Table of Contents

Section I: Messages

A.Minister's Message

B.Management Representation Statement

Section II: Raison d'être and Planning Overview

A.Raison d'être

B.Planning Overview

Section III: Strategic Outcomes

A.Provide Canadians with Information

B.Accessibility and Availability of Information for Canadians

C.Global Advancement to Health and Safety

D.Unbiased and Impartial to Maintain Confidence of Stakeholders

E.Education

Section IV: Organization

A.Organization Chart

B.Approved Business Line

C.Departmental Planned Spending

Section V: Annexes

Annex 1: Source of Respendable Revenue

Annex 2: Net Cost of Program for the Estimates Year 2004-2005

Annex 3: Listing of Statutes and Regulations

Annex 4: Publications

Annex 5: Government-wide and Horizontal Initiatives

Annex 6: Strategic Priorities

Section I: Messages

A. Minister's Message

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is dedicated to promoting the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment. It accomplishes this task by working diligently with employers, workers and provincial and territorial governments.

As Minister of Human Resources Skills Development, I am proud to present the Centre's Report on Plans and Priorities for 2004-2005.

As the internet provides unlimited information, CCOHS' role becomes increasingly important. Canadians rely on CCOHS to provide reliable and comprehensive information.

Canadians need information and knowledge to be able to participate in creating and maintaining safe and healthy workplaces and to share in the building of secure and healthy communities. CCOHS continually focuses its efforts in these areas by working with Canadians, employers, unions and governments to develop the collaborative resources necessary to improve workplace health and safety.

We will continue to work closely with Canadians to provide information and services dedicated to achieving the highest standards of health and safety in the workplace.

The Honourable Joseph Volpe, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

B.Management Representation Statement

Planning Overview

CCOHS serves to promote health and safety in the workplace to help establish high standards for occupational health and safety, and to foster consultations and co-operation among governments, labour and employers to reduce or eliminate occupational illnesses and injuries.

CCOHS functions as an independent departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. Its funding is derived from a combination of appropriations, cost recoveries and collaboration with the provinces. Approximately 50% of the budget is funded through cost recoveries from the creation, production and worldwide sales of fee-for-service and revenue generating occupational health and safety products and services.

Free information is delivered to Canadians through a confidential occupational health and safety Inquiries Service. This public service is also available via mail, telephone, e-mail or from the Internet website. In addition to this service, extensive self serve information is made available through the CCOHS website. The resources and funds for supporting and providing the Inquiries Service are derived from a combination of provincial, territorial and federal government funding and monies.

Collaborative projects are undertaken to develop and provide additional resources to Canadians. CCOHS also provides high quality electronic information products, a series of over 20 CD-ROMs that contain databases, publications and full text Canadian safety and environmental legislation. The service has subscribers in more than 50 countries. These products are also delivered via the Internet.

Unbiased and credible occupational health and safety information is obtained in co-operation with Canadian and worldwide sources. This information is analyzed and used by CCOHS to provide Canadians with a confidential and free current occupational health and safety information service.

The challenge at CCOHS is balancing the role between providing free-of-charge public services and cost-recovery programs. CCOHS is required to fund 50% of its annual budget through cost recovery via sales of products and services. Sales are impacted by the general state of the economy, exchange rates and CCOHS' ability to keep abreast of changing technologies, and global competition in occupational safety and health information.

As most products and services are delivered electronically, it is a constant challenge to keep operating systems and software current and meet the continually changing needs of clients.

The Internet also provides many challenges as well as opportunities. CCOHS is able to reach many more clients with the Internet to share its information resources. However, clients can also search the world for information and may go to other sources that may not have valid and trustworthy information. The large expansion of free information on the Internet also challenges the sales of cost recovery products and services.

CCOHS contributes to the priorities of the government in the following way:

Canada and the World

• Active participation in providing solutions to global problems and reducing the growing global divide between rich and poor by providing expertise in occupational health and safety to global organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health, International Labour Organization and European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Details of various projects can be found in our annual report at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.

