Science and Research Serving Canadians -
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch

Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme

The Workplace Health and Public Safety Programme (WHPSP) enhances productivity and quality of life by contributing to the health and safety of federal and other Canadian workers, visiting dignitaries and the traveling public in Canada.

• Public Service Health Program
  
  
• Public Health Bureau
  
  
• Policy and Workplace Health Strategies Bureau

Public Service Health Program

The Public Service Health Program (PSHP) provides occupational health services nationally to federal departments and agencies on behalf of Treasury Board, and serves as the principal occupational health and safety advisor to Treasury Board Secretariat.

PSHP provides specialized services for promoting and protecting the health of federal public service employees in Canada and overseas, including Health Evaluations, Communicable Diseases, Workplace Investigations, Office Ergonomics, and Health Education, Promotion and Training. PSHP's scientific staff work with regional departments to provide the specialized knowledge and skills needed to assess workplace hazards, develop a risk management plan detailing corrective actions, formulate job hazard analyses and worksite profiles, and offer training to managers, supervisors and employees.

Science Strategies, Requirements and Activities

PSHP uses science extensively to deliver high-quality occupational health and safety services. This scientific approach includes data collection and evaluation involving various chemical, physical, and biological substances and agents, and requires integration of evolving occupational health and safety guidelines, standards and tools.

Currently, PSHP benefits from the services of around 200 personnel, 67 percent of whom are science professionals in medicine, nursing, industrial hygiene, occupational and environmental health. The nature of the PSHP is such that it has generated one of the few pools of medical and environmental health personnel with combined expertise in both occupational and public health.

To carry out its research strategy, the PSHB collaborates with various organizations, including:

• Human Resources and Social Development;
  
  
• Public Health Agency of Canada;
  
  
• Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada;
  
  
• World Health Organization (WHO);
  
  
• US Centers for Disease Control; and
  
  
• National Pandemic Influenza Committee.

Excellence

Protocols, standard operating procedures, guidelines and advisories are continually being developed on occupational health and safety issues on behalf of federal workers in Canada. These documents are subject to internal and external review by other subject matter experts.

Internal processes have been put in place to ensure the highest quality of services for Canadians. For example, analytical services are performed only by accredited and competent laboratories. Several internal standard operating procedures have also been prepared to ensure consistency and uniformity in services delivered throughout the country.

Ongoing participation on committees within and outside the federal government ensures sharing information and findings with other subject matter experts and the learning of new and current industry practices and information.

Challenges, Opportunities and Emerging Issues

Health care provision is highly labour intensive, which has resulted in an increasingly competitive market for the available supply of qualified professionals. Canada's health human resources market is dominated by the "baby boomer" population, which is shrinking significantly because of retirements.

PSHP's capacity to support departments and agencies through advice, guidance and direct services (e.g. immunizations) will have a direct impact on the federal government's state of readiness if there is a national health emergency such as a pandemic or a terrorist attack.

Communication and Outreach

• PSHP personnel are active in the knowledge community and regularly participate in important conferences, such as the Treasury Board Health and Safety Seminar.
  
  
• PSHP provides on-site support to federal workers for health prevention and promotion, including advice on precautionary measures, personal protective equipment and related fit testing and the handling of suspicious packages.
  
  
• PSHP also provides support to human resources and occupational health and safety coordinators in federal departments as well as workplace investigation, environmental sanitation and clean-up advice.

Public Health Bureau

The Public Health Bureau (PHB) works to reduce health risks to the traveling public related to communicable diseases on conveyances, and to ensure safe water in federal facilities through inspection, advice and consultation services to conveyance operators and federal departments.

PHB works with industry and other federal departments on two compliance programs: the Traveling Public Program and the Federal Drinking Water Compliance Program. Both programs assist Canada in fulfilling its national and international responsibilities pertaining to protecting the health of the traveling public and those using federal grounds or in federal buildings. PHB also develops policies and regulatory tools and frameworks to address current gaps in regulation and legislation related to public conveyances.

Under the Traveling Public Program, PHB environmental health officers (EHOs) carry out public health inspections on passenger conveyances (ferries, cruise ships, trains, aircrafts) and their ancillary services (flight kitchens, airports), which include inspections regarding water, food and sanitation. The Federal Drinking Water Compliance Program assists federal departments in demonstrating due diligence in protecting human health from risks related to drinking water.

Science Strategies, Requirements and Activities

Health inspections and audits are routinely carried out by Health Canada's EHOs. To ensure the integrity of these inspections, EHOs apply the latest technical and scientific knowledge. To achieve this, PHB follows trends and advancements in science and technology that inform risk assessment and management measures. It conducts regular literature reviews to gather knowledge and awareness of existing and emerging public health risks on conveyances and best practices for water quality management. EHOs develop and update their skills through training with scientists (e.g. epidemiologists, microbiologists, engineers) who possess the relevant knowledge and expertise.

