Council of Governors
Chair
Employer
Labour
Provincial and Territorial
To read more about individual Council members, visit our Council of Governors web page.
April 1st, 2014 to March 31st, 2015
To read more about individual Council members, visit our Council of Governors web page.
As Chair of the Council of Governors of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), I am pleased to report on this year’s key activities. The Council worked hard with the Centre’s executive team to formulate a vision and establish a strategic plan that will direct the Centre’s efforts over the next three years. This plan is centered on continued growth and will focus on improving the domestic coverage of CCOHS, increasing the uptake of the products and services of the Centre and reinforcing CCOHS’ role as a leader in the promotion of healthier and safer workplaces in Canada. Going forward, key performance indicators will be established to support the work of the Centre and assist it in the fulfillment of its mandate.
Our commitment to corporate governance was strengthened with the creation of two new Council sub committees: Human Resources and Governance. These changes better position us as a Council to help drive our long-term strategy forward.
CCOHS continued to support the future of occupational health and safety through the Dick Martin Scholarship Awards. We awarded $3,000 scholarships to Florence Janvier of the University of Montreal and Genevieve Fox of the British Columbia Institute of Technology. In addition, their respective academic institutions received $500. The Council and I are pleased to continue our tradition of supporting students in their pursuit of higher education, helping them become future leaders in the field of occupational health and safety.
Planning for the next CCOHS pan-Canadian, tripartite Forum, to be held in February 2016, is well underway. This unique event will bring together representatives from jurisdictions from across Canada, as well as labour and employer groups, to learn about the changing world of work. The Forum will facilitate a worthwhile exchange of ideas and perspectives.
I am proud to chair our Council of Governors, a body whose membership is composed of leaders with a commitment to occupational health and safety. During the year we welcomed Kimberley Henney (Yukon) and Andrea Nalyzyty (Canadian Bankers Association) to the Council. I look forward to working closely with them and the rest of the Council to meet the changing needs of, and deliver value for, all of our stakeholders.
We said goodbye to outgoing Council members – Gordon Lloyd (Chemistry Industry Association of Canada), Sylvie Charest (Canadian Bankers Association), William Reid (Prince Edward Island), and Don Hurst, (Manitoba). Their contributions to CCOHS are appreciated and will have a lasting impact. We wish them well.
Finally, on behalf of the Council, I would like to thank the employees at CCOHS for their hard work in delivering results that advance our shared goal of ensuring that all workers in Canada are safe and healthy at work.
Kin Choi
Chair, CCOHS Council of Governors
I have been buoyed by our record successes over this past year. CCOHS has evolved into a vital component of regional and national dialogue on workplace health, safety and wellness.
It’s always exciting when the investments we make, in our organization and our partnerships throughout Canada, can show benefits for workplaces across the country. We have utilized our understanding of emerging trends in the national health and safety landscape to develop ambitious tools for Canadian workplaces that provide a framework for success in preventing injuries and illnesses.
Against a backdrop of emerging issues and sudden shifts in the occupational health and safety environment, as well as regional economic challenges, CCOHS pursued a national agenda for actionoriented relationships with all of our partners, and product development based on global best practices and our evidence-based principles.
We have advocated that workplace challenges cannot be resolved in isolation. No single organization, health and safety association, Ministry, or individual can provide a solution to a complex issue that traverses regions, generations, business sectors and cultures. Whatever successes we have achieved can be directly attributed to direct dialogue, embracing the value of diversity, and leveraging our partnerships across Canada.
Internally, we have marshalled our resources to expand and enhance capacity to ensure we remain at the forefront of national prevention and wellness promotion and program development. Our investments in technology and software systems will improve efficiency, provide seamless stakeholder interactions, and enhance the customer experience for Canadian workplaces.
This year, with guidance from our Council of Governors, we’ve laid the foundation for sustainable growth with a strategic plan that affirms our guiding principles and a vision that will respond to an uncertain future environment. Along with these internal values, the plan supports our ongoing efforts in building consensus around initiatives such as mental health, GHS, young and new worker programs, and promotion of leading indicators as predictors of organizational performance.
Our record success this past year could not have been achieved without the unrelenting support of our Council of Governors and Chair, Kin Choi. Their vision, leadership and strong advocacy of CCOHS have enhanced our credibility and national profile.
I would like to extend my appreciation to Council and the whole CCOHS team for their passion, commitment and valued contribution in making this an outstanding year for CCOHS.
Steve Horvath
President and Chief Executive Officer, CCOHS
This year, the world of chemical health and safety was greatly impacted with the anticipation of changes to the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), as Canada prepared to align with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). For the past several years CCOHS had been preparing for the impending changes and was ready. In partnership with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada (formerly the National Office of WHMIS), and working with the provinces and territories, CCOHS released a collection of WHMIS-related tools and resources to help workplaces in Canada navigate and embrace the long awaited changes.
The workplace can have a significant impact on a person’s health and overall well-being. More than ever the traditional view of workplace health and safety has been replaced with a comprehensive approach to include the total wellbeing and mental health of employees. CCOHS’ commitment to this issue is twofold; as an employer and as a health and safety organization. Several years ago CCOHS began the process of implementing the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. In addition, the Centre has been a participant in the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s case study research project, sharing experiences, data and challenges that may benefit others and helping improve the lives of the working population.
