Section I: Overview

A. The Message

Workers' health and safety involves the interrelationship between a person, their workplace, home, community and society in general. At times there is no clear demarcation of the causes and effects of ill health, but, these interrelationships are important considerations. Every person is unique and carries the potential for good health. Additionally, we are aware, based on good evidence, that health can be sustained and even improved both for the individual and for populations. In spite of the availability of knowledge and evidence of good healthy workplace practices, workers continue to be injured, suffer ill health and too many die every year due to their jobs. Clearly there is something lacking in our knowledge or application of the knowledge to result in the elimination of these injuries and illnesses. What is lacking? What else can be done?

We are focused on today's problems; over-work, aging workforce, job insecurity, too much stress, mental illnesses, physical fatigue, occupational illnesses, infectious disease, globalization and job loss.

This short-term focus needs to be infused with longer term attention on implementing solutions to prevent health problems for workers. One concern is the lack of consistent and systematic focus and attention to utilize the available good knowledge to produce effective injury prevention results. This lack of focus may be a result of the nature of our society's focus on the immediate workplace needs, short-term planning and narrow concentration on business success. We need a sustained managerial attention on achieving better health and safety results and a commitment to valuing health and safety.

Perhaps we have narrowly focused on workplace safety and have not placed enough additional attention on workplace health and the interrelationship of both health and safety at work and away from work. We have not, as a society, placed enough demand upon our workplaces, on ourselves, and on our nation to value health and safety as an underlying personal, societal and national value. Entrenching health and safety as a societal value is a necessity so that these issues can be a prime consideration throughout all the stages of life and all aspects of living, learning, and working.

Starting from CCOHS' strength; that of providing good and practical information for improving health and safety, we will focus on creating, organizing and presenting information, knowledge, best practices, health and safety programs and systems which will assist workplaces and their employees to plan for their current and future health and safety needs. We will work with Canadians to create resources to address a broad range of workplace health and safety needs including physical, mental, and psychosocial health. Additionally, we will also assist workplaces to develop the capabilities and capacity to apply knowledge and to develop consistent effective long lasting systematic approaches to integrating health and safety into all aspects of their organizational culture and their business.

The Centre is well-positioned to achieve even more in helping to prevent both the on-going and the emerging workplace health problems of the next quarter century.

S. Len Hong

President and CEO

CCOHS, Your Health and Safety Partner

• Maintain and exceed current high satisfaction rating through the Inquiries Service
• Proactively identify new resources to meet Canadians current information needs
• Expand content available on the internet for OSH Answers
• Enhance CCOHS' internet usability through improved technology and website design

• Provision of health and safety guide booklets to address current needs
• Increase availability of comprehensive databases on the internet
• Enhancement of website presentation and its searchability
• Provide additional key resources on chemical health and safety
• Increase content through partnerships such as the Canadian Health Network
• Provide Health and Safety Report as an electronic newsletter delivered to Canadians via the internet
• Develop internet chat group capabilities mechanism to assist Canadians to efficiently exchange ideas on health and safety

• Enhance relationships with international organizations to exchange information resources and improve services to Canadians
• Participate in the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC) committees
• Participate in international work groups relating to harmonization of hazardous chemical classification and labelling

• Engage collaborative projects with various governments
• Foster collaboration and exchanges in ideas through national dialogues, forums and conferences
• Enhance relationships by assessing and improving relevance to expressed needs
• Present Pan Canadian symposium on Occupational diseases hosted by CCOHS

• Promote the Academic Support Program to post secondary institutions
• Collaborate with education sector, youth groups, and partners to improve teaching health and safety in the school system
• Promote the CCOHS Youth Zone Resources and expand content on the website

Year

Employees (millions)

Injuries

Fatalities

Injuries per million workers

Fatalities per million workers

1970

7.03

301,653

918

42,909

131

2003

15.80

348,854

963

22,079

61

Section II: Analysis of Performance by Strategic Outcome

As with most organizations, measuring the effectiveness and reach of programs, which provide information to effect social change is difficult. Direct linkage to outcomes of reduced injuries and illnesses is not possible due to the wide variety of influences that impact the variables.