PHB's health inspections and audits of conveyances have generated a knowledge base of data and information that has contributed to a wider epidemiological understanding of communicable diseases such as gastrointestinal illness (GI). This knowledge base is largely contained in the electronic Public Health Information Tracking System (PHITS) maintained by PHB and the GI Illness Surveillance Database maintained by PHB and PHAC. PHITS primarily tracks critical health violations and their respective corrective action statements. PHB collects and uses the GI Illness Surveillance Database to assist in taking action to prevent the spread of communicable disease via conveyances, and to contribute to the body of surveillance data available to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Other research and scientific activities are conducted to inform policies and the development of a regulatory framework for conveyances. PHB staff work with scientists and researchers on issues such as risk assessments and international trends.

Central to the work of the Federal Drinking Water Compliance program is the need to gather and disseminate the best available scientific and technical knowledge on drinking water management and related best practices to federal departments. The program uses this knowledge to develop tools for federal departments, which help to implement appropriate measures that protect human health from drinking water-related risks and allow departments to demonstrate due diligence in drinking water management. PHB's Federal Drinking Water Compliance Program advises federal departments on drinking water risk management practices consistent with current scientific research and Health Canada's science-based Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (1996).

To carry out its research strategy, PHB collaborates with various organizations, including:

• Interdepartmental Working Group on Drinking Water;
  
  
• World Health Organization;
  
  
• US Vessel Sanitation Program; and
  
  
• US Federal Drug Administration.

Excellence

In addition to working with its international and Canadian partners to develop international health regulations, PHB in collaboration with Statistics Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted and extensive water testing program on aircraft and has launched an innovative, multi-disciplinary action plan for addressing Norovirus on conveyances. As well, PHB has been a leader in developing new tools and processes for use by federal departments in managing their drinking water responsibilities.

Challenges, Opportunities and Emerging Issues

Aside from conducting health inspections and audits, the Traveling Public Program lacks the capacity to conduct broader research and related scientific activities. Such capacity would allow the bureau to better understand and assess public health risks on conveyances, especially those surrounding emerging risks like new strains of influenza and other communicable diseases.

Communication and Outreach

• When significant public health risks on conveyances are identified, the Traveling Public Program informs the public of these risks and how best to avoid them. Information is provided on Health Canada's Web site, including procedures, protocols, reports and results of inspections of cruise ships. It also maintains ongoing dialogue and holds regular annual meetings with the transportation industry to share information and consult on how to best assess and manage public health risks on conveyances.
  
  
• The Federal Drinking Water Program publishes two newsletters a year, and holds an annual workshop on best practices for maintaining safe drinking water systems.

Policy and Workplace Health Strategies Bureau

The Policy and Workplace Health and Strategies Bureau supports the development and implementation of workplace health strategies for Canadians by providing advice, guidance and tools for employers.

Health Canada's exploration of comprehensive work-place health approaches has contributed to the generation of new knowledge and the creation of models of good practices that, when applied within work settings, have the potential to improve the health and well-being of Canadians, reduce work-related health care costs, and enhance the productivity of the Canadian economy. The accumulation of policy research on workplace health over the past two decades has also built a solid foundation on which future policy can be developed.

Science Strategies, Requirements and Activities

To further understand the impact of integrating comprehensive workplace health principles and policies into workplace practices, the bureau collaborates with partners that are conducting related research and promotes and evaluates current comprehensive workplace health models of good practice.

Occupational stress has been long recognized as a major workplace health hazard. The Cost of Stress field study will examine the measurable cost of occupational stress, assess the magnitude of these costs, and determine which specific organizational features and management practices can effectively reduce related costs. Several research projects have also been initiated in collaboration with the Health Policy Research Program (HPRP). This looks beyond individual and organizational outcomes to explore and test new hypotheses about workplace health policies and practices.

The Corporate Health Model, the Small Business Health Model, and the Farm Business Health Model are three resources that make up the Workplace Health System. This system is a comprehensive approach to health promotion programming and provides employers with guiding principles and a seven-step process for implementing workplace health policies and practices.

To carry out its research strategy, the WHPSP collaborates with various organizations, including:

• Human Resources and Social Development;
  
  
• Workplace Health for Health Care Providers;
  
  
• Public Health Agency of Canada;
  
  
• Duxbury Studies;
  
  
• Canadian Mental Health Strategy;
  
  
• Healthy Living Strategy;
  
  
• Public Service Human Resource Agency of Canada; and
  
  
• Workplace Health for Federal Public Servants.

Excellence

Research projects currently underway through HPRP must meet the terms and conditions as set out by Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments. Ethics approval is a mandatory requirement and research ethics boards are expected to operate in accordance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.

Challenges, Opportunities and Emerging Issues

There are no readily available original data that provide an indication of the cost of non-healthy workplaces on the health care system. A national survey on workplace health, conducted by Statistics Canada, would provide national-level data on working conditions and the health of Canadian workers.

Communication and Outreach

• Stakeholder engagement has been identified as one of five pillars in support of developing collaborative action on workplace health strategies for Canadians. (The other four pillars include: 1) policy development; 2) research; 3) education and awareness; and 4) workplace health within the federal public service.) Inclusion of this pillar acknowledges the many important roles that a variety of stakeholders (e.g. private, public, voluntary, labour, academic and research organizations) have in promoting a coordinated approach to improving workplace health.