Young and new workers continue to be at the forefront of concern, and at high risk for workplace injury. The idea of young worker vulnerability has expanded to recognize that the vulnerability has more to do with the “newness” of the employee as opposed to their age. With a changing world of work that includes workers of all ages returning to, and being retrained for, new jobs, CCOHS is adapting materials and guidance to reflect this shift in understanding to address the health and safety needs of new workers in addition to providing a web portal to deliver youth-specific information and tools.
An important part of CCOHS’ mandate is to serve working people in Canada by providing the credible and relevant tools and resources that employers need to create healthy workplaces, and workers need to work safely. The Centre does this by making a wide range of credible resources and services, in a variety of formats, freely available for all to use. Among the public services offered is the Safety InfoLine, the person-to-person service that addresses the questions and concerns of Canadians, as well as online fact sheets, awareness e-courses, and posters.
Safety InfoLine (also known as CCOHS’ Inquiries Service) is a unique service that provides free, confidential advice and information related to occupational health and safety to Canada’s working population. When Canadians have a question they need answered, they can call or email the Safety Infoline and be served personally by a qualified Inquiries Officer. The service is provided in English and French languages. Safety InfoLine received 7,652 questions, a 1% drop from last year. Users included employers (36%), government (2%), labour (36%) and the general public (26%), from every province and territory. The top three provinces using the service were Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. A summary of the inquiries received by each jurisdiction is as follows:
Safety InfoLine’s inquiries spanned across many subjects and areas of concern. The top subject categories were:
A survey of Safety InfoLine users found that 89% were overall satisfied, or very satisfied, with the information they received (an increase of 7% from last year); while 59% (no change from last year) said that their use of CCOHS information will lead to current or future changes to the workplace that may result in improved health and safety performance.
Respondents indicated that a high number of individuals within their organization access the information provided by CCOHS, resulting in an extended reach of 816,277 individuals (down 21% from last year).
CCOHS shares occupational health and safety information online, for the benefit of workers in Canada and throughout the world by way of free fact sheets known as OSH Answers. Published in English and French, these fact sheets are intended for workers, managers, supervisors, and joint health and safety committee members who are the end users of the information. The collection is continuously expanded and the information in the fact sheets is widely repurposed, providing the foundation for many of CCOHS’ products. They cover a wide range of workplace health and safety topics, from physical hazards, occupational diseases, and ergonomics, to good practices and health promotion.
Overall usage of CCOHS’ collection of 567 fact sheets continues to increase, as well as usage of the service by Canadians. They were viewed 10,067,740 times (up 9.5% from previous year) in over 190 countries. They were accessed 6,228,542 times (up 5.86%) of which an estimated 1,450,000 (23%) originated from Canada (up 8.3%).
This year, there were 82 requests for copyright authorization (up 2.5% from last year), generating 207,981 copies of CCOHS information.
CCOHS collaborated with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate of Health Canada (formerly the National Office of WHMIS) to develop a series of fact sheets related to the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), that employers can use to supplement their workplace training programs. In June 2014, the fact sheets were updated to reflect the expected WHMIS 2015 requirements and this was communicated to over 10,000 registrants. The WHMIS 2015 Fact Sheets cover all of the WHMIS basics for training and are organized under three categories: WHMIS Basics; Hazard Topics; and Workplace Controls. They were updated again in March 2015 to reflect the final WHMIS 2015 requirements and two new fact sheets were added to clarify variances with, and exemptions to the US OSHA requirements.
CCOHS produces posters about workplace health and safety issues that organizations can use as reference tools or to reinforce health and safety messages, techniques, and best practices. Each poster also prominently bears the CCOHS brand and website URL; the free download versions also promote the phone number for the Safety InfoLine. The posters are produced in English and French and can be downloaded for free from the CCOHS website or purchased in print format. The program consists of 33 posters that cover topics ranging from technical subjects such as WHMIS 2015, to psychosocial issues such as violence, bullying, and mental health. This year 61,915 posters were downloaded from the website; a significant increase of 69% over the previous year. The most popular poster topics were WHMIS and safe lifting.
CCOHS' largest communications channel, the Health and Safety Report, is a free monthly e-mail newsletter, delivering current workplace health and safety news, information and tips to its robust readership comprised of workers, employers, health and safety professionals and those interested in workplace health and safety.
This year, the number of Health and Safety Report subscribers continued to increase to 36,119 (up 4.6%). There are subscribers from 178 countries, however, 75.5% are from Canada. Approximately 92% of subscribers share the newsletter with others, resulting in an additional 891,888 monthly reach. The content from the newsletter was repurposed 40 times (up 11% from last year) by other organizations and publications, generating an additional reach of 909,255 impressions (down 32%). The drop in impressions is attributed to the lower circulation/web stats of the publications and sites that repurposed the information.
In the 2014-15 readership survey, results remained fairly consistent with the previous year. 1,509 respondents gave the newsletter a 99.5% overall satisfaction rating with the content and format. 96.6% said that the newsletter provides value to their organization. 67.9% of users indicated that they use the information in the newsletter to make current or planned changes in their workplace that might improve occupational health and safety.
CCOHS offers specialized subject-specific web portals to help workplaces recognize, understand and address trending health and safety topics such as mental health, healthy workplaces, and young workers. These websites offer a collection of links to tools, research and information from credible sources from Canada and around the world.