We do know that the use of appropriate information on safe workplace practices will reduce risks. The evaluation confirms that there is wide-spread use of CCOHS information in the workplace and that CCOHS' products and services have direct application. The evidence to support this includes survey data from customers, users of the Inquiries Service, users of the web site and key informant interviews. According to the evaluation, although these data cannot be linked to accident or illness data, the widespread and frequent use of CCOHS information implies that there will be important workplace impacts. "The evaluation has generated substantial data on the use of CCOHS. There can be little reasonable doubt about its widespread use.

The evaluation also indicates that there is good value for money from CCOHS and the investment of public dollars and cost-recovery funds is cost-effective. The savings in time costs for health and safety professionals and workers in general who would have to access information in other ways is substantial. The evaluation states that "it is our assessment that CCOHS produces very large quantities of useful information for a relatively modest public expenditure."

CCOHS seeks feed back from its clients and stakeholders on an ongoing basis. This information is used to improve programming, identify the needs of stakeholders and to ensure a high level of service. Details of various reports are listed in Section V.

Inquiries Service

CCOHS provides a free confidential information service to Canadians to assist them with their occupational health and safety information needs. CCOHS Inquiries Officers are a team of specialists in occupational health and safety and information retrieval who can access all CCOHS publications, world-wide databases, and an extensive in-house library to provide up to date and relevant answers. Over 4.3 million inquiries were answered through the Internet service "OSH Answers". By directing routine questions through the self-serve web site, information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Canadians. Specialists in workplace health are available through a free of charge telephone service or e-mail to assist Canadians with more complex questions. This service is confidential and is promoted throughout Canada by the Centre and its stakeholders through various means, such as trade shows, the World Wide Web, the blue pages, and the Centres literature. During 2004-5, this service provided responses to 14,317 inquiries through its direct service.

The Inquiries Service is available to answer Canadians through its telephone service, e-mail, fax and Internet. The Inquiries come from a variety of sources. In order to prevent barriers to obtaining information that is essential for workers, this service is provided free of charge.

A recent Customer Satisfaction Research Report indicates that clients find the overall quality of the service, the usefulness of the information and the relevance of the information to be the most important to them. With this information, CCOHS can focus efforts in these areas in information delivery. The study also measured client satisfaction on various service attributes. Overall, the Inquiries service resulted in 84% being either satisfied or very satisfied. The complete details are available at http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html

Information obtained from CCOHS is used in a variety of ways, the most common are:

• improving health and safety programs
• developing best practices
• complying with occupational health and safety regulations
• information for education or training purposes
• personal use of information

Approximately 75% of users use of information relates to either current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved workplace health and safety.

Respondents rated the CCOHS Inquiries service very highly for all performance indicators, such as timeliness, ability of staff, courtesy of staff, along with the overall satisfaction with the service. Ratings for CCOHS for overall satisfaction is 86%, a much higher rating compared to 56% for the sample of federal departments providing an information service.

CCOHS' 2005 client feedback indicates an overall satisfaction rating of 4.5 on a scale of 5 for clarity, completeness, usefulness and timeliness. This is consistent with prior year results. One of the unique features of the Inquiries service is that calls are received directly by a highly skilled Inquiries Officer. The needs of the caller are more accurately assessed by this method so the most useful information can be provided. Callers are pleased they have direct access to assistance rather than redirected from one person to another person or to a lengthy voice mail system. The narrative comments on the feed back cards indicate the strong appreciation for this personal service.

Information obtained from CCOHS is shared with many people, so the reach is far greater than the usage statistics. For example in 2005, 64 requests were received for copyright publication. As a result, information was duplicated over 175,000 times and potentially shared with many more individuals. The organizations included government departments, companies, unions, health care organizations and educational institutions.