Putting in Place the Health Care System for the 21st Century

• Occupational diseases and accidents are a serious health risk to Canadians. The government plans to address this through legislation and modern technology with an emphasis on prevention. CCOHS provides information on prevention to enable Canadians to identify risks in the workplace and how to address issues. Details of specific projects are noted throughout this report and our annual report. CCOHS also contributes to this priority through its work with the Canadian Health Network (a Health Canada initiative) as the lead workplace health affiliate. http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text59.html

The Challenge of Climate Change and the Environment

• CCOHS provides extensive information on chemicals and their impact on health and the environment. CCOHS is a major source of environmental health information for government regulators, the chemical industry, manufacturing sectors and citizens.

Competitive Cities and Healthy Communities

• CCOHS contributes to fostering Safe Communities via its information resources and participation in the Safe Communities programs throughout Canada.

Section III: Plans and Priorities by Strategic Outcomes

The commitment is maintained for CCOHS as a national centre dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of unbiased information on occupational health and safety. CCOHS provides Canadians with information about occupational health and safety that is trustworthy, comprehensive, and intelligible. The information facilitates responsible decision-making, promotes improvements in workplace health and safety, increases awareness of the need for a healthy and safe working environment, and supports occupational health and safety and education training.

Although CCOHS has one business line, the department's policies and programs are directed to the pursuit of the following strategic outcomes:

A. Provide Canadians with Information

Plans and Priorities

The Inquiry Service provides Canadians with invaluable unbiased information to respond to their workplace health and safety questions. It is a bilingual service which is available free of charge via mail, telephone service and e-mail. Specialists in workplace health and safety are available to assist Canadians with their questions. In addition, we develop and provide OshAnswers, available as a web based information service that covers over 600 topics in occupational health and safety. The health and safety information is presented in a question-and-answer format and answers more than 3,000 questions. The new goals for the upcoming year are:

• To increase the amount of information available through OshAnswers by providing additional content delivered from the Internet
• Further improve customer satisfaction by employing user surveys and research
• Enhance the CCOHS website usability through improvements to its searching technology and graphical presentations
• Increase awareness of the service to Canadians

Rationale

This service is delivered in various methods to ensure that Canadians have access in their preferred method of service and to efficiently provide service coast to coast from one location.

The key partners for the delivery of the person-to-person Inquiries services are the provincial and territorial governments who contribute financially and through their participation on the CCOHS Council of Governors.

Monitoring

This service is monitored through reviews of website statistics, call statistical reports, direct client feedback and customer satisfaction surveys.

Resources

In support of Canada's goal to put in place the Health Care system for the 21st Century, CCOHS addresses the health of Canadians and provides information to help them protect themselves from occupational diseases and workplace injuries. Prevention is the most significant priority to keep Canadians healthy and safe. Sound information is the resource which helps Canadians identify the risks in the workplace. CCOHS provides reliable and unbiased information to help make workplaces safe.

B.Accessibility and Availability of Information for Canadians

Plans and Priorities

Information needs to be made available to Canadians in many formats in order to meet the many different needs of various user groups. In recent years, the use of the Internet has become increasingly important to serve Canadians. However, printed copies are still necessary. Health and safety is a continually changing field with the emergence of new issues which need to be addressed each year. Reliable information needs to be obtained, interpreted and published. The new goals for the upcoming year are to:

• Produce three new health and safety guides relating to current needs in occupational health and safety
• Increase the availability of databases delivered on the Internet
• Improve the availability of information through enhancements to the CCOHS website and improve the searchability of the website contents
• Develop and provide additional resources on chemical health and safety
• Expand the quarterly information available in the bibliographic and legislative databases
• Provide and make publicly accessible more workplace health content information through partnerships with organizations such as the Canadian Health Network.

Rationale

The rationale for CCOHS development of products and services is to promote changes, both today and in the future, in Canadian workplaces, and improve occupational health and safety programs and systems to reduce the number of illnesses and injuries.