Advancing Healthy Workplaces is a service that provides Canadian employers, employees and practitioners free and easy access to a comprehensive range of 300+ credible resources and practical tools for creating and promoting healthy workplaces. The portal is home to useful articles, posters, fact sheets and research reports from national, provincial and local agencies and non-profit organizations across Canada. This year the portal had 42,201 page views (up 11.1% from last year).
The Young Workers Zone is a web portal dedicated to providing occupational health and safety resources and information to young workers, their parents, teachers, and employers. A single-point of access to information from all Canadian jurisdictions on workplace health and safety issues that affect young workers, the Young Workers Zone had 63,636 page views (up 0.2% from last year).
Through the Young Workers Zone portal, CCOHS offers a web-based resource called Health and Safety Teaching Tools to help teachers lay a foundation of health and safety for students. This year there were 96,538 unique page views of the basic web version (up 143% from last year), available to Canadians as a free public service.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 20% of Canadians will experience a form of mental illness at some point in their lifetime. A healthy Canadian economy and a psychologically healthy workplace relies on healthy minds. The Healthy Minds at Work portal houses a collection of credible resources offering information on how to create a healthy, supportive work environment, promote mental health, and effectively handle mental health issues that may exist. This year the portal had 22,878 page views (up 34.3% from last year).
The outbreaks of Ebola and H1N1 virus created a renewed interest in business continuity and the impact that outbreaks could have on workplaces. CCOHS rebranded the Planning for Pandemics portal to Flu and Infectious Disease Outbreaks and updated content to provide Canadians with the latest information, tools and resources they need to be prepared in the event of an infectious disease outbreak. This year the portal had 19,340 page views (up 49.6% from last year).
The CanOSH portal continues to be Canada’s most extensive gateway to occupational health and safety services and information across all jurisdictions, since its release in 1998. The portal provides easy access to, and searching of, resources from the Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments and their agencies. This year the portal had 38,335 page views (down 9.9% from last year).
As a leader in the advancement of occupational health and safety in Canada, CCOHS continuously works to meet the needs of the changing world of work and increase outreach, user population and impact on Canadian workplaces. It is imperative that the Centre has a presence in and engage audiences across the country and in every province and territory to listen and learn about their issues and priorities. This past year, CCOHS deployed an engagement strategy to strengthen relationships with users and stakeholders and to support initiatives to advance the well-being of workers. CCOHS experienced exponential growth in traffic to the website, in the number of users of its free public services and communication channels, and in its social media audience and engagement.
This year, CCOHS committed to making practical workplace health and safety information, resources and tools easier to find and access on its website. For over a year, CCOHS worked to develop a new, easier-to -navigate website that incorporated the extensive feedback collected from focus groups, card sorting exercises and stakeholder input. The updated website features a simplified layout and design that complies with the Web Standards for the Government of Canada. The new design also demonstrates CCOHS’ commitment to delivering websites and applications that are more accessible, usable, interoperable and optimized for mobile devices. This year, the website had 13,168,006 total page views (up 12.8% from last year) and an average of 569,569 unique visitors per month (up 7% from last year). There was a substantial increase in Canadian usage of the site with approximately 29% of the visits from Canada (up from 27%), followed by 26% from the United States and 45% from other countries.
Published six times per year, the Liaison e-mail newsletter keeps CCOHS clients and opt-in subscribers updated about the latest developments at the Centre, from the newest products and services, to upcoming interactive social media events, to shareable information resources that can help promote awareness of health and safety.
The number of subscribers to Liaison increased 22% from last year to 23,150. In the annual survey that was conducted, 87% of respondents indicated that, overall, Liaison delivered value to their organization. 70% said that they used information from Liaison in relation to current or planned changes in their workplace to improve health and safety. In addition, Liaison has excellent pass-along value, with over 78% of respondents indicating that they forward or share the newsletter with others.
The use of social media is an important component of CCOHS’ initiatives to promote a comprehensive approach to workplace health and safety and to strengthen CCOHS’ position as a “go to” resource for tools, information and means to create healthy workplaces. Through its main social media channels of Twitter and Facebook, CCOHS has developed robust online communities that increase engagement and encourage discussion.
CCOHS experienced steady growth in followers and influence across all of its social media channels.
Facebook: CCOHS’ community on Facebook increased 27.5% to 5,702 fans. This year, CCOHS posted content 91 times on Facebook which resulted in a reach of 95,277, and thousands of post likes, comments and or shares. The average Facebook post had a reach of 1,047, 85 post clicks and 33 likes, comments and or shares.
Twitter: The CCOHS Twitter handle [@CCOHS] had 7,184 followers (up 26.6% from last year) with an annual retweet audience of 2,981,646 (up 136.3% from last year).
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a social media channel that CCOHS uses to network with working professionals, the business community and other organizations interested in workplace health and safety information and resources. CCOHS’ LinkedIn page started two years ago with just 500 followers, growing to 3,818 followers.
Google+: Often referred to as Google Plus, Google+ is a social media tool which uses photos and videos to engage its audience. CCOHS uses Google+ to share its resources, tools and news. While uptake has been slow with 149 followers, the Google+ pages have had more than 60,000 views since its inception last year.