CCOHS provides timely information on areas of concern to Canadians. In 2004-5, Canadians continue to be concerned about mould, vermiculite insulation and asbestos, West-Nile and sun exposure. In addition, other topics of interest include the following:

• Canadian occupational health and safety legislation including WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) - Canada's Right-to-Know legislation - and WHMIS II
• Identification and control or elimination of potential job hazards
• Health effects of exposure to workplace hazards (e.g., chemicals, noise, micro-organisms)
• Workplace accidents and injuries - causes and prevention
• Social and psychological issues like wellness and health promotion, stress, harassment and violence in the workplace
• Sources of information - paper sources, on-line, CD-ROM, and the Internet

Workers were the primary users of the Inquiries Service again this year, making 35% of the total inquiries received. Another 30% of the questions originated from employers, 2% from government (as legislators and enforcer), and 33% from non-affiliated professionals.

OSH Answers

OSH Answers is a bilingual web-based information service which covers over 600 topic areas in occupational health and safety.

OSH Answers covers many topic areas in occupational health and safety. The information is presented in a Question-and-Answer format and the topics are based on questions that the Inquiries Service has received over the past 26 years.

The Inquiries Service started the OSH Answers with question-and-answer (Q&A) documents on various hazards - biological, chemical, ergonomic, physical (like noise and radiation) and other safety hazards found in workplaces. We also answer questions about the diseases and injuries that can result from the hazardous things people are exposed to or the kind of work activities they do.

Other work-related issues on OSH Answers are safety programs, accident and injury prevention, personal protective equipment (PPE), occupational health and safety legislation including WHMIS (right-to-know legislation). OSH Answers will cover more and more topics as it grows and evolves.

The target audiences for the OSH Answers are the workers, managers, supervisors, joint health and safety committee members who are the "end users" of the information in the workplace. Workers were the primary users of the Inquiries Service followed by employers and professionals. This program has been extremely successful by serving approximately 1.4 million inquirers and responding to over 4.3 million questions in 2004-2005.

In our 2005 Evaluation, website users were asked how many people in their organization could or would benefit from CCOHS information. Respondents indicated that 23% 1-10 persons would benefit, 32% said between 11 and 100 persons, 18% said 101 to 500 persons would benefit and 17% said that more than 500 would benefit. Information was being used most for the following:

• Resolving workplace issues
• Improving health and safety programs
• Developing best practices
• Complying with occupational health and safety regulations
• Providing information for education or training purposes.

CCOHS' goal to satisfy inquiries users and to share as much information as possible in order to affect change in Canadian workplaces is being achieved. In order to make the service more accessible, selected OSH Answers are being offered in Spanish. Usage of the Spanish language site increased by 68% to 16,478 visitors in 2004-5.

Forum 2005

CCOHS hosted its national forum "New Strategies for Recognizing and Preventing Occupational Disease" to focus attention on this under-recognized workplace issue that has such an important human and economic impact on Canadians. The Forum brought together 350 participants, a unique cache of government, employer and labour representatives. This provided an opportunity for researchers, health and safety practioners, healthcare personnel and others to exchange ideas, discuss how to improve recognition of occupational diseases, and recommend strategies to prevent disease and control exposures to hazardous agents. The key results were consolidated with a web-based survey to capture Canadian input on what they believe are important workplace illness and disease elimination strategies. The goal of this forum was to foster ongoing discussion about occupational disease and the eventual eradication of work-related illness in Canada. Further information on the Forum and survey can be found at: http://forum05.ccohs.ca/survey/

Strategic Outcome: Accessibility and Availability of Information for Canadians

CCOHS provides products in various formats to satisfy the needs of the clients. Information is available in paper copy, Internet, intranet, web, compact disc formats and DVD. Electronic delivery of information is presented in highly useable and searchable formats to serve the client. CCOHS provides over 60 databases within its product line. New and revised publications are developed each year to meet the needs of Canadian Workers. New editions of several Health and Safety guides were published in 2004-2005 including Mould in the Workplace: A Basic Guide and Working in Hot Environments: Health and Safety Guide. Emergency Response Guide was updated and revised this year. Each year over 14,000 copies of various guides are sold throughout Canada.

