOHS connects with various audiences to promote information and resources on relevant and timely health and safety topics and to give Canadians a space to share their experiences and connect with others. These channels also serve as the main drivers of CCOHS’ social marketing campaigns.

CCOHS’ organic social media goals were focused on increasing community, driving website traffic, and fostering engagement. Strategies included increasing the number of posts on its primary channels Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, developing a Thunderclap campaign around a specific topic (Day of Mourning, initiated in March 2018 for deployment in April 2018), and establishing an account on Instagram.

Social Media chart
[Text version of Social Media chart]

Media

Awareness of CCOHS as a go-to national workplace health and safety organization continues to grow among the media. This year the Centre experienced a record 779 media sightings* (up 52% over the previous year) which generated approximately 356 million impressions (23% growth over last year) in English and French Canadian news outlets. These included The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Global News, CBC News, Radio Canada International, Gatineau News, La Personelle, the Canadian Mining Journal, Passporte Sante, La Presse, Journal de Montreal, OHS Canada Magazine, Metro News, Police Chief Magazine, Turf and Rec Magazine, Bustle.com, and PLANT Magazine.

While CCOHS fielded requests for interviews on many topics this year, news outlets were especially eager to know how cannabis use could potentially impact Canadian workplaces. Through media interviews, editorial placements, and social media posts, the Centre worked towards shifting the conversation from cannabis use itself to how workplaces can address impairment from any source.

Also of note this year was the uptake of French publications requesting information from CCOHS. From requests for interviews to repurposing content, CCOHS was able to reach a larger French Canadian audience than ever before.

* A media sighting is when a CCOHS subject specialist was quoted, the Centre was referenced as an information source, or when its online fact sheets, articles or media releases were repurposed by other publications.

Educating Workplaces

A well-developed health and safety program that includes education and training is not only essential for keeping people safe at work, it is often a legislated requirement. CCOHS offers an extensive program of health and safety education and resources to meet the needs of learners in Canada.

e-Learning

Over the years, online learning has completely transformed the way CCOHS provides accessible training options for the workplace. With a collection of close to 120 online courses on topics ranging from physical hazards to healthy workplaces, CCOHS courses are created with assistance and advice from outside technical experts when required, while tripartite external review by representatives of government, employers, and labour helps achieve a balanced perspective, accuracy, and understanding by all parties in the workplace.

This year, CCOHS continued to develop courses to help workplaces with the transition to the new WHMIS, adding WHMIS 2015 for Office Environments to its lineup as well as an Inuktitut version of WHMIS 2015 for Workers in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Also in response to concerns about cannabis use, the Impairment and Cannabis in the Workplace e-course was released to help workplaces understand and meet the challenges of impairment in safety-sensitive positions.

To help promote basic awareness of important health and safety issues, CCOHS released three new awareness courses at no cost through partnerships with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and the High Point Wellness Centre.

In response to ongoing advancements in technology and the adoption of video-based learning, CCOHS embarked on a pilot project to offer video courses to enhance the online learning experience and increase retention of key concepts. Through collaboration with the global learning technology company Vocam, CCOHS developed and released five courses on the new video platform, with more in development for release next year.

The uptake on e-courses has climbed steadily over the years, proving that online learning continues to be a useful format for workplaces. This year, free courses were accessed 47,017 times, and 145,954 course seats were purchased.

Next year, CCOHS will continue to collaborate with organizations such as WorkSafeNB, Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission Northwest Territories and Nunavut, WorkSafe Saskatchewan, and SAFE Work Manitoba to create customized e-courses that support the various prevention initiatives and high risk sectors specific to their jurisdictions.

Publications

Print pocket guides and manuals are practical reference tools to help reduce risk and help prevent injury, and are designed for use as on-the-job information sources. This year, a total of 3,864 publications were purchased.

The WHMIS 2015 Instructor’s Toolkit, comprised of an instructor’s guide, participants’ guide and PowerPoint slides, continues to be a popular resource in the WHMIS 2015 library, with 904 toolkits purchased.

Partnering for Success

CCOHS has an established history of collaborating with many workplace health and safety organizations to expand the quality and quantity of resources and programs available to workers and employers across Canada.

Work with international partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union, has helped to advance workplace health and safety on a global level. These partnerships, in addition to its position as one of the Collaborating Centres of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and WHO, allow CCOHS to provide Canadians with information from highly credible international sources and to share its own knowledge and expertise in return.

When it comes to emerging health and safety issues, CCOHS knows it’s stronger when it comes together with like-minded partners. Through websites, e-courses, special projects, publications, research and more, CCOHS strives to make information from around the country and the world available to workplaces in Canada.

Guarding Minds at Work: Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace

In partnership with the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, CCOHS completely rebuilt and updated Guarding Minds at Work with the most current Ipsos national survey data, offering an enhanced and accessible user-friendly experience. This free bilingual online toolkit helps employers assess and address the 13 psychosocial factors known to have a powerful impact on organizational health, the health of individual employees, and the financial bottom line. Users are guided through an eight-step process to conduct a thorough audit of their organization’s mental health, the results of which can help inform and support organizations as they implement the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

StressAssess Web App: Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)

To assist workplaces in identifying and addressing psychosocial hazards that can lead to stress and mental injury, CCOHS collaborated with the Occupational Health Clinics of Ontario Workers (OHCOW) to develop and launch StressAssess. The web app provides workplaces with an internationally recognized survey tool to anonymously, collectively, and confidentially gather information about current work conditions and psychosocial hazards. Along with comparisons against validated national averages, it includes practical ideas for action to help workplaces address identified concerns. While the survey tool is meant to diagnose the workplace (not the worker), the website also includes a personal edition for individuals interested in measuring their own personal level and sources of stress. StressAssess was launched in January 2018, and CCOHS is working on a mobile app version and a French version of the tool and app, for release next year.

WHMIS.org: Canada’s National WHMIS Portal

WHMIS.org: Canada’s National WHMIS Portal, serves as a single access point for those who need information and resources related to WHMIS 2015. Launched in 2015, WHMIS.org is a joint collaboration between CCOHS and the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada, as well as each federal, provincial, and territorial occupational health and safety regulatory jurisdiction across Canada.

This year, additions to the website included several fact sheets and guidance documents to provide users with the most up to date and relevant information they need to help with their transition to WHMIS 2015. To date, WHMIS.org has 129 resources available to support suppliers, employers, workers, and trainers.