Klout Score: The Klout Score remained steady at 60. A Klout Score measures overall online influence, from 1 to 100, with the average score being 40. Klout measures True Reach, Amplification Probability, and Network Score to represent one’s sphere of influence.
CCOHS’ podcast program Health and Safety to Go provides health and safety tips in audio format suitable for use on devices such as smart phones, tablets, and MP3 players. This year CCOHS produced a total of 25 podcasts (11 of them in French) bringing the total episode count to 148. The most popular podcast was Managing Workplace Stress, garnering 2,661 listens from its October 2014 release.
The podcast program had a resurgence in uptake with 44,131 listens this year (up 32.2% from last year).
CCOHS continues to be known as a “go to” resource for trustworthy health and safety content, perspective, advice, and guidance. This year CCOHS noted 455 media sightings (up 67.2%) in which CCOHS was quoted or referenced as an information source, or in which our online fact sheets, articles or media releases were repurposed by other publications. These various media mentions represented an estimated reach in excess of 104,021,164 impressions. The 49.8% decrease in impressions were reflective of the circulation and web traffic of the media citing CCOHS.
Exhibitions, conferences and trade shows are important platforms for outreach and awareness building about the CCOHS brand as it provides the opportunity to meet directly with clients to help foster business relationships and understand the needs of specific sectors and regions. More than that, through our conference and speakers bureau program, CCOHS is able to showcase its expertise, products, and services and demonstrate their value to workers, employers, and governments in Canada.
CCOHS has made a commitment to participating in events in every province and territory. In 2014, CCOHS travelled to Yukon and Northwest Territories to exhibit for the very first time. Additionally, CCOHS strives to achieve balance in events between labour, governmental (jurisdictional) and employee conferences.
The demand for CCOHS speakers and participation in events has sharply increased the past two years. As a result, CCOHS participated in 43 conferences/events as well as 37 speaking engagements (up 19.4% from last year), representing a total conference reach of 29,980 (up 17.4% from last year).
The CCOHS Council of Governors established the Dick Martin Scholarship Award, an annual, national award for post-secondary students enrolled in degree or diploma granting occupational health and safety programs in Canada, to encourage interest in the field of workplace health and safety. Two scholarships of $3,000 each were awarded to a university and college student and $500 was awarded to each winner’s school. This year CCOHS received 53 applications from every jurisdiction that offered an occupational health and safety program. The winning students were from British Columbia and Quebec.
Having a well-developed health and safety program that includes an education and training component is not only essential for keeping people safe at work, it is often a legislated requirement. CCOHS has built an extensive program of credible health and safety education and training resources to meet the needs of workplaces in Canada.
For most workers in Canada, learning about occupational health and safety is not only a benefit - it’s a legislated requirement. There are many reasons why many companies prefer e-learning as a way to train their staff, managers and supervisors including:
CCOHS offers 104 online courses (e-courses), developed to help Canadian workplaces fulfill their health and safety related training and education needs, and to provide the public with workplace health and safety information that could help keep workers free from injury and disease.
CCOHS creates courses with assistance and advice from outside technical experts when required, while the tripartite external review of courses by representatives of government, employers, and labour helps achieve balance, accuracy and understanding by all parties in the workplace. This year CCOHS developed four new e-courses: Domestic Violence in the Workplace, Bullying in the Workplace, WHMIS 2015 for Workers and HPA Inspectors.
The most popular e-course that was sold was WHMIS for Workers (WHMIS 1988).
This year, 97,351 e-course seats were sold, an increase of 170% from the previous year.
CCOHS offers a collection of e-courses free of charge to promote awareness of important health and safety issues. They provide users with an introduction to the CCOHS e-learning experience and provide the user with a general awareness about the safety issue at hand. The most popular awareness course this year was Violence in the Workplace: Awareness.
This year, 44,108 free awareness e-courses were accessed (up 64% from last year).
To meet the education and training needs with respect to WHMIS 2015, CCOHS developed a comprehensive instructor’s guide, participant’s guide and accompanying PowerPoint slides. For organizations that prefer instructor-led education, this kit provides the materials that an instructor needs to educate workers on WHMIS 2015 and provides accompanying guides for the workers. The content development, review and graphics work was completed and the kit is expected to be available for sale in April 2015.
CCOHS has a legacy of innovation - deploying and embracing new technologies to deliver information and services to Canadians. In keeping with the spirit of this legacy, CCOHS has experimented with new ways to engage our audiences and provide access to health and safety information and tools in innovative ways. These efforts included creating infographics on trending topics, experimenting with social media events (Twitter Chats), and developing apps for mobile devices.
Infographics are a visually appealing way of illustrating data, and can present complex information quickly and clearly. They can improve understanding and comprehension by utilizing graphics to enhance the human visual system’s ability to see patterns and trends. As infographics are becoming more common in the health and safety industry, there is an opportunity to cover this subject area from a Canadian perspective. CCOHS experimented with this medium and created 6 infographics on the topics of ladder safety, manual materials handling, slips, trips and falls, safe and distracted driving, and workplace violence prevention. The infographics were promoted through Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter and were the top link in each issue of Liaison, with clickthroughs averaging 774 (26%) per issue. They were widely shared and repurposed by individuals and organizations alike including The National Post. Based on user feedback, the size and format of the infographics were reworked to allow easier printing, sharing and repurposing.
CCOHS continues to seek, and experiment with, innovative ways to connect with and engage various audiences. This year CCOHS plunged into new territory and hosted its first Twitter Chat and Google Hangout. These inaugural events provided important learning opportunities to fully understand the value and opportunities the new channels present. Going forward, topic relevance will be key to future success of the social media events.
CCOHS held its first Twitter chat (a live topic-driven discussion online) in February 2015 on workplace violence and bullying, with 10 participants, 44 tweets from CCOHS, and 21 re-tweets. The tweets from the chat were aggregated and archived into a transcript or “story” via Storify.com, generating 133 views.
CCOHS’ first Google Hangout on Air (a live webcast) took place on March 11, 2015 on the topic of workplace violence, with 22 participants. The hangout was available for free on CCOHS’ YouTube channel after the event and had 150 views (70% from Canada) during the period of March 11 to March 31, 2015.
The OSH Answers Mobile App puts hundreds of health and safety fact sheets into the palms of users via their mobile device, without needing to access an Internet connection. This is especially helpful for those working in remote areas. In an effort to deliver relevant information to workers who need information at their fingertips, CCOHS redeveloped the app for Apple devices using adaptive user interface design to support multiple size screens, allowing for better support of various size iPhone and iPad devices. There was a soft launch of the app this year with the public release scheduled for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
There are many different components that can contribute to the success of a healthy and safe work environment. CCOHS has created products and services that meet the unique needs of various occupations and workplaces, whether it be to help them know their legislative requirements or write a material safety data sheet.
Chemical manufacturers and suppliers provide (material) safety data sheets to help employers and workers understand product hazards and how to work safely with them. To help meet the challenges of producing (material) safety data sheets, CCOHS offers an online authoring tool, CANWrite™. This tool allows suppliers and manufacturers of chemical products to author (material) safety data sheets in English and French.
CANWrite™ has had increased sales from United States (U.S.) and Canadian companies with the U.S. deadline of June 2015 approaching. As a result, CCOHS began implementing changes for a major release of CANWrite™ for WHMIS 2015 (which also meets OSHA-GHS requirements) for release in mid-2015. CCOHS saw a 105% increase in clients from last year.
Thousands of hazardous substances are used in workplaces every day, from gas and oil, paint and cleaning products, to the toner used in photocopiers. Under occupational health and safety law, employers are required to keep workers informed on the hazards of chemicals found in the workplace and must provide a (material) safety data sheet for each hazardous substance they have on site. CCOHS’ online MSDS Management Service provides support and assistance to employers, providing ready, online access to their specific collections of (material) safety data sheets, and helping track currency to help ensure employers comply with the legislation.
This year, enhancements to the service included: automated binder-printing tools, Excel export of data and features to support changes to WHMIS 2015. This year the service gained 11 new clients bringing the total up to 158 (7.48% increase from last year).
The Canadian enviroOSH Legislation plus Standards online service provides Canadian workplaces with the means to obtain legislation and referenced standards to identify and understand their rights and responsibilities under the law. The majority of subscribers to this service are Canadian organizations with a small international client base. Currently, there are 318 total subscribers (a 20% decrease from last year). To help improve the service and increase revenue, a Legislation Innovation Team was created. This team of internal staff members were tasked with hosting user surveys and focus groups to help identify the service’s strengths and opportunities to enhance the customer experience. Further research followed by enhancements made to the service is expected to overlap into next year.
The CHEMINFO database is an internationally recognized resource containing critical safety information for over 1,775 key workplace chemicals. Developed by CCOHS experts, CHEMINFO provides key health and safety information about chemicals to control workplace exposures and prevent accidents, and includes scientifically supported regulatory classifications. CHEMINFO clients viewed over 53,296 records online this year (up 11.7 % from last year). In addition, there are two CHEMINFO spin-offs: Chemical Profiles (listed under the OSH Answers Fact Sheets) and the WHMIS Classification Database which is offered as a public service. Chemical Profiles was viewed 37,193 times in English and in French (up 4% from last year) while the WHMIS Classification Database was used 43,260 times.
CCOHS has an established history of collaborating with Canadian and international partners alike. Projects with leading health and safety organizations in Canada such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Health Canada and WorkSafeNB, have expanded the quality and quantity of resources and programs available to workers and employers across the country. Work with international partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union, has helped to advance health and safety in the workplace on a global level. These partnerships, in addition to being a Collaborating Centre of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and WHO, allow CCOHS to provide Canadians with the best information from international sources as well as share its own knowledge, expertise, and Canadian perspective with the world.
In partnership, CCOHS has created websites, developed e-courses, managed projects, written publications and conducted research. Together, we can work to prevent injuries and illnesses, and help create workplaces that are healthy and safe for everyone.
With the anticipation of the changes to Canada’s Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015), CCOHS collaborated with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada (formerly the National Office of WHMIS) and each of the federal, provincial and territorial occupational health and safety regulatory jurisdictions across Canada, to help Canadians transition to the new WHMIS 2015 which implements the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). WHMIS.org was officially launched in February 2015. It houses the most current information about WHMIS 2015 from all of the jurisdictions across Canada. The website also contains helpful tools and resources for workers, employers, suppliers, and trainers.
In the two months it was available in this fiscal year, the portal had 44,607 worldwide page views. Of those, 39,727 (89%) page views were from Canada. The top three provinces accessing the portal were Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec. A summary of the page views by province and territory is as follows:
To help educate workers about WHMIS 2015, CCOHS released a new e-course, in partnership with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau of Health Canada (formerly the National Office of WHMIS) and funded by Health Canada. Available in English and French, the course, WHMIS After GHS for Workers, was made available free for up to 100,000 Canadian workers for one year. A similar version was made for a fee for employers who want to track that their workers successfully completed the e-course (fee-based courses come with a multi-user account with automated tracking). As of March 31, 2015, 8,763 individuals had registered for the free e-course, and 816 multi-account user courses were sold. The top three provinces accessing the e-courses were Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. A summary of the courses taken by province and territory is as follows:
To help Canadians learn more about the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Workplace Chemicals, and its impact on WHMIS will affect users, CCOHS collaborated with Health Canada to produce the webinar Canada’s Implementation of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Workplace Chemicals. The free webinar gave participants a better understanding of Health Canada’s proposed approach to implementing the GHS in Canada and outlined proposed new hazard classification and communication obligations in WHMIS. This year, the webinar had 1,611 combined views in English and French since its release on April 17, 2014.
Health Canada and CCOHS worked together to develop e-course modules for inspectors who will be enforcing the Hazardous Products Act and Hazardous Products Regulations. The e-course modules were released and inspectors were provided passwords on February 11, 2015, the day the Hazardous Products Regulations were published in Canada Gazette Part II.
CCOHS worked with the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) to develop a free smartphone application which allows users to measure their stress levels by answering the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. The app was made available for iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices. Development is underway on a second app with OHCOW to provide tools to assist with musculoskeletal disorders; this app will be released next year.
CCOHS and WorkSafeNB partnered to create an online portal to act as a plain-language guide to New Brunswick’s occupational health and safety legislation. The bilingual portal, A Guide to OSH Legislation, features 30 construction-related topics with links to resources, including interpretations, summaries, legislation, hazard alerts and safety talks, all in an easy-to-read format. CCOHS hopes to potentially deploy this model with other provinces and territories. The web tool is set to launch in the Spring of 2015.
The Hamilton Port Authority approached CCOHS in January 2014 to help them ensure that their safety procedures met the highest industry standards, and to create a health and safety management system to support ongoing maintenance and improvement. The project was undertaken in three phases (assessment, development, implantation and review) to achieve a logical and informed approach to the development of the components of the Hamilton Port Authority’s health and safety program. The health and safety program was completed in December 2014.
CCOHS and the Canadian Standards Association have had a long standing relationship, partnering on a number of initiatives over the years. This year, CCOHS became a reseller of CSA Group Standards to help put relevant health and safety related standards into the hands of workers in Canada. CCOHS began selling CSA Group Standards on April1, 2014, and to date, 151 standards have been sold.
CCOHS is currently working on two projects for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to improve their workplace health and safety program. The Respiratory Protection Program and Confined Space Entry Program will be developed for investigators who are responsible for gathering evidence from air, marine and rail accidents across Canada, and abroad. Work on these two projects began this year and are expected to progress into the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Use of online training among public servants has doubled in the last year, with an increasing number of public servants requiring learning opportunities anytime and from anywhere. CCOHS and the Canada School of Public Service (the School) partnered to provide online health and safety training courses to federal public servants this year. The partnership provided federal public servants throughout Canada with access to a wide variety of credible and relevant online health and safety courses. School clients who purchase a CCOHS e-course received access to CCOHS’ Learning Management System. This management system provides the opportunity for employers to track and confirm that their workers successfully completed the training, with detailed usage reports. The courses offered by CCOHS add to the School’s existing suite of online products and are a cost-effective way to meet the health and safety training needs of organizations and federal employees.
Creating a shared set of values and expectations for a safe and healthy work environment amongst the next generation of workers starts with education at a young age. The It’s Your Job! Youth Video Contest encourages Canadian high school students to develop an original video that can be used in social media to illustrate the importance of working safely on the job. CCOHS assumed administration of the national contest this year, including the overall promotion and communications, judging of the national contest entries, awarding of prizes, and execution of online voting for Canada’s Fan Favourite award. In total, the contest had 24 entries for national consideration from 11 provincial and territorial contests. The contest wraps up in May 2015 with the national winner being announced and video shown at the North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week national launch.
The North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week is an annual initiative led by a partnership of key national organizations: the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), CCOHS, Employment and Social Development Canada’s Labour Program, and Threads of Life. NAOSH Week continues to be a truly continent-wide event, celebrated in Canada, along with North American partners in the United States and Mexico. As a national partner, CCOHS updates and maintains the NAOSH Week web site, and through its communications channels, promotes awareness of safety in addition to the the week and related events. CCOHS attended and spoke at, the 2014 NAOSH Week’s national launch in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
This year, 47,014 unique visitors frequented the NAOSH Week website (up 48% from last year) and viewed content pages 138,206 times (up 9% from last year).
As part of the Centre’s effort to modernize and strengthen its infrastructure to meet the demands for improved and more efficient service delivery, CCOHS resolved to make continuous improvement across the organization a priority.
With a customer-centric view in mind, the Centre has reviewed all existing products and services in order to strengthen our product offering to best match our customers’ needs. Taking into account the product life cycle, CCOHS was able to retire those products and services that are no longer relevant to the market which we serve, or have demonstrated low or declining uptake over the last several years. Focusing on enhancing those products and services which experience product maturity and/or decline through the use of current and new technologies, has allowed the Centre to offer more attractive delivery choices, therefore sustaining these products as viable options in the marketplace.
A key initiative underway is the migration to a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that will enable CCOHS to collect, store, manage and interpret data across the organization. The new system will provide greater business efficiencies and support marketing, sales and communications efforts to provide tailored messaging and improved client interactions. Full deployment of the system will be completed by late 2015.
Utilizing new technology has also provided the Centre with opportunities to enrich the current product and service offering, allowing us to add product lines and develop new partnerships. As technology continues to change, so do the needs of the Centre’s customers. Moving into the new year, continual analysis and review of the Centre’s infrastructure will remain a priority so that the Centre will continue to be a reliable and credible source of health and safety solutions.
There is a strong connection between the health and well-being of people and their work environments. When people feel valued, respected and satisfied in their jobs and work in safe, healthy environments, they are more likely to be more productive and committed to their work. When the workplace is unsafe, stressful or unhealthy, ultimately both the organization and the employees are hurt. Everyone can benefit from a healthy workplace and as Canada’s national workplace health and safety resource, it is natural for CCOHS to provide a work environment to its own employees that is healthy and safe.
CCOHS works to achieve employee engagement through transparency, participation, and access to CCOHS’ senior management team by way of bimonthly Town Hall meetings. These meetings are a way for CCOHS employees to learn what’s new at CCOHS from an operational level, and ask questions directed to the President and senior leadership in an open forum.
Another example of staff engagement is the quarterly internal showcases. These events are staff driven, produced by cross-functional teams that work together to produce exhibits that showcase recent initiatives they’ve worked on. The showcases are attended by all CCOHS staff and play an important role in keeping everyone engaged and informed.
CCOHS recognized that in order to create a mentally healthy workplace, the leadership of the organization must be educated and equipped to effectively deal with the related issues. Over 20 CCOHS people leaders engaged in training delivered by Morneau Shepell in conjunction with Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences. This certificate-based training entitled Leading a Mentally Healthy Workplace Certification Program consisted of two in-class sessions at CCOHS along with self-paced online exams and self-study modules.
The aim of the training was to help CCOHS adopt best practices in mental health accommodations, work-life balance, positive staff intra- and interpersonal factors as well as achieving open dialogue and peer-related support during these sessions.
CCOHS has a variety of teams, committees and activities that involve the employees in helping to build a healthy and productive workplace. The four main teams include the Occupational Health and Safety Committee, Mental Health @ Work Team, Healthy Workplace Team and the GWCC Workplace Charitable Campaign (United Way Committee).
This year, with help from the committees staff at CCOHS participated in a number of healthy workplace and charitable initiatives including a walking challenge; group staff-led fitness classes such as yoga and tai chi during the lunch hours; as well as paying it forward with bake sales, food drives and other charitable work in the community.
Responsibility for the integrity and objectivity of the accompanying financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2015, and all information contained in these 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 Canadian public sector accounting standards.
Management is responsible for the integrity and objectivity of the information in these 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' Departmental Performance Report, is consistent with these financial statements.
An Audit Committee appointed by the Council of Governors of CCOHS has reviewed these 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 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 risk-based assessment of the effectiveness of the system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR).
An assessment for the year ended March 31, 2015 was completed in accordance with the Treasury Board's Policy on Internal Control and the results and action plans are summarized in the annex.
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.
CCOHS will be subject to periodic Core Control Audits performed by the Office of the Comptroller General and will use the results of such audits to adhere to the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control.
In the interim, CCOHS has undertaken a risk-based assessment of the system of ICFR for the year ended March 31, 2015, in accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control, and the results and action plan are summarized in the annex. The annex is available on CCOHS' website at the following location: http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/reports/reports_council.html.
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton 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:
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton LLP
2505 St-Laurent Blvd.
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 1E4
Telephone: 613-236-2211
Fax: 613-236-6104
www.rcgt.com
We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, which comprise the statement of financial position as at March 31, 2015, and the statements of operations and net financial position, statement of change in net debt and statement of cash flow for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
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.
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 the auditor's judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers 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 is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit 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, 2015, and the results of its operations, changes in its net debt, and its cash flow for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards.
