The Inquiries Service can now provide this information in two ways - through its global Internet service, OSH Answers, and by its traditional person-to-person telephone/mail information service.

OSH Answers is designed in an informative question-and-answer style and is on the CCOHS Web Site. It is a new service designed to take advantage of the "instant response" provided by the World Wide Web.

The Inquiries Service itself has been a person-to-person information service available to all Canadians for almost 30 years. Inquirers can consult with our Inquiry Officers to submit a question (by telephone, fax or e-mail). Generally written answers are sent to the inquirers since they usually want to share the information with co-workers, joint health and safety committee members, physicians, etc. or because they need written documentation for other purposes.

Who can ask for information?
The Inquiries Service is available to all Canadians in English and French and is accessible by telephone, fax, mail and e-mail. A wide range of people use the service including workers, families of workers, employers, health and safety professionals, and government officials. The information is provided free-of-charge and the service is confidential - we do not reveal the names of our inquirers to anyone or any agency. This service is primarily for Canadians, however, since it is funded by government agencies across Canada.

What do we do?
We help people gather information on health and safety so that they can make informed decisions about specific issues in the workplace. The information, for example, can enable people to identify hazards, take action to prevent injuries, or to control conditions that may affect the health of themselves and other workers.

Inquiries are answered by a team of CCOHS specialists with expertise in occupational health and safety and information retrieval. This team has access to all of the CCOHS technical expertise, publications and computerized information sources in addition to an extensive library containing specialized journals, books and microfiche collections.

We answer questions with information at the level that meets the needs of the inquirer. All responses are reviewed by subject specialists before they are sent to the inquirers.

How does the person-to-person Inquiries Service operate?
The person-to-person Inquiries Service operates differently from a "mail list" (i.e., mail server; 'listserv', etc.) or a web site like OSH Answers, so our inquirers should know a couple things before calling.

This service receives most of the occupational health and safety requests by telephone. Because our inquirers generally want to share our information with other people, we usually mail our answers to them rather than providing answers over the telephone.

While we endeavour to provide the information in a timely fashion, the Inquiries Service is not an emergency response service. Inquirers will be referred to other, more appropriate agencies or organizations if the Inquiries Service cannot provide the immediate response requested.

To be fair to all inquirers, all requests, whether received by telephone, e-mail or fax, are put in the same queue and are generally answered in the order of receipt. We say "generally" because many questions may have pre-prepared responses that we can process quickly whereas other questions require individualized research before they can be answered.

With the introduction of services such as the Inquiries Service's OSH Answers on the CCOHS Web Site and mail lists like CCOHS's HS-Canada, we hope that we will be able to provide more people with the type of information they find most useful when they want it.

With the person-to person Inquiries Service, how long will it take to get an answer?
We try to answer questions within two weeks; some answers go out the same day they are received but others can take longer to answer. The response times vary depending on the complexity of the questions, the availability of pre-prepared answers, the amount of customized literature research required, and so on. Our responses are usually sent by postal mail since much of the information is not in a form that can be e-mailed.

While we strive to minimize response times, it is not always possible to provide answers quickly because of:

• the large number of questions that we receive,
• the amount of research required to answer individual questions, and
• the quality assurance procedures that we follow to ensure that the answers are accurate, unbiased, and up-to-date.

How can the Inquiries Service be reached?
You can reach the Inquiries Service by using the online Inquiries Form, regular mail, fax, and telephone but the Inquiries Service staff really prefer to talk to our inquirers directly. This one-on-one discussion helps us to help you better and to meet your needs more specifically.

By Telephone/Fax:

1-800-263-8466 (Toll free in Canada only)
1-905-572-4400 (8:30 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time)
1-905-572-4500 (FAX)

By Postal Mail:

Inquiries Service

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
135 Hunter Street East
Hamilton ON L8N 1M5
Canada

Through the Internet: Inquiry Form
Inquiries WWW Site: OSH Answers