With the transition deadlines looming, usage of the website surged to 132,309 visits (up 20% over last year) with 91% originating from Canadian users. The top three provinces accessing the website were Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

This year, Prince Edward Island implemented WHMIS 2015 and the corresponding legislative changes are accessible through WHMIS.org. The remaining jurisdictions, including Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia, are at different stages in their legislative process.

WHMIS 2015 for Workers e-Course

The WHMIS 2015 for Workers course, developed in partnership with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada, familiarizes users with the WHMIS 2015 system and how it is used in workplaces. This year 71,910 seats were sold. The top three provinces accessing the e-course were Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

New Brunswick Guide to OSH Legislation

In 2015 CCOHS collaborated with WorkSafeNB on a new website and app to help employers in the construction industry find information about legislative requirements in one handy location. A Guide to OSH Legislation is a website and mobile app that features construction-related topics with links to resources, including interpretations, summaries, legislation, hazard alerts and safety talks, all in an easy-to-read format. Work will continue on these products as new topics and resources will be added next year.

Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association Guide to OHS Legislation

To help people in Saskatchewan find provincial occupational health and safety legislation related to the construction industry more easily, CCOHS worked with the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association on a website and mobile app. This resource features legislative requirements on more than 20 topics related to the construction industry such as excavation and trenching, fall protection, ladders, air quality, and scaffolding. While the bulk of the work was completed in 2016-2017, the app and website were launched in June 2017.

Workers’ Safety & Compensation Commission (WSCC) Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Last year, CCOHS partnered with the Workers’ Safety & Compensation Commission (WSCC) Northwest Territories and Nunavut, to develop a website and mobile app to help stakeholders access occupational health and safety legislation from a single access point. The bilingual website and app provides workers with a clear language summary of occupational health and safety legislation in their jurisdiction, and hosts a variety of resources related to topics such as working in confined spaces, personal protective equipment, working with lead, and return to work. Both the website and app were launched in June 2017, and work continues on these products as new topics and resources will be added next year.

Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA)

The Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) website was launched in March 2017, and hosts over 50 topics related to construction safety regulations in Ontario. This year, CCOHS launched a mobile app version to provide information in an accessible format for Ontario workers.

Manitoba Construction Safety Association

Over the years, demand for occupational health and safety legislation portals and apps stemmed from employers asking for a tool to help them understand and comply with occupational health and safety legislation. Using the above mentioned models as a guide, CCOHS continues to help jurisdictions across Canada simplify their construction and related legislation, and has begun working on a legislation app for the Manitoba Construction Safety Association.

Addressing Key Sectors

CCOHS is committed to improving health and safety in high-risk sectors such as construction, transportation, and mining as identified in the strategic plan.

Construction

In 2015, CCOHS partnered with WorkSafeNB to provide employers with access to construction related legislative requirements in one central website and mobile app. CCOHS has since adapted this model to help other Canadian jurisdictions make their industry specific legislation more accessible. This year, CCOHS launched web tools and mobile apps in partnership with the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association, Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (Ontario), and the Workers’ Safety & Compensation Commission (WSCC) Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Transportation

Mental health and worker safety continue to be priority issues for the transportation industry. In 2016-2017, CCOHS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Trucking Alliance to develop programs and resources to improve workplace safety specifically for truck drivers. To support industry efforts to increase awareness of workplace safety, CCOHS produced tools and resources such as fact cards and e-course bundles for members of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, SafetyDriven in British Columbia, and the Ontario Trucking Association.

Mining

Recognizing mining as a key industry with opportunities for further advancement of health and safety, CCOHS attended 3 mining related conferences and events this year: the Chief Mining Inspectors Meeting, the Canadian Aboriginal Miners Association Conference, and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada – Health and Safety Committee Meeting. The purpose of participating in these events was to foster collaboration, gather information, and identify ways to improve health and safety.

Addressing Current Issues

Social Media Marketing Campaign: CCOHS and the Government of Canada

Mental health and violence continue to be two major areas of focus for workplaces across Canada. Continuing partnership efforts from the previous year, CCOHS and the federal government collaborated on a social media advertising campaign to spread awareness about the importance of addressing mental health and violence in the workplace.

Funds were secured through a central web fund, managed by the Privy Council Office (PCO) that is reserved for partnership advertising efforts that align with Governmental plans and priorities. CCOHS maintained the momentum of last year’s campaign conversations around mental health and extended the campaign to include messaging about violence and harassment in the workplace.

CCOHS leveraged the power of social media to reach as many people in Canada as possible to inform and break through stigma. A variety of messages were deployed on Facebook and Twitter that modelled responses for fostering a mentally healthy and safe workplace, using a diverse range of workers and sectors, including construction, healthcare and food services. Additionally, video was introduced as a new format to engage users.

The campaign ran from January to March 2018. As a result, over five million Canadians were reached and nearly 200,000 engaged with the Centre’s campaign messages. Additionally, over 15,000 Canadians watched the video and more than 90,000 visited CCOHS’ violence and harassment topic page, which saw over two and a half times more use during the campaign.

Mental Health Workshop Program

The growing movement to address mental health in the workplace inspired CCOHS to develop the workshop series, Creating Your Mentally Healthy Workplace, to support workplace health and safety experts, leadership, committee members, and mental health champions. The practical, hands-on workshop is intended to help organizations move from awareness to action as they implement mental health as part of a comprehensive healthy workplace program.

The workshop content includes a variety of frameworks, tools and resources to address all types of psychosocial hazards and develop action plans for mentally healthy workplaces. Facilitated by CCOHS staff, the workshop builds on theories, offers space for dialogue and discusses tangible examples, giving participants a baseline toolkit to evoke change in their workplaces.

Since the first workshop held in Mississauga in 2017, the content evolved to meet the specific needs of the subsequent workshops held in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and the Yukon Territory. 87% of respondents to the evaluation form said they would be able to apply what they learned to their workplace.

In 2018, the workshop program will continue to evolve its materials, research new topics and forge ahead while addressing trends. New cities and regions will be visited.

I am eagerly looking forward to sharing this information with my employer. The engagement with the participants was excellent. It did not feel like instructors/students.It was a very eye-opening workshop as to how far my workplace needs to go yet with regards to mental health in the workplace.A well-developed workshop with some very good practical ideas to help improve our workplace. A lot of info in one day.This workshop serves as a starting point for our organization. We have a long way to go compared to most but this points us in the right direction.

National Stage

Focus on Safety National Youth Video Contest

Venturing out into the work world can be exciting, but it can also be risky. All new workers, including youth, need to understand their rights and responsibilities when it comes to health and safety. To help deliver this important message across the country, CCOHS, along with the provinces and territories, challenged youth to use their creativity to produce original videos that illustrates the importance of workplace health and safety.

The Focus on Safety National Youth Video Contest offered contestants and their affiliated organizations, institutions, and schools, a chance to win cash prizes, and provincial, territorial, and national recognition. In addition the public were invited to vote online for their Fan Favourite among the national entries, via CCOHS’ Young Workers Zone website. This year, eleven entries were accepted for national consideration from provincial and territorial contests. These videos were scored by a panel representing leadership of national organizations: Gareth Jones, Vice-President of CCOHS; Shirley Hickman, Executive Director of Threads of Life; and Perry Ruehlen, Executive Director of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE). The winning video of the national contest was shown at the national launch of North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week in Ottawa, Ontario. Overall, the national entrants’ videos were viewed 4,380 times during the Fan Favourite voting period.

North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week

A renewed focus on spreading awareness and sharing events underscored this year’s North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week efforts. Every year, for one week in May, employers, employees, and the public focus their attention on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home, and in the community. The annual initiative is led by a partnership of national organizations: CCOHS, the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), Employment and Social Development Canada’s Labour Program, and Threads of Life.

As an active contributing partner, CCOHS hosts the Safety and Health Week website, which was relaunched in 2017 with many enhancements to increase engagement, and promote awareness about the week and related events through its communication channels. This year, CCOHS attended and participated in the Safety and Health Week national launch event in Ottawa, Ontario.

2020 World Congress on Safety and Health at Work

Every three years, the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work brings together a global community of government representatives, labour organizations, employer groups, and prevention experts to exchange information and share perspectives on the world-wide effort to create safe and healthy workplaces. Together with the Institute for Work and Health, CCOHS will host the XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, to be held in Toronto, Ontario on October 4-7, 2020. Sponsored by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Social Security Association (ISSA), this event is the world’s largest venue for the international occupational health and safety community and is expected to draw more than 3,500 delegates from more than 150 countries. A National Advisory Committee has been formed and planning is well underway. The main program of the event will include over 30 symposia, speakers, media, safe youth at work and workshops.

Forum 2019

CCOHS is planning for its sixth tripartite forum in Winnipeg in March 2019. With the theme of Changing World of Work, CCOHS will facilitate a pan-Canadian discussion between the tripartite stakeholders (government, labour, employers) on current, relevant topics that affect the health, safety and well-being of workers, which may lead to: recommendations and/or solutions for implementation related to the topic, to improve worker health, safety and well-being; opportunities for public engagement and participation via feedback on the Forum recommendations; and relationship building within the health and safety community and among the stakeholders that would foster future collaboration.

National Day of Mourning

Each year, on April 28, the flags on Parliament Hill fly at half-mast and ceremonies across Canada are held to commemorate the National Day of Mourning. This day serves as a time to pay tribute to workers who have lost their lives or have been made ill or injured from their jobs. At the same time, focus turns to an opportunity where employers and workers can publicly renew their commitment to prevention so that these tragedies do not happen again, and that the workplace is safe and healthy for all.

To help raise awareness of this important day, CCOHS maintains a permanent Day of Mourning section on the website with updated fatality and injury statistics, podcast interviews with family members impacted by workplace tragedies, posters and social media assets to help workplaces share workplace safety messages. This year the Day of Mourning webpage was viewed 40,625 times.

Other Projects and Partnerships

Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation Occupational Safety and Health Committee (CAALL-OSH)

Health and safety laws are not the same in every province and territory which can pose a barrier for both Canadian and international enterprises. It’s difficult for businesses to operate seamlessly between these jurisdictions especially with an ever increasing mobile workforce. To assist in the efforts to harmonize health and safety legislation across Canada, CCOHS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation Occupational Safety and Health Committee (CAALL-OSH). This year, CCOHS supported the effort by conducting legislative scans across all jurisdictions and providing technical analysis with recommendations on potential opportunities to harmonize. In order to facilitate discussion, CCOHS also created a website to house the committee’s content and monitor and encourage forward progress.

Health Canada: Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau (WHMB)

For the past two years, CCOHS has provided assistance to the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau (WHMB) of Health Canada with the implementation of WHMIS 2015. This year, CCOHS collaborated with the WHMB to develop fact sheets to support understanding of the transition to WHMIS 2015 for both employers and distributors. Further to that, CCOHS continued to host and maintain e-learning courses for the Hazardous Products Act inspectors, reviewed new inspection-related materials such as guidance documents, Standard Operating Procedures, and forms, and developed a secure portal to provide inspectors with access to these documents.

Health Canada: WHMIS 2015 Committees

CCOHS is a member of the WHMIS Current Issues Committee, which facilitates information and knowledge-sharing between government regulators and affected stakeholders (workers, employers and suppliers).

Additonally, CCOHS participates in three Health Canada WHMIS 2015 committees. CCOHS is an observer on the Intergovernmental WHMIS Co-ordinating Committee, a forum for regulators from federal, provincial and territorial governments to exchange information and ideas related to the implementation of the Hazardous Products Act and Regulations. CCOHS has developed secure portals to provide members of the Intergovernmental WHMIS Co-ordinating Committee and Current Issues Committee access to documents and resources.

Lastly, CCOHS is an observer on the Canadian WHMIS Coordinators Committee, a forum for regulators from federal, provincial, and territorial governments to exchange information and ideas related to the implementation of WHMIS 2015 in their individual jurisdictions.