Information is provided in different methods to provide Canadians with equivalent opportunities to access CCOHS' services. Information on the various formats can be found at http://www.ccohs.ca/products/subject.html. While many individuals have Internet access others do not. Some workers need CD-Rom services and others prefer print methods. The option of dealing directly with CCOHS employees, using fax, mail, or e-mail is important to ensure that all Canadians have opportunities to contact the Centre. CCOHS serves all of Canada from its one location in Hamilton, Ontario.

The key partners for delivering this service can be found http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html.

Monitoring

The outcomes from this program are measured through various methods including website statistics, distribution of publications, copyright applications, and evaluative information on the sharing of information and use of information in the workplace. Client surveys and focus groups are also conducted to obtain user feedback on the accessibility and usability of products and services.

Resources

These services directly contribute to improving Canada's health care system for the 21st century.

C.Global advancement in Health and Safety

Plans and Priorities

As Canada's national occupational health and safety information centre, CCOHS encourages and supports exchanges of OSH information with leading international health and safety centres throughout the world. This includes our role as Canadian members in the National OSH Information Centres Program of the International Labour Organization. From these many involvements, we have created agreements to obtain international databases which are updated and made available to Canadians. Our new goals for the upcoming year:

• Enhance relationships with international health and safety organizations to exchange global information resources for use in Canada
• Participate in the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC), occupational health and safety tri-national co-operation program
• Participate in international work groups relating to chemical safety regulations and safety policy development to improve global and national chemical safety processes

Rationale

To enhance Canada's role internationally in occupational health and safety by contributing to world-wide knowledge through international cooperation. CCOHS exchanges and obtains significant information from leading international agencies for the benefit of Canadians.

Monitoring

The success of this program is measured through participation in international associations and collaborative partnerships that increase access to information for Canadians.

Information about these programs and partners can be found on our website: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/partner.html.

Resources

D.Unbiased and Impartial to maintain confidence of Stakeholders

Plans and Priorities

The tripartite Council of Governors, comprised of representatives from labour, business and Canadian 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 continuing goals for this outcome are:

• To participate in various collaborative projects with different levels of government and other organizations throughout the year.
• To foster collaboration and exchanges in ideas through a national dialogue, forums and conference
• Enhance relationships with stakeholders by continually assessing relevance to the expressed needs

Rationale

This adheres to CCOHS' mandate to 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 injuries and illnesses. Prior to the creation of CCOHS, there was no national Canadian occupational health and safety organization mandated to bring together provincial stakeholders, labour and business to jointly determine collective policy and progress to address Canadian needs.

Monitoring

The success of this program is measured through evaluative information from surveys and evidenced by the many collaborative projects CCOHS has with its key stakeholders. Details are available in our annual report and departmental performance reports http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.

Resources

E.Education

Plans and Priorities

Health and Safety in the workplace is being promoted to the education system by CCOHS' information services for use by students and faculty through the Academic Support Package. CCOHS also collaborates with Ministries of Education and other groups to develop OSH support resources for teachers and students. The goals for this outcome are:

• Continue to promote the Academic Support Program to post secondary institutions
• Collaborate with education, youth groups and other partners, on teaching health and safety in the school system through participation on various working groups
• Expand the development and provision of CCOHS Job One OSH resources delivered from CCOHS' web-site

Rationale

As part of the mandate to promote the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment, especially to youth who have been identified as a high risk group. Statistics have shown that the incidence of injury is higher for youth aged 15 to 24 years old. By providing information and resources, students, educators, employers and employees will be better informed of the hazards, risks, their legal rights and responsibilities and employers can implement proper programs and systems to prevent OSH problems.

Monitoring

The program is monitored through participation in the Academic Support Program and participation in collaborative projects to support youth. The results such as web statistics from the youth website are monitored. Feedback is sought from the national youth and governmental advisory groups.