CCOHS offers a broad range of products in various formats, including the Internet. The contents of many databases are updated regularly. In addition, the user interface for the internet based products was replaced with powerful new search interface with cross-database searching, "Subscriber Extras" and a monthly Chemical Notification Service.

Strategic Outcome: Unbiased and Impartial to maintain confidence of Stakeholders

In 2005, CCOHS continued to expand its delivery internet based e-learning courses. These included WHMIS for Workers, Health and Safety for Federal Managers and Supervisors, Health and Safety Committees and Oh, my Aching Back! This is an valuable method of offering courses across Canada in a cost effective way. In addition, CCOHS offers several instructor led courses.

CCOHS works with international organizations to secure up to date information for the benefit of Canadians. For example CCOHS developed a web portal for the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health http://www.whoocchealthccs.org . This portal provides each national collaborating centre with a site to present its own occupational health information, and links to other information within their country. This web portal that was recently developed is in addition to the CIS Centres Information Network http://www.ciscentres.org . CCOHS also represents Canada at the Tri-National Working Group of Government Experts in Occupational Safety and Health. This initiative was organized under the provisions of the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC). CCOHS is the Canadian representative in two of the four Technical Working Groups formed - Developing a Tri-national Website and Hazardous Substances. CCOHS maintained and enhanced a website to facilitate communications among working group members from Canada, USA and Mexico, and to provide OSH information from the three countries. http://www.naalcosh.org/index_e.htm

The purpose of CanOsh is to enable Canadians to easily and independently locate Canadian occupational safety and health (OSH) information for the purpose of legal compliance, improving workplace health and safety practices and ultimately to facilitate the acquisition of information required for reduction in workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. It is designed to provide Canadians with a convenient and efficient way to access the health and safety information provided by the federal, provincial and territorial government agencies responsible for OSH, Workers' Compensation Boards and CCOHS. This site can be reached at http://www.canoshweb.org/. By using this site, Canadians can easily search and navigate 14 governmental jurisdictions and multiple websites.

CCOHS is the Workplace Health partner of the Canadian Health Network (CHN). CHN is a collaboration of major health organizations across Canada and Health Canada to help Canadians make informed choices about their health. This network provides free access to credible and practical e-health information. CCOHS has selected, catalogued and developed over 1,000 resources. CCOHS also fosters a growing network of organizations involved in workplace health and wellness issues. CCOHS is involved in Canada's Healthy Workplace Week and is responsible for updating and maintaining the Resource Well which prominently display CCOHS and CHN as key sources of reliable and current information on healthy workplaces. http://www.healthyworkplaceweek.ca. CCOHS continues to promote CHN at meetings, conferences, delivered presentations and through various articles. An e-bulletin Health@work/Sante@untravail is distributed to more than 500 readers.

Details of other partnerships and collaborations that help contribute to this objective can be found in the Centre's Annual report which is available on our website http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.

The Health and Safety Report - e-Newsletter was developed to provide Canadians with a monthly electronic newsletter with current OSH information. This service launched in 2003 has a circulation of over 8,000. A readership survey was conducted in 2005 to evaluate the impact and the effectiveness of the service on workplace health and safety. The results of the survey indicated the report was useful in the following ways:

• 66% to implement change in the workplace occasionally and frequently
• 74% occasionally/frequently use the information for their own organization's newsletter
• 73% of respondents said the use of the information in the report is related to current or future changes in the workplace that may improve occupational health and safety
• 63% use it for their Health and Safety Committee
• 58% have used it occasionally or frequently to develop their own policies and procedures
• 69% say they share the report with 4 or more people, and 36% of respondents share it with 11 or more people

The report covers a wide range of topics including:

• Catching Some Rays? Practice Sun Safety!
• Due Diligence - Why Is It Important?
• Needle Stick Injuries -Still a Health Concern for Health Care
• Workplace Bullying Harms Both Employees and Employer
• Hazard Alerts

Subscriptions to this free service can be submitted to: http://www.ccohs.ca/resources/communications/mailinglists/enews.html.