Society of Chemical Hazard Communications (SCHC)

CCOHS is a long standing member of the Society of Chemical Hazard Communications (SCHC), an organization that strives to promote awareness and knowledge in all areas of chemical hazard communication. This year, CCOHS once again delivered its course: WHMIS 2015 Professional Development Course for suppliers of hazardous products. Due to the success of the course, and the impending transition deadlines for WHMIS 2015, the original half-day course was expanded to a full-day offering and was presented to approximately 35 students at the SCHC Spring Meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana, and then presented again to approximately 25 students at the Fall Meeting held in Washington, DC, in September 2017.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre

As a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre CCOHS contributes to several major projects to advance workplace health and safety globally. For example, for many years one of the most important chemical information services delivered by CCOHS as a Collaborating Centre is the IPCS INCHEM database. This database service contains information essential for the sound management of chemicals that affect the environment and human health. Over the next four years CCOHS will consult and work with other Collaborating Centres to adapt existing materials to take them to a global level as well as develop new materials and tools on emerging issues such as aging workers. Acknowledging the increase of longevity of working populations in all countries of the world, a web portal will be assembled to support PAHO/WHO actions to create awareness on the needs to improve and protect the health of the growing populations of older workers, as well as those new and returning to the world of work. The relationships forged as a Collaborating Centre also provide global perspectives and resources that are used to inform the work of CCOHS.

Caregiver-inclusive Workplace Standard

Workplaces that are managing workers who have unpaid care responsibilities are finding creative solutions to keeping their staff employed and healthy such as through carer-inclusive and accommodating organization policies. CCOHS participated on the Technical Committee organized by researchers out of McMaster University who worked together with the Canadian Standards Association to publish a new Standard (B701-17 - Carer-inclusive and accommodating organizations) and Implementation Handbook (B701HB-18- Helping worker-carers in your organization). The Standard and handbook provide guidance on establishing an organizational program to assist employees who work full-time and provide unpaid care and assistance to individuals living with debilitating physical, mental, or cognitive conditions. CCOHS continues to participate on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health, Research Advisory Committee on Carer-Friendly Workplaces.

Managing Health and Safety

For employers, managing health and safety is an important part of running their businesses. CCOHS has created products and services to help meet the unique needs of various workplaces and sectors, whether it is to help them know and comply with their legislative requirements or to write a safety data sheet.

CANWrite™ – (M)SDS Authoring Software

Suppliers of hazardous products are required to provide safety data sheets so users of those products are informed about their hazards and understand how to work safely with them. To help meet the challenges of producing accurate and understandable safety data sheets compliant with the Canadian Hazardous Products Act and Regulations (WHMIS 2015) and the US Hazard Communication Standard (HCS 2012), CCOHS offers a safety data sheet authoring tool, CANWrite. Revenues of this product are up almost 10% from last year partly due to the approaching WHMIS 2015 transition deadlines. Moving forward, CCOHS plans to continue its commitment to providing quality products, with more service upgrades next year.

To assist small businesses with authoring WHMIS 2015-compliant safety data sheets, CCOHS offers a free, downloadable template that provides the minimum information elements for a safety data sheet required by WHMIS 2015. The template is available in both standard and accessible formats in English and French, and was downloaded 512 times this year (442 were from Canada).

CCOHS’ white paper: How to Transition a 16-Section WHMIS 1988 MSDS to a WHMIS 2015 SDS, provides guidance on how to transition information from an existing 16-section ANSI format WHMIS 1988 MSDS to a WHMIS 2015 SDS. This year the white paper was downloaded 125 times (107 from users in Canada).

CANManage

To help workplaces stay safe and WHMIS-compliant, CCOHS offers an online service that manages and maintains their collection of safety data sheets. CANManage (formerly called the MSDS Management Service) ensures that organizations’ safety data sheet collections are accessible, current, and complete.

This year, CCOHS changed the name of the product to CANManage to better align the service with its CANWrite software, and to reduce confusion about which WHMIS system the product services. Additional enhancements and improvements will be rolled out for this service next year.

Our department uses CCOHS to obtain updated 3rd Party Safety Data Sheets and our Product Safety and Industrial Hygiene teams also use the subscription for legislation and CCINFO routinely. I find the subscription to be a very valuable and useful tool in my practice.

Canadian enviroOSH Legislation plus Standards

To help make it easier for organizations and workers to access legislation, and referenced standards to identify and understand their rights and responsibilities under the law, CCOHS offers an online service called Canadian enviroOSH Legislation plus Standards. This year enhancements such as new topic pages were added to the service, and plans are in place to further improve and modernize the service.

Our team uses CCOHS on a daily basis. enviroOSH an invaluable tool in organizing the numerous regulations and standards that we are responsible for overseeing.

CHEMINFO

Workers looking to understand the hazards of workplace chemicals are encouraged to use CHEMINFO – an internationally recognized resource developed by CCOHS specialists, containing critical safety information for more than 1,800 workplace chemicals. The database provides essential health and safety information about chemicals to control workplace exposures and prevent accidents. CHEMINFO clients viewed over 89,000 records online this year.

CCOHS also maintains two CHEMINFO spin-offs: Chemical Profiles, and the WHMIS 1998 Classification Database. Both are offered as a free public service.

INCHEM

CCOHS continues to maintain and host the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) INCHEM database – a collection of internationally peer reviewed information on chemicals commonly used throughout the world, which may also occur as contaminants in the environment and food. INCHEM consolidates information from a number of intergovernmental organizations whose goal it is to assist in the sound management of chemicals.

In October 2017, several documents were added to the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JEFCA) monographs and evaluations, the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) monographs and evaluations, and all 1,704 International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCs) were replaced. The website was then re-indexed, and changes were made to the user interface.

This year, INCHEM.org had a total of 833,604 unique visits, and 4% (35,970) of those were from Canada.

Our Values in Action

As Canada’s national workplace health and safety resource, it is natural that CCOHS commits to providing a work environment that promotes healthy lifestyles, encourages personal development, and fosters inclusivity. Through management support and employee engagement, CCOHS strives to ensure that the workplace is both mentally and physically safe for all.

Mental Health at CCOHS

The issue of workplace mental health is important to CCOHS, not only as part of its mandate to advance a comprehensive approach to workplace health and safety, but also in its efforts to create a mentally healthy workplace for its own employees. In October 2017, CCOHS appointed two Mental Health Champions to serve as a liaison between the health and safety committee, Mental Health at Work team, senior management, and staff. The champions inform and ensures that mental health is integrated within the Centre’s hazard prevention and healthy workplace programs.

A Healthy Workplace

Everyone has a part in making workplaces healthy and safe, and CCOHS is no exception. The Healthy Workplace Team, comprised of employees and managers, work together to promote healthy habits, team building, and community involvement. Throughout the year the team hosts healthy workplace challenges, team volunteer events, and promotes charitable giving to help create a culture of caring and a healthy workplace in which we can all thrive. The joint health and safety committee is actively involved in ensuring that the work environment is safe, conducting regular, thorough inspections of the facilities, addressing issues related to workplace health and safety, and making recommendations to management.

