>OSH Works™ FAQs

General

• What is OSH Works?
• Why should I subscribe to OSH Works?
• What is included with a subscription to OSH Works?
• Can OSH Works be customized?
• Will I receive support from CCOHS?
• How much does OSH Works cost?
• How can I find out more about OSH Works

Versions

• How many versions of OSH Works are available?
• Which version should I subscribe to if I want to implement a health and safety program?
• Will OSH Works help with implementing an Occupational Health and Safety Management (OHSMS) in our organization?

Access

• What are the system requirements to access OSH Works?
• Who should be given access to OSH Works?
• As an employee, what do I have access to through OSH Works?
• As an administrator, what do I have access to through OSH Works?

Content

• How will the Administrator View help me identify health and safety program requirements?
• Can I incorporate my current health and safety policies, procedures, safe work practices, meeting minutes, inspection reports, etc. into OSH Works?
• Once I have entered my organization's specific information into my OSH Works account, where is it stored, how can I control who has access to it, and how long will it remain in the system?

General

What is OSH Works™?

OSH Works is a web-based service created by CCOHS to help organizations develop, implement, maintain and enhance occupational health and safety programs in their workplace.

Why should I subscribe to OSH Works?

OSH Works helps you save valuable time in identifying health and safety information you require, documenting your health and safety program and managing your health and safety activities for demonstrating due diligence.

What is included with a subscription to OSH Works?

A subscription to OSH Works includes access to the reference materials, sample documents, sample checklists, CCOHS awareness e-courses and the Occupational Health and Safety and Workers Compensation Acts for your jurisdiction(s). Our staff will assist you in setting up your account so everything is ready when your employees log into the service.

Can OSH Works be customized?

Yes, OSH Works can be enhanced to include online versions of your workplace reporting forms, for example. It is also possible to edit existing or add new tasks, etc. to assign to your employees for completion.

Will I receive support from CCOHS?

Yes. An OSH Works Technical Specialist will be assigned to your account to provide you with the necessary technical and program implementation assistance. You can also contact our Inquiries & Client Services team to get responses to any health and safety related questions you might have.

How much does OSH Works cost?

OSH Works is available as a yearly subscription service and the price is based on the number of employees whose activities are being tracked in OSH Works. When you renew your subscription, you will receive a 30% discount off the subscription pricing at the applicable employee level.

How can I find out more about OSH Works?

For more information on OSH Works, please visit our web site or contact CCOHS Inquiries and Client Services. For a personalized demonstration, complete our request form or contact Heather Reichheld, OSH Works Account Manager, at 1-800-668-4284 ext 4542 or oshworks@ccohs.ca.

Versions

How many versions of OSH Works are available?

Choose from 5 different versions of OSH Works, depending on what your organization needs:

1. Health and Safety Compliance: This version provides a framework to help organizations develop, manage and improve their workplace health and safety program.
2. Healthy Workplace: This version provides a framework for implementing a comprehensive workplace health and safety program using the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Healthy Workplace Framework and Model. This model takes a holistic approach to health and safety, integrating the physical work environment, the psychosocial work environment, health promotion, and enterprise community involvement as they relate to health and safety. See http://www.who.int/occupational_health/healthy_workplace_framework.pdf for details.
3. OHSMS Certification: This version is designed to help organizations to understand and meet the requirements of the Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Standard, CSA Z1000 and is compatible with the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Specification OHSAS 18001. Organizations with well established health and safety programs may choose to implement an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) and receive certification to either the Canadian OHSMS standard CSA Z1000 or international OHSMS standard OHSAS 18001. An OHSMS involves integrating health and safety into all aspects of an operation including production, human resources, administration, finance, maintenance and purchasing.
4. Manitoba Compliance: This version was developed in collaboration with Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health Division and is designed to help Manitoba companies understand and meet the 11 core elements of a Workplace Safety and Health Program established by the Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health Act.
5. OSH Works for Tim Hortons Owners: In collaboration with Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Prevention Services, CCOHS has customized the Healthy Workplace version of OSH Works to help Tim Hortons Restaurant owners to meet their compliance requirements as well as Workwell audit requirements.

Which version should I subscribe to if I want to implement a health and safety program?

If you want to implement a basic health and safety program, the Compliance version of OSH Works will be the most appropriate version for you. If you want to expand your organization’s objectives to include wellness initiatives, the Healthy Workplace Version of OSH Works would be appropriate.

Will OSH Works help with implementing an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) in our organization?

Yes, the OHSMS Certification version of OSH Works was created to help organizations with an existing Health and Safety Program to understand and meet the requirements of the Canadian Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) standard CSA Z1000. It also is compatible with other international Occupational Health and Safety Management System standards, such as OHSAS 18001. Following the Plan, Do, Check, and Act cycle of activities, OSH Works will help you to continually improve health and safety performance in your organization to achieve excellence in occupational health and safety.

Access

What are the system requirements to access OSH Works?

Employees would need access to a computer with a high speed Internet connection, a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and higher or Mozilla Firefox, and Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Who should be given access to OSH Works?

Ideally, all employees should be provided with access to OSH Works so they are aware of their responsibilities and required training as well as the OHS documents and records for your workplace. At a minimum, access should be provided to those employees (e.g. supervisors, health and safety committee members, etc.) that have health and safety responsibilities in your organization.

As an employee, what do I have access to through OSH Works?

The Employee view provides a quick and easy way to:

• Identify your health and safety responsibilities and tasks that are due or overdue to be completed, as well as those responsibilities you have completed
• Access applicable legislation, health and safety documents and records including workplace policies, procedures, work instructions, meeting minutes and other relevant documentation
• Report incidents and injuries through online forms

As an administrator, what do I have access to through OSH Works?

The Administrator view was specifically developed to assist the person(s) responsible for developing and maintaining the health and safety program, such as health and safety managers, health and safety coordinators and health and safety program leaders.

In the Administration View, you can:

• Set up tasks and assign responsibility for completion
• Track progress towards meeting requirements of the applicable legislation and other standards
• Assign and track training for employees
• Set program objectives and targets to improve workplace health and safety
• Provide access to legislation, standards, policies, procedures, records and reports, including:
  • Inspection and routine maintenance reports
  • Injