Helping Canadians, WHPSP Overview

Canadians work hard - and we play hard - and the majority of us feel secure that our health and well-being is well protected under almost any circumstance.

But our world is changing more quickly than ever. International travel and commerce are expanding, Canada's population is diversifying, and our daily lives are more complex than ever.

Issues related to health, safety and emergency preparedness are becoming more important to us all.

Heath Canada's Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme provides national leadership in the development of health policy and workplace safety.

The Programme serves hundreds of thousands of people each year by helping to protect the health and safety of federal workers, visiting dignitaries and the travelling public within Canada.

"Leadership", "Teamwork" and "Innovation" ... These words represent the strengths that we're using to help Canadians improve their health, productivity and quality of life.

The creation of safe, supportive work environments is vital to improving the health of individual Canadians, their families and their communities. The Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme applies research and evidence to establish strategic policies and regulations that directly enhance worker health and public safety.

Effective models for creating healthy workplaces are shared throughout the country. We also work in partnership with national and international organizations that recognize the value of healthy workplaces, and want to do something for their own workers. As organizations adopt this thinking, we move closer to our long-term vision of healthy workplaces throughout Canada and the world.

Workplace stress and traumatic events can cause serious personal and family problems that critically diminish our health, well-being and job performance. To assist public service employees, the Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme manages a network of counsellors and consultants who support workplace stability by providing services such as mediation, communications skills development and team building seminars.

The Programme also maintains a crisis and referral centre that is confidential, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This service is supported in local communities by follow-up assessments and short-term counseling that help federal workers and their families deal with both personal and workplace stress. When disasters occur, such as the Swiss Air crash near Peggy's Cove, our personnel respond with on-site counseling and emergency services.

Health and safety hazards can be encountered in any workplace. Federal employers are obligated to take all reasonable measures that will eliminate identifiable risks and educate their staff about health and safety measures.

The Programme helps Public Service managers across Canada meet these commitments by offering workplace investigations and occupational health evaluations. We minimize the spread of communicable diseases through immunization services. By promoting health education programs, we reduce risks from hazardous materials, improve office ergonomics and support healthy work environments.These services help to reduce operating costs associated with illness, injury and absenteeism, while facilitating increased productivity for our federal workforce.

Canadians love to travel, and in return we welcome approximately 80 million visitors to our nation each year. The Programme has helped to protect the health and safety of the travelling public by implementing the world's first voluntary compliance program with cruise ships, flight kitchens, passenger railways and ferries to administer the inspection of food, water, sanitation services and disease outbreak investigations.

Our inspection program helps to shield citizens in ports of call, and Canadians in general, from the illnesses and communicable diseases that may exist onboard ships, aircraft and trains. These services promote traveler confidence, and are provided across the country on a cost recovery basis.

Canada has assumed an increasingly active role on the world's diplomatic stage, and the Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme has been extremely successful in providing health services for federal employees working abroad. We also organize emergency medical and food surveillance services to support international summits and official visits by foreign dignitaries.

Each year the Programme works with all levels of government to coordinate medical contingency plans for approximately sixty official visits by foreign dignitaries. We also provide these services for high profile events such as the Pope's visit, the Queen's Golden Jubilee, the Summit of the Americas and the G-8 Summit.

Visitors from around the world have come to respect the excellent quality of our innovative health and safety programmes.

It's a challenging responsibility, but we're clearly achieving our goal of becoming an international leader in workplace health and public safety.

Through our firm commitment to leadership, teamwork and innovation, we will help build a healthier and more productive Canadian workforce.