Employee Engagement

To encourage engagement among staff, CCOHS holds regular town halls throughout the year. These all-hands meetings provide a space for employees to interact with the executive team to ask questions, share ideas, and be in the know. At every town hall, staff who have been nominated by their peers receive recognition for demonstrating one or more of CCOHS’ brand attributes: accountable, communicative, customer-centric, proactive, and team-oriented.

In December 2016, CCOHS’ employees completed an engagement survey to better understand the organizations strengths and how internal efforts have impacted the overall culture. Staff were able to review and discuss the results for their respective departments to work together to address some of the issues unique to their teams.

Financial Review

Management Responsibility for Financial Statements

Statement of Management Responsibility Including Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Responsibility for the integrity and objectivity of the accompanying financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2018, and all information contained in these financial statements rests with the management of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (“CCOHS” or the “Centre”). These financial statements have been prepared by management in accordance with the Government’s accounting policies, which follow Canadian public sector accounting standards.

Management seeks to ensure the integrity and objectivity of the information in its financial statements. Some of the information in the financial statements is based on management's best estimates and judgment, and gives due consideration to materiality. To fulfill its accounting and reporting responsibilities, management maintains a set of accounts that provides a centralized record of the Centre’s financial transactions. Financial information submitted in the preparation of the Public Accounts of Canada, and included in CCOHS’ Annual Report and Departmental Results Report, is consistent with these financial statements.

An Audit Committee appointed by the Council of Governors of CCOHS has reviewed these financial statements with management and the auditors, and has reported to the Council of Governors. The Council of Governors has approved the financial statements.

Management is also responsible for maintaining an effective system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) designed to provide reasonable assurance that financial information is reliable, that assets are safeguarded and that transactions are properly authorized and recorded in accordance with the Financial Administration Act and other applicable legislation, regulations, authorities and policies.

Management seeks to ensure the objectivity and integrity of data in its financial statements through careful selection, training, and development of qualified staff; through organizational arrangements that provide appropriate divisions of responsibility; through communication programs aimed at ensuring that regulations, policies, standards, and managerial authorities are understood throughout CCOHS and through conducting an annual assessment of the effectiveness of the system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR).

The system of ICFR is designed to mitigate risks to a reasonable level based on an on-going process to identify key risks, to assess effectiveness of associated key controls, and to make any necessary adjustments.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is subject to periodic Core Control Audits performed by the Office of the Comptroller General and uses the results of such audits to comply with the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control.

A Core Control Audit was performed in 2014-2015 by the Office of the Comptroller General of Canada (OCG). The Audit Report and related Management Action Plan are posted on the departmental web site at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.

KPMG LLP, the independent auditors for CCOHS, have expressed an opinion on the fair presentation of the financial statements of CCOHS which does not include an audit opinion on the annual assessment of the effectiveness of CCOHS’ internal controls over financial reporting.

Approved by:

Anne Tennier
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kimberly Pirhonen, CPA, CMA
Acting Vice President, Finance and Officer Chief Financial Officer

Hamilton, Canada
June 26, 2018

Independent Auditor's Report

KPMG LLP

  • Commerce Place
  • 21 King Street West, Suite 700
  • Hamilton Ontario L8P 4W7
  • Canada
  • Telephone (905) 523-8200
  • Fax (905) 523-2222

To the Administrators of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety:

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, which comprise the balance sheet as at March 31, 2018, and the statements of operations and net financial position, statement of change in net debt and statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes, comprising a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.

Management's Responsibility for the Financial Statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditors' Responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on our judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, we consider internal control relevant to the entity's preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained in our audit is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

Opinion

In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety as at March 31, 2018 and the results of operations, changes in net debt and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards.

Other Matter

The financial statements of Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety as at and for the year ended March 31, 2017 were audited by another auditor who expressed an unmodified opinion on those statements on July 12, 2017.

KPMG LLP
Chartered Professional Accountants, Licensed Public Accountants

Hamilton, Canada
June 27, 2018

Statement of Financial Position

As at March 31, 2018 (in dollars)
  2018 2017
  $ $
Liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (note 4)
1,362,461 1,247,374
Deferred revenues - web based subscriptions
1,361,049 1,133,817
Vacation pay and compensated leave
396,007 403,356
Employee severance benefits (note 5)
874,384 905,116
Deferred revenues - donations (note 6)
113,152 113,152
Total liabilities 4,107,053 3,802,815
Financial assets:
Due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, without interest
1,475,612 1,280,177
Accounts receivable (note 7)
527,909 610,792
Total financial assets 2,003,521 1,890,969
Net debt (note 8) (2,103,532) (1,911,846)
Non-financial assets
Prepaid expenses
73,081 73,502
Inventory
32,422 41,531
Tangible capital assets (note 9)
377,806 410,011
Total non-financial assets 483,309 525,044
Accumulated deficit (1,620,223) (1,386,802)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Approved by:

Anne Tennier, P. Eng. EP
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kimberly Pirhonen, CPA, CMA
Acting Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Statement of Operations and Net Financial Position

For the year ended March 31, 2018 (in dollars)
  2018 2017
  $ $
Expenses
Operations
Salaries and employee benefits
8,277,169 8,145,161
Professional and special services
1,287,202 1,270,665
Accommodation
676,937 676,937
Transportation and communications
167,211 201,835
Purchased repair and upkeep
182,253 146,819
Utilities, materials and supplies
95,595 79,861
Information
79,493 64,759
Rentals
30,163 28,677
Total
10,796,023 10,614,714
Administration
Salaries and employee benefits
418,189 299,348
Governors and committees
5,624 40,791
Travel
20,910 6,471
Professional and special services
102,513 94,889
Total
547,236 441,499
Other expenses
Amortization of tangible capital assets
129,484 111,293
Total
129,484 111,293
Total expenses 11,472,743 11,167,506
Revenues (note 10)
Sales
4,251,999 4,242,782
Projects and collaborative agreements
1,085,069 1,044,986
Total revenues
5,337,068 5,287,768
Net cost of operations before Government funding
(6,135,675) (5,879,738)
Government Funding
Net cash provided by government
4,385,172 4,177,508
Change in due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund
195,435 544,998
Services provided without charge from other government departments (note 12)
1,321,647 1,308,963
Net surplus (deficit) of operations after government funding
(233,421) 151,731
Accumulated deficit at beginning of year
(1,386,802) (1,538,533)
Net surplus (deficit)
(233,421) 151,731
Accumulated deficit at end of year
(1,620,223) (1,386,802)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Statement of Change in Net Debt