As part of its role to remain independent and maintain the confidence of its stakeholders, CCOHS reviews the level of satisfaction in the quality and impartiality of the centre through evaluation of its programs and ongoing communications.

In the 2005 evaluation, the key informant interviewees reported that CCOHS has a strong reputation within Canada. OHS experts, professional leadership, unions, workers and employers with health and safety committees tend to be quite familiar with CCOHS. The high level of awareness was attributed primarily to CCOHS' own efforts such as partnerships with other organizations and the high level of visibility maintained by CCOHS executive. Respondents also noted that COCHS does a good job of synthesizing research findings into unbiased information products that are useful and easy to understand for health and safety professionals, employers and workers alike.

The tripartite Council of Governors, composed from representatives of labour, business and governments, assures the unbiased and relevant nature of CCOHS services. Council meets three times a year to review operational plans and provides input from its constituents. The satisfaction of the stakeholders can be demonstrated by the many collaborative projects completed throughout Canada. Details are available in our annual report http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html .

The quality of the Centres products as measured in an independent evaluation study rates the over all satisfaction as follows for percentage very or fairly satisfied:

In terms of value for money, 96% of respondents who could answer this question said that CCOHS products were above average value for money or average value. In addition, In terms of overall importance of CCOHS in meeting the health and safety needs of their organization, 78% of respondents said that CCOHS with either very important or important.

In 2004, CCOHS had an independent client satisfaction survey completed to measure the satisfaction with services and products, in keeping with the Common Measurement Tool and Citizen's First Research. The purpose is to identify satisfaction with various product /service attributes and compare to the importance of these attributes. This can be used as a baseline for future client satisfaction research. Overall, performance scores are high and are summarized below.

The support of various levels of government and industry can be demonstrated by various collaborative projects lead by CCOHS during the year. Some of the initiatives include:

• Ontario Ministry of Labour: Occupational Exposure Limits Guide for Small Business. The publication will explain the basic occupational regulations regarding hazardous materials and provide practical information on control measures that can be utilized by small business to reduce the number of workplace injuries and illness.
• National Young Worker Web Site: In collaboration with the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation (CAALL) this web portal was designed to help prevent injuries and illnesses on the job by assisting young workers to find relevant information. It provides one point of access to information from all Canadian jurisdictions on young workers OSH issues, for young workers, teachers and parents. The site can be viewed at www.jobsafecanada.ca.
• Canadian Health Network: Workplace Health Affiliate http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text59.html This includes extensive partnering with numerous health organizations to keep Canadians informed of their health.
• WorkSafe Saskatchewan website has been expanded with the inclusion of a new e-course on back injury prevention and also a new employee orientation tool.
• Safe Manitoba website: CCOHS researched and developed a collection of health and safety resources for their website. http://www.safemanitoba.com/
• Transport Canada: Security and Emergency Preparedness Bookshelf CD-ROM. Contains information about pertinent legislation, equipment, guidelines etc.
• Alternative Products Database for Public Works and Government Services Canada: to assist with choosing products that are effective, but less hazardous.
• Customized courses for private companies and government organizations
• Presentations and representations at various conferences and events for labour, business and government throughout Canada.

Information about these and other collaborative projects is included in our annual report. The continued support of government, business, and all levels of government is a strong indicator of satisfaction with CCOHS.

Strategic Outcome: Global advancement to Health and Safety

CCOHS encourages and supports exchanges of information with leading international health and safety centres throughout the world. This includes our role as a National Centre of the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centres, International Labour Organization. International databases are maintained and made available to Canadians through various collaborations with international organizations. CCOHS developed and hosts a portal on the World Wide Web in which the "National Centers" and "Collaborating Centres" of the ILOs Centre international d'informations de sécurité et de santé au travail (CIS) have their own pages, links to their institutional websites and other reliable websites in their respective countries. To encourage international collaboration, a discussion group is also part of this service.