Chartered Accountants
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton LLP
Licensed Public Accountants
June 16, 2015
Ottawa, Canada
2015 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|
$ | $ | |
Liabilities | ||
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (note 8) |
721,631 | 334,473 |
Deferred revenues – web based subscriptions |
1,322,039 | 1,191,239 |
Vacation pay and compensated leave |
454,382 | 442,133 |
Employee severance benefits (note 10) |
1,063,934 | 1,144,220 |
Deferred revenues – donations (note 9) |
110,902 | 110,902 |
Total liabilities | 3,672,888 | 3,222,967 |
Financial assets: | ||
Due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund |
801,431 | 436,643 |
Accounts receivable (note 7) |
449,315 | 379,148 |
Total Financial assets | 1,250,746 | 815,791 |
Net Debt (note 3) | (2,422,142) | (2,407,176) |
Non-financial assets: | ||
Inventory for resale |
36,553 | 29,983 |
Tangible capital assets (note 6) |
316,950 | 114,438 |
Total non-financial assets: | 353,503 | 144,421 |
Net Financial Position | (2,068,639) | (2,262,755) |
Approved by:
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
2015 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|
$ | $ | |
Expenses | ||
Operations |
||
Salaries and employee benefits |
7,460,000 | 7,882,906 |
Professional and special services |
874,096 | 1,130,648 |
Accommodation |
676,937 | 676,937 |
Transportation and communications |
194,307 | 131,760 |
Purchased repair and upkeep |
88,476 | 142,547 |
Utilities, materials and supplies |
142,886 | 154,935 |
Information |
71,589 | 50,011 |
Rentals |
27,869 | 29,411 |
9,536,160 | 10,199,155 | |
Administration |
||
Salaries and employee benefits |
490,978 | 264,539 |
Governors and committees |
4,036 | 3,590 |
Travel |
29,911 | 26,196 |
Professional and special services |
440 | 6,309 |
Utilities, materials and supplies |
527 | - |
Rentals |
206 | 194 |
526,098 | 300,828 | |
Other expenses |
||
Amortization of tangible capital assets (note 6) |
33,646 | 19,935 |
Loss on disposal of tangible capital assets |
- | 47,144 |
33,646 | 67,079 | |
Total expenses |
10,095,904 | 10,567,062 |
Revenues (note 5) |
||
Proceeds from sales |
3,293,810 | 3,075,122 |
Projects and collaborative agreements |
1,125,860 | 903,862 |
Total revenues |
4,419,670 | 3,978,984 |
Net cost of operations before government funding |
(5,676,234) | (6,588,078) |
Government Funding |
||
Net cash provided by government |
4,547,983 | 5,036,850 |
Change in due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund |
364,788 | 153,701 |
Services provided without charge from other government departments (note 11) |
1,197,545 | 1,272,626 |
Transfer of transition payments for implementing salary payments in arrears (note 13) |
(239,966) | - |
Net surplus (cost) of operations after government funding |
194,116 | (124,901) |
Net Financial Position at Beginning of Year |
(2,262,755) | (2,137,854) |
Net Financial Position at End of year |
(2,068,639) | (2,262,755) |
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
2015 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|
$ | $ | |
Net (Cost) Surplus of Operations after government funding | 194,116 | (124,901) |
Changes due to Tangible Capital Assets | ||
Acquisitions of tangible capital assets |
(236,158) | - |
Amortization of tangible capital assets |
33,646 | 19,935 |
Disposal of tangible capital assets |
- | 47,144 |
Total Change Due to Tangible Capital Assets | (202,512) | 67,079 |
Increase in inventory for resale | (6,570) | (921) |
Net increase in net debt | (14,966) | (58,742) |
Net debt, at Beginning of year | (2,407,176) | (2,348,433) |
Net debt, at End of year | (2,422,142) | (2,407,176) |
2015 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|
$ | $ | |
Operating Activities | ||
Net cost of operations before government funding |
5,676,234 | 6,588,078 |
Non-cash items: |
||
Amortization of tangible capital assets (Note 6) |
(33,646) | (19,935) |
Loss on disposal of tangible capital assets |
- | (47,144) |
Services received without charge from other government departments (Note 11) |
(1,197,545) | (1,272,626) |
Transition Payments for implementing salary payments in in arrears (Note 13) | 239,966 | - |
Variations in Statement of Financial Position: | ||
Increase accounts payable and accrued liabilities |
(387,158) | 130,425 |
Increase in deferred revenue |
(130,800) | (266,508) |
Decrease (Increase) in vacation pay and compensated leave |
(12,249) | 15,892 |
Decrease in employee severance benefits |
80,286 | 116,386 |
Increase in deferred revenues – donations |
- | (4,500) |
Increase in accounts receivable |
70,167 | 56,711 |
Increase in inventory for resale |
6,570 | 921 |
Cash used in operating activities | 4,311,825 | 5,036,850 |
Capital investing activities | ||
Acquisitions of tangible capital assets |
236,158 | - |
Net cash provided by Government of Canada | 4,547,983 | 5,036,850 |
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
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.
Internal Services | Health and Safety | 2015 | 2014 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
$ | $ | $ | $ | |
Salaries and employee benefits | 2,581,304 | 5,369,674 | 7,950,978 | 8,147,445 |
Professional and Special Services | 47,832 | 830,692 | 878,524 | 1,140,518 |
Accommodation | 219,769 | 457,168 | 676,937 | 676,937 |
Transportation and communications | 160,429 | 63,790 | 224,219 | 157,955 |
Information | 49,553 | 22,037 | 71,590 | 50,011 |
Purchased repair and upkeep | - | 88,476 | 88,476 | 142,547 |
Utilities, materials and supplies | - | 149,983 | 149,983 | 154,935 |
Rental | - | 28,122 | 28,122 | 29,635 |
Other expenditures | - | 27,076 | 27,076 | 67,079 |
Total Expenses | 3,058,887 | 7,037,018 | 10,095,905 | 10,567,062 |
Revenues | - | - | 4,419,670 | 3,978,984 |
Cost from continuing operations | 5,676,234 | 6,588,078 |