For the year ended March 31, 2018 (in dollars)
  2018 2017
  $ $
Net surplus (deficit) of operations after Government funding (233,421) 151,731
Changes in tangible capital assets
Acquisitions of tangible capital assets (note 9) (97,279) (44,379)
Amortization of tangible capital assets (note 9) 129,484 111,293
Total change in tangible capital assets 32,205 66,914
Decrease (Increase) in prepaid assets 421 (101)
Decrease in inventory 9,109 6,916
  9,530 6,815
Net decrease (increase) in net debt (191,686) 225,460
Net debt at beginning of year (1,911,846) (2,063,905)
Accounting adjustment (note 16) - (73,401)
Adjusted balance (1,911,846) (2,137,306)
Net decrease (increase) in net debt (191,686) 225,460
Net debt at end of year (2,103,532) (1,911,846)

Statement of Cash Flow

For the year ended March 31, 2018 (in dollars)
  2018 2017
  $ $
Operating Activities
Net cost of operations before government funding
6,135,675 5,879,738
Non-cash items:
Amortization of tangible capital assets (note 9)
(129,484) (111,293)
Services received without charge from other government departments (note 12)
(1,321,647) (1,308,963)
Changes in Statement of Financial Position:
Increase in accounts payable & accrued liabilities (115,087) (422,820)
Decrease (Increase) in deferred revenue
(227,232) 67,465
Decrease in vacation pay and compensatory leave
7,349 80,570
Decrease in employee severance benefits
30,732 70,372
Decrease in accounts receivable
(82,883) (115,125)
Increase (Decrease) in prepaid expenses
(421) 101
Decrease in inventory for resale
(9,109) (6,916)
Cash used in operating activities 4,287,893 4,133,129
Capital investing activities
Acquisition of tangible capital assets
97,279 44,379
Net cash provided by Government of Canada 4,385,172 4,177,508

Notes to the Financial Statements

For the year ended March 31, 2018 (in dollars)

  1. Authority and objectives

    • The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) was established in 1978 under the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act and is a departmental corporation named in Schedule II to the Financial Administration Act. The objectives of CCOHS are to promote the right of workers in Canada to a healthy and safe working environment and to enhance the physical and mental health of workers. CCOHS’ operating expenditures are funded in part by its operating revenue, budgetary appropriations and authorities available for use from previous years.
    • CCOHS has one program activity for reporting purposes, in addition to internal services. The activity is 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 workers in Canada in their efforts to improve workplace safety and health. Workers 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 workers in Canada. 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 workers in Canada. 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 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 partners and stakeholders and result in advancement of the health and safety initiatives.
    • Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Material Services; and Acquisition Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.
  2. Significant accounting policies

    • These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards. Significant accounting policies are as follows:
      • Parliamentary authorities and revenue spending authority
        • CCOHS is financed in part by the Government of Canada through Parliamentary authorities. Included in the authorities provided and used is a revenue spending authority, which allows CCOHS to spend program revenue. Financial reporting of authorities provided to CCOHS do not parallel financial reporting according to generally accepted accounting principles since authorities are primarily based on cash flow requirements. Consequently, items recognized in the Statement of Financial Position and in the Statement of Operations and Net Financial Position are not necessarily the same as those provided through authorities from Parliament. Note 3 provides a reconciliation between the bases of reporting.
        • In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, CCOHS was given authority pursuant to section 6(1) (g) of the CCOHS Act to spend revenue from fees it charges for products and services in the fiscal year in which the revenue was received or in subsequent fiscal years. Government transfers are recognized as revenue when authorized and when the organization has satisfied any eligibility criteria.
      • Net Cash Provided by Government
        • CCOHS operates within the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). The CRF is administered by the Receiver General for Canada. All cash received by CCOHS is deposited to the CRF and all cash disbursements made by CCOHS are paid from the CRF. The net cash provided by Government is the difference between all cash receipts and all cash disbursements, including transactions between departments of the Government.
        • Amounts due from or to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) are the result of timing differences at year-end between when a transaction affects authorities and when it is processed through the CRF. Amounts due from the CRF represents the net amount of cash that CCOHS is entitled to draw from the CRF, without further authorities, in order to discharge its liabilities. This amount is not considered a financial instrument.
      • Revenues
        • Revenues are recognized in the period in which the underlying transaction or event that gave rise to the revenue takes place. Revenues for subscription-based products are recognized over the term of the subscription.
        • Subscriptions are based upon the right to use the information for a specified period. Information may be updated during the subscription period.
        • Cash that has been received but not earned is recorded as deferred revenue. The deferred revenue represents cash received in advance of initial and ongoing product delivery, services or granting of access to the website. Subscriptions are based upon the right to use the information for a specified period. Information may be updated during the subscription period.
      • Expenses
        • Expenses are recorded on the accrual basis.
        • Vacation pay and compensatory leave are accrued as the benefits are earned by employees under their respective terms of employment.
        • Services provided without charge by other government departments for accommodation and the employer’s contribution to the health and dental insurance plans are recorded as operating expenses at their estimated cost. A corresponding amount is reported as government funding.
      • Employee future benefits
        • Pension benefits: All eligible employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, a multi-employer plan administered by the Government of Canada. CCOHS’ contributions are currently based on a multiple of an employee’s required contributions and may change over time depending on the experience of the Plan. CCOHS’ contributions to the Plan are charged to expenses in the year in which the services are rendered and represent its total obligation to the Plan. Current legislation does not require CCOHS to make contributions for any actuarial deficiencies of the Plan.
        • Severance benefits: Employees are entitled to severance benefits under labour contracts or conditions of employment. These benefits were accrued as employees render the services necessary to earn them and are estimated based on employees' salaries, duration of service and age. Entitlements stopped accruing on April 1, 2011. The remaining balance will be paid upon termination.
        • Accumulated sick leave: Employees are entitled to sick leave benefits that accumulate but do not vest. Therefore, no amount has been recorded in the financial statements.
      • Accounts receivable
        • Accounts receivable are stated at amounts expected to be ultimately realized. A provision is made for receivables from external parties where recovery is considered uncertain.
      • Contingent liabilities
        • Contingent liabilities are potential liabilities that may become actual liabilities when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. To the extent that the future event is likely to occur or fail to occur, and a reasonable estimate of the loss can be made, an estimated liability is accrued and an expense recorded. If the likelihood is not determinable or an amount cannot be reasonably estimated, the contingency is disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.
      • Foreign currency transactions
        • Transactions involving foreign currencies are translated into Canadian dollar equivalents using rates of exchange in effect at the time of those transactions. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated using the rate of exchange in effect at year end. Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are included in the statement of operations and net financial position according to the activities to which they relate.
      • Inventories for resale
        • Inventories for resale are valued at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Inventories for resale are primarily print materials held for resale.
      • Tangible capital assets
        • All tangible capital assets having an initial cost of $5,000 or more are recorded at the acquisition cost. Tangible capital assets are amortized over their estimated useful life on a straight-line basis, as follows:
          Asset Class Amortization Period
          Computer equipment 5 - 10 years
          Furniture and equipment 5 - 10 years
          Software 1-5 years
          Leasehold improvements lesser of the remaining term of the lease or useful life of the improvement
        • Tangible capital assets are written down when conditions indicate that they no longer contribute to CCOHS’ ability to provide goods and services or when the value of the future economic benefits associated with the tangible capital assets are less than the net book value.
      • Prepaid Expenses
        • Prepaid expenses are accounted for as non-financial assets as they can be used to provide services in the future.
      • Accounting estimates
        • The preparation of these financial statements are in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards and requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses reported in the financial statements.