CCOHS creates information and distributes 60 databases. A summary of these products is shown on our website http://www.ccohs.ca/products/subject.html . Through arrangements with many international organizations, CCOHS obtains the latest global health and safety information to share with Canadians.

CCOHS is recognized as a world leader in the advancement in occupational health and safety. This can be demonstrated by the IPCS Intox program, which is the World Health Organizations (WHO), International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS). It provides an integrated operational system, consisting of a databank and software, used at Poison Centres around the world to manage information on poisonings. Another project is the INCHEM, also produced through co-operation with WHO. The program consolidates information essential for the sound management of chemicals that affect the environment and human health. It compiles documents and databases from several international bodies including WHO the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) , the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This information has been released free of charge to enable access to people from developing countries that are unable to pay. Since the release of the free of charge web access, the access to INCHEM on the Web has risen to over 185,000 per month.

Another example is the enhancement of occupational health and safety in Brazilian Industry. CCOHS is a member of a consortium of Canadian public and private sector organizations forming a Brazilian Canadian partnership to address occupational health and safety needs within selected industrial sectors in small and medium sized enterprises in Brazil. CCOHS also developed a manual for primary school teachers and conducted workshops. This Spanish language manual will help Costa Rican teachers by highlighting classroom exercises for children on issues of health, safety and the environment.

Respondents in the key informant interviews reported CCOHS is perceived as one of the world's leading sources of OHS information, with higher level of recognition than many other OHS national institutions.

The report also states that "by providing accessible information products that synthesize recent research including international research sources (e.g. WHO, UN) CCOHS has clearly increased the amount of information available, and has therefore contributed to the growth of knowledge of OHS".

Strategic Outcome: Education

Academic Support Package

In order to increase the knowledge of youth as future workers and future leaders in industry, the Academic Support Package was developed. The CCOHS Academic Support Program (ASP) is offered exclusively to universities and colleges as both a tool to educate students about environmental and occupational health and safety and as a guide to assist Universities and Colleges in their efforts to achieve a safe and healthy working environment. In the ASP program there are 94 universities and colleges, many of them very prominent, serving over 2.9 million students, faculty and staff.

Since youth are at a high risk of accidents in the workplace, this information will help to provide technical data and increase awareness of the wealth of resources available.

CCOHS also established an occupational health and safety scholarship fund in the memory of Dick Martin, a pioneer of workplace health and safety in Canada. Information about the program and the winners for 2004 is posted at http://www.ccohs.ca/scholarship/winners/.

It is funded through private donations. This program is promoted to 26 post secondary schools across Canada, and provides monetary awards to students studying occupational health and safety.

Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops and Presentations

CCOHS extended its outreach efforts by attending more than 65 events over this fiscal year and maintained its vigorous participation in meetings, conferences and presentations in each region of Canada. Participation at conferences and exhibitions serves both marketing and communications objectives by providing opportunities to showcase the wide range of products and services of the Centre as well an important forum for outreach and presence in the regions that we serve.

Meetings/Committees 2004-2005

CCOHS participated in the following:

• Provincial Advisory Council of the Workplace Health project
• CHN Project Managers Meeting "Collaborating for the Future", March 30-31
• Meetings of the WHMIS Current Issues Committee
• Meeting of the Pest Management Advisory Committee (PMRS)
• TDG Meetings

Section III. Supplementary Information

Listing of Statutory and Departmental Reports

• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Council of Governors' Annual Report to Parliament 2004-05.



• Report on Plans and Priorities 2004-05



• Program Evaluation and Cost Recovery Study 2001



• CCOHS 2005 Evaluation and Performance Measurement 2005



• Modern Comptrollership Capacity Assessment 2002



• Customer Satisfaction Research Report 2004

Financial Performance Overview

Revenues from sales of products and services were slightly lower than last year, due to a general decline in sales, foreign exchange fluctuations, sales to government clients and the increased cost in keeping pace with technology. Appropriations were consistent with prior years. Maintaining revenue streams from core products continues to be a challenge given the mandate of the Centre.