Resources

Section IV: Organization of CCOHS

A. Organization Chart

CCOHS operates as a departmental corporation of the Federal government, and is governed by an independent tripartite Council of Governors comprised of representatives from labour, business and all levels of Canadian governments. The tripartite governance structure helps to ensure that CCOHS remains a well informed and a trusted source of unbiased information for employers, workers and governments.

B.Approved Business Line

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

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is Canada's national institute which promotes the fundamental right of Canadians to a healthy and safe working environment. CCOHS is independent from other federal and provincial departments and maintains a tripartite (labour, business, and government) governing council to help insure that intelligible, unbiased information is delivered to Canadians and their workplaces. The public service delivery of this information is provided via a toll free telephone and Internet delivery based inquiries service. A fee-for-service operation is also provided using the latest print and electronic technology. Information is gathered from numerous Canadian and international health and safety institutions thereby providing Canadians with the most comprehensive, current, and reliable information. Basic free information services are offered to all Canadians. The fee-for-service business line is provided to Canadians and to more than 50 countries.

Table 1: Departmental Planned Spending

There are no significant changes in the Departmental Planned Spending. Spending patterns remain consistent with previous years.

Section V: Annexes

Annex 1: Source of Respendable Revenue

Annex 2: Net Cost of Program for the Estimates Year 2004-5

Annex 3: Listing of Statutes and Regulations

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act (R.S. 1985, c. C-13)

Annex 4: Publications

The following reports are available at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Annual Reports

Departmental Performance Reports

Program Evaluation and Cost Recovery Study: Assessing the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety ? Modern Management Practices Assessment

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety ? Modern Comptrollership Action Plan

Annex 5: Government-wide and Horizontal Initiatives

Modern Comptrollership

CCOHS strongly supports the integration of comptrollership modernization principles in our implementation of Modern Comptrollership http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/cmo_mfc/index_e.asp. The capacity assessment and action plan were completed in 2002. The capacity assessment has been conducted to establish baselines which progress can be measured and determines areas requiring attention. The details of these plans can be found at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports.html.

Cost Recovery

CCOHS began its cost recovery initiatives prior to 1989 when the first cost recovery policy was issued by Treasury Board Secretariat. A Cost Recovery Review and Evaluation was conducted in 2001 to assess the cost recovery plan and evaluate the program. The details are available at: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports/n0451.pdf

The TBS Cost Recovery and Charging Policy distinguishes between public and private good. A private good is one that primarily benefits an identifiable individual or organization, whereas a public good accrues to Canadians in general. The review concluded that CCOHS cost recoveries were in line with the program and recommended changes in appropriations levels to appropriately reflect support for information about dangers to health, public safety and protection of the environment. CCOHS receives approximately 50% of its budget via cost recoveries from the sale of products, services and projects.

Government On-Line

Government On-Line (GOL) http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/gol-ged/index_e.asp is the federal government's multi-year project to provide Canadians with electronic Internet access to federal information and services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The program's goals are to improve service delivery to Canadians, to increase citizens' participation in government, to make the government more transparent and responsive to Canadians, and to spur Canada's participation in the global e-commerce market place.

CCOHS has been proactive in the development of its Internet presence to deliver its programs and services on line for many years. Our website at www.ccohs.ca allows for instant access to information and e-mail access to services. Products and services can also be obtained on line through our e-commerce site. The CCOHS Internet site has extensive information available to a broad range of users and acts as a portal to several collaborative websites that makes information from all Canadian jurisdictions and many international resources instantly available to Canadians. The common look and feel guidelines have also been implemented http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/index_e.asp for CCOHS' website.

Annex 6: Strategic Priorities

Our Mission

To provide Canadians with information about occupational health and safety which is trustworthy, comprehensive, and intelligible. The information facilitates responsible decision-making, promotes improvements in the workplace, increases awareness of the need for a healthy and safe working environment, and supports occupational health and safety 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 the 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 Canada's 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 are 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