          At the time of preparation of these statements, management believes the estimates and assumptions to be reasonable. The liability for employee future benefits and the estimated useful life of tangible capital assets are the most significant items where estimates are used. Actual results could significantly differ from those estimated. Management’s estimates are reviewed periodically and, as adjustments become necessary, they are recorded in the financial statements in the year they become known.
  3. Parliamentary authorities

    • CCOHS receives its funding through annual Parliamentary authorities and external revenues. Items recognized in the Statement of Operations and Net Financial Position and the Statement of Financial Position in one year may be funded through Parliamentary authorities in prior, current or future years. Accordingly, CCOHS has different net results of operations for the year on a Government funding basis than on an accrual accounting basis. Current year authorities used which is accounted below is on a cash basis based on Government funding as received. These differences are reconciled as follows:
      • Reconciliation of net cost of operations to current year authorities used:
          2018 2017
          $ $
        Net cost of operations before Government funding 6,135,675 5,879,738
        Adjustments for items affecting net cost of operations but not affecting authorities:    
        Revenue collected under 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act 5,337,068 5,287,768
        Amortization of tangible capital assets (note 9) (129,484) (111,293)
        Services provided without charge from other Government departments (note 12) (1,321,647) (1,308,963)
        Other working capital adjustments 9,110 (5,259)
        Decrease in employee severance benefits 30,732 70,372
        Decrease in vacation pay and compensatory leave 7,349 80,570
        Total items affecting net cost of operations but not affecting authorities: 3,933,128 4,013,195
        Adjustments for items not affecting net cost of operations but affecting authorities:    
        Add (deduct) change in:
        Decrease in inventory for resale (9,109) (6,916)
        Acquisition of tangible capital assets 97,279 44,379
        Total items not affecting net cost of operations but affecting authorities: 88,170 37,463
        Current year authorities used 10,156,973 9,930,396

      • Authorities provided and used:
          2018 2017
          $ $
        Human Resources Social Development Canada - Vote 1 3,956,267 3,969,600
        Human Resources Social Development Canada - Statutory 1,028,903 1,069,997
        Frozen allotments - professional services, dvertising and travel - (12,500)
        Treasury Board – Vote 15 – economic allocations 231,974 -
        Treasury Board - Vote 30 - paylist shortfalls 135,038 150,652
        Authorities available for use in subsequent years from prior year 1,597,698 1,283,034
        Authorities available for use in subsequent years from current year 1,076,275 314,664
        Spending of cash revenues pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act 4,804,791 4,752,647
        Total current year authorities provided 12,830,946 11,528,094
        Less:
        CCOHS Respendable / Reinvestment Authorities available for use in subsequent years (note 14) (2,673,973) (1,597,698)
        Current year authorities used 10,156,973 9,930,396
  4. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

    • The following table presents details of CCOHS’ accounts payable and accrued liabilities:
  5. Employee future benefits

    • Pension benefits
      • CCOHS employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, which is sponsored and administered by the Government of Canada. Pension benefits accrue up to a maximum period of 35 years at a rate of 2 percent per year of pensionable service, times the average of the best five consecutive years of earnings. The benefits are integrated with Canada/Québec Pension Plans benefits and they are indexed to inflation.
      • Both the employees and CCOHS contribute to the cost of the Plan. Due to the amendment of the Public Service Superannuation Act following the implementation of provisions related to Economic Action Plan 2012, employee contributors have been divided into two groups – Group 1 relates to existing plan members as of December 2012 and Group 2 relates to members joining the Plan as of January 1, 2013. Each group has a distinct contribution rate.
      • The 2017-2018 expense amounts to $700,683 ($745,467 in 2016-17). For Group 1 members, the expense represents approximately 1.01 times (1.12 times in 2016-17) the employee contributions and, for Group 2 members, approximately 1.00 times (1.08 times in 2016-17) the employee contributions.
      • CCOHS’ responsibility with regard to the Plan is limited to its contributions. Actuarial surpluses or deficiencies are recognized in the financial statements of the Government of Canada, as the Plan’s sponsor.
    • Severance benefits
      • Severance benefits provided to CCOHS employees were previously based on an employee’s eligibility, years of service and salary at termination of employment. However, since 2011 the accumulation of severance benefits for voluntary departures progressively ceased for substantially all employees. Employees subject to these changes were given the option to be paid the full or partial value of benefits earned to date or collect the full or remaining value of benefits upon departure from the public service. By March 31, 2018 all settlements for immediate cash out were completed. Severance benefits are unfunded and, consequently, the outstanding obligation will be paid from future authorities.
      • The changes in the obligations during the year were as follows:
          2018 2017
          $ $
        Accrued benefit obligation - opening balance 905,116 975,488
        Expense for the year 20,446 21,648
        Benefits paid during the year (51,178) (92,020)
        Accrued benefit obligation, end of year 874,384 905,116
  6. Deferred revenues – donations