CCOHS continues to generate approximately 50% of its budget from the sale of products and services. Expenditures are consistent with prior years. Audited financial statements are published in our Annual Report.

Financial Summary Tables

The following tables are applicable to CCOHS:

Table 1: Summary of Voted Appropriations

Table 2: Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual Spending

Table 3: Historical Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual Spending

Table 4: Respendable Revenues

Table 5: Contingent Liabilities

Table 6: Other Information: Summary of Revenue, Expenses and Appropriations

Table 7: Other Information: User Fees

Table 8: Travel Policies

Table 1

Summary of Voted Appropriations

Authorities for 2004-05 Part II of the Estimates

Additional funding was received during the year for the modern comptrollership initiatives relating to training and a customer survey. In addition, amounts were received for vote 5 and roll over provisions.

Table 2

Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual Spending 2004-05 ($ millions)

Table 3

Historical Comparison of Total Planned to Actual Spending ($ millions)

  CCOHS

4.1

4.0

4,0

4.4

4.4

  Total

4.1

4.0

4,0

4.4

4.4

Table 4

Respendable Revenues ($ millions)

Respendable revenues represent monies generated from the sale of goods and services. CCOHS generates approximately 50% of its operating budget from its cost-recovery activities. Sales of goods and services are impacted by general market conditions, foreign exchange fluctuations, government budgets, changes in technology, and competition.

Claims and Pending and Threatened Litigation:

CCOHS is involved in a dispute originating in the normal course of business. An amount, consistent with legal opinion obtained from our legal counsel, has been accrued as an account payable at year-end.

Section IV: Departmental Overview

Mandate, Vision and Mission:The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) was created in1978 by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act (R. S., 1985, c. C-13) which mandates the Centre to promote the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment.

CCOHS is Canada's national resource for occupational health and safety information. It serves to promote health and safety in the workplace, to help establish high standards for occupational health and safety, and to foster consultation and co-operation among governments, labour and employers to reduce or eliminate occupational hazards.

The vision is for CCOHS to become the preferred occupational health and safety information resource centre that will enable Canadians to easily acquire high quality services.

CCOHS is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour and Housing. It is a departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act.

Objectives

To provide Canadians with information about occupational health and safety which is trustworthy, comprehensive, and intelligible. The information facilitates responsible decision-making, promotes changes in the workplace, increase awareness of the need for a healthy and safe working environment, and supports education and training.

Strategic Priorities

CCOHS is governed and directed by a tripartite Council of Governors comprised of members from labour, business and government leaders representing their respective constituents across Canada. The Council meets three times a year to review policy and monitor progress of CCOHS. In January 1997, the Council adopted the following set of guiding principles for the Centre's future, which have been supported by federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for occupational health and safety:

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act allows the Centre to undertake a broad range of activities "to promote the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment".

The Council of Governors intends these principles to guide the Centre for the short to mid term and to allow for continued growth in cost-recovery.

1. The Council reconfirms its support and commitment to the CCOHS and the valuable role the Centre provides to Canadian workers and employers. Further, the Council recognizes the importance of its tripartite nature in governing the Centre.
   
   The Centre is to continue to serve as a source of excellence for unbiased technical information and expertise to support labour, employers, and governments in maintaining safe and healthy workplaces.
   
   The Centre is to continue to provide critical analysis and interpretation of occupational safety and health information.
   
   Further, the three caucuses recognize the critical importance of maintaining a free inquiry service to support the right of working Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment.



2. The Council and the Centre shall communicate to respective Ministers regarding the excellence and role of the Centre in order to obtain broad public policy support and guidance.



3. The Council recognizes the high standard and non-partisan nature of the Centre's undertakings. It recommends the Centre continue in its consulting and research efforts, while meeting the test of fairness in a competitive world. Joint funding of projects that target key areas of information needs should be a special focus of these efforts.
   