    • CCOHS, by virtue of subsection 6(3) of its Act, may acquire money or other property by gift or otherwise and expend or dispose of those donations subject to their terms, if any. CCOHS did not receive any donations in 2018 (2017 - $0). The balance at March 31, 2018 is $113,152 (2017 - $113,152).
  7. Accounts receivable

  8. Net debt

    • The net debt is calculated as the difference between liabilities and financial assets. Employee severance benefits and vacation pay obligations represent the most significant components of net debt as future Parliamentary authorities will be required in order to discharge those obligations.
  9. Tangible capital assets

  10. Revenues

  11. Contractual obligations

    The nature of CCOHS’ activities can result in some large multi-year contracts and obligations whereby CCOHS will be obligated to make future payments when the goods and services are received. Significant contractual obligations that can be reasonably estimated are summarized as follows:

      2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Total
      $ $ $ $ $ $
    Acquisition of goods and services 140,000 100,000 - - - 240,000
    Operating Leases 676,937 676,937 676,937 676,937 676,937 3,384,685
    Total 816,37 776,937 676,937 676,937 676,937 3,624,685

    CCOHS has a multi-year lease contract with related parties in the amount of $3,384,685. As per note 12, this accommodation is provided without charge.

  12. Related party transactions

    CCOHS is related as a result of common ownership to all Government departments, agencies, and Crown Corporations. CCOHS enters into transactions with these entities in the normal course of business and on normal trade terms. During the year, CCOHS received common services, which were obtained without charge from other Government departments as disclosed below.

    • Services Provided Without Charge by Other Government Departments
      • During the year, CCOHS received services without charge from certain common service organizations, related to accommodation and the employer’s contribution to the health and dental insurance plans. These services provided without charge have been recorded in the Statement of Operations and Net Financial Position as follows:
      • The Government has centralized some of its administrative activities for efficiency and cost-effectiveness purposes so that one department performs these on behalf of all without charge. The costs of these services, which include payroll and cheque issuance services provided by Public Works and Government Services Canada are not included in CCOHS’ Statement of Operations and Net Financial Position.
    • Other Transactions With Related Parties
      •   2018 2017
          $ $
        Accounts receivable from other government departments and agencies - 6,844
        Accounts payable to other government departments and agencies 420,265 399,772
        Expenses-Other Government departments and agencies 210,488 216,049
        Revenue-Other government departments and agencies 705,039 641,990
  13. Segmented Information

    Presentation by segment is based on CCOHS’ program activity architecture. The presentation by segment is based on the same accounting policies as described in summary of significant accounting policies in note 2. The following table presents the expenses incurred and revenues generated for the main program activities, by major object of expense and by major type of revenues. The segment results for the year are as follows:

    •   Internal Services Health and Safety 2018 2017
        $ $ $ $
      Salaries and employee benefits 2,890,158 5,805,200 8,695,358 8,444,509
      Professional and special services (incl. Governors and committees) 461,117 934,222 1,395,339 1,406,345
      Accommodation 219,769 457,168 676,937 676,937
      Transport and communications 49,310 138,811 188,121 208,306
      Information 22,201 57,292 79,493 64,759
      Purchased repair and upkeep 51,478 130,775 182,253 146,819
      Utilities, materials and supplies 27,884 67,711 95,595 79,861
      Rental 19,297 10,866 30,163 28,677
      Other expenditures - 129,484 129,484 111,293
      Total Expenses 3,741,214 7,731,529 11,472,743 11,167,506
      Revenues - - 5,337,068 5,287,768
      Cost from continuing operations     6,135,675 5,879,738
  14. CCOHS Respendable / Reinvestment Authorities:

    In 2015-16, the Treasury Board Secretariat facilitated a change in the funding structure for CCOHS. As a result, CCOHS was given unrestricted authority (pursuant to section 6 (1) (g) of the CCOHS Act) to spend revenue from fees charged for its products and services within the fiscal year in which the revenue was received or in subsequent fiscal years.

    The purpose of CCOHS’ respendable / reinvestment authorities are to provide CCOHS with funding to facilitate one-time expenditures, reinvestment in capital equipment or program development in accordance with CCOHS’ strategic plan.

      2018
      $
    Balance, beginning of year 1,597,698
    Annual operating deficit (233,421)
    Tangible capital assets purchased with internal funds (97,279)
    Amortization of internally funded tangible capital assets 129,484
    Other working capital changes (28,972)
    Internal revenue carried forward to subsequent year pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act 1,306,463
    Balance, end of year 2,673,973

    Of the accumulated respendable / reinvestment authorities available at the end of year, CCOHS expects to use $1,877,000 over the following years from 2019 to 2023 with the remaining amount of $796,973 to be available for use in 2024 and beyond.

  15. Transfer of transition payments for implementing salary payments in arrears

    The Government of Canada implemented salary payments in arrears in 2014-15. As a result, a one-time payment was issued to employees and will be recovered from the government in the future. The transition to salary payments in arrears forms part of the transformation initiative that replaces the pay system and also streamlines and modernizes the pay process. This change to the pay system had no impact on the expenses of CCOHS. Prior to year-end, the transition payments for implementing salary payments in arrears were transferred to a central account administered by Public Works and Government Services Canada, who is responsible for the administration of the Government pay system.

  16. Change in financial statement presentation

    In 2018, CCOHS changed its financial statement presentation regarding prepaid expenses. Prepaid expenses are now disclosed under Non-financial Assets and the 2017 comparative numbers have been restated to reflect this change.

  17. Financial instruments and risk management

    • Liquidity risk: Liquidity risk is the risk that CCOHS will encounter difficulty in meeting its obligations associated with financial liabilities. The entity’s objective for managing liquidity risk is to manage operations and cash expenditures within the appropriation authorized by Parliament or allotment limits approved by the Treasury Board.
      The entity’s risk exposure and its objectives, policies and processes to manage and measure this risk did not change significantly from the prior year.
    • Credit risk: Credit risk is the risk that one party to a financial instrument will cause a financial loss for the other party by failing to discharge an obligation. CCOHS is not exposed to significant credit risk. CCOHS provides services to other government departments and agencies and to external parties in the normal course of business. Accounts receivable are due on demand. The maximum exposure the entity has to credit is risk equal to the carrying value of its accounts receivables.