   The Council urges all governments and other organizations to consider the Centre as a potential source of consulting and research services.



4. The Council urges governmental and non-governmental organizations, including labour and employers, to work in partnership with the Centre to provide public access to the Centre's CD-ROM, Internet and other services.



5. The Council recommends the Centre consider the future possibility of gathering and disseminating occupational health and safety statistical information.



6. The Council recognizes that the Centre has become a national repository for MSDS, and efforts to encourage companies to continue to supply data sheets to the Centre will continue, where practicable and feasible.



7. The Council recommends that health and safety materials be available in the form most useful to the user, including hard copy.



8. The Council encourages the development of partnerships, tailored to specific jurisdictions, that enhance the visibility and distribution of CCOHS information. This could also include co-operation between various government inquiry services.



9. The Council recommends that jurisdictions and others systematically provide all technical, research, guidelines, codes of practice, and best practices to the Centre.

The President and Chief Executive Officer (PCEO) and CCOHS staff are committed to following these principles and plan to fulfil the Council's strategic priorities for the Centre by ensuring CCOHS provides:

A. a confidential occupational health and safety inquiries service to Canadians;

B. economical fee-for-service occupational health and safety products and services which are delivered by various means, including:

• Compact Disc - Read Only Memory (CD-ROM)



• Digital Video Discs (DVD)



• accessible computerized information services



• publications and guides



• training



• memberships;

C. non-biased occupational health and safety information;

D. a national occupational health and safety collaborating centre for the 14 Canadian jurisdictions and serving as CanadaÌs representative as an international centre (i.e. World Health Organization, International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre);

E. a national occupational health and safety information repository.

Business and Service Line and Organization Composition

Business Line: CCOHS is Canada's national institute, which promotes the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy, and safe working environment. The Centre is independent from other federal and provincial departments and maintains a tripartite (labour, business, and government) governing council to help ensure that intelligible, unbiased information, studies and analyses are delivered to Canadians and their workplaces. Information is provided to clients via a toll-free telephone-based inquiries service or on a fee-for-service basis using the latest print and electronic technology. Information is gathered from numerous Canadian and international health and safety institutions and thereby provides Canadians with the most comprehensive, current, and reliable information. This collection of information is analysed and reorganized as products, services and solutions for distribution across Canada and to more than 60 countries.

Organizational Structure: CCOHS reports to the federal Minister of Labour and Housing. The Council of Governors are non-paid positions and hold their respective offices throughout Canada. The Chair of the Council is a non-paid position, which is currently occupied by the federal Assistant Deputy Minister, Labour. The President and Chief Executive Officer operates CCOHS from Hamilton, Ontario. CCOHS links its objectives and strategic priorities through an array of service lines.

Governance: The Centre is governed by a tripartite Council of Governors consisting of a Chair and Governors representing employers, labour, and Canadian governments (federal, provincial, and territorial). Four Governors represent workers; four represent employers, and up to thirteen represent provincial and territorial governments. The Chair represents the federal government. All are appointed by the Governor General -in- Council. The Council meets three times a year to discuss policy direction, priorities, review progress and approve guidelines.

Executive Management: The Centre is managed by its President and Chief Executive Officer who directs the work of CCOHS and ensures that occupational health and safety information products and services are provided to Canadians in a usable, widely accessible form and promoted to assist Canadians by informing them of their fundamental right to a healthy and safe working environment.

Service Lines: Corporate management provides the direction and management of operations at CCOHS. This includes finance, facilities, human resources and collaborative arrangements with partners.

The Inquiries Service is a free national service available to Canadians to provide responses to their questions on topics related to occupational health and safety.

Health and Safety Products and Services provide health and safety products and services to businesses, labour organizations, governments and health and safety professionals.

Computer Systems and Services provide the technical structure and support services for the production and promotion of the products developed.

Marketing, Sales and Communications provide the promotion, communications and customer service for the products and services available from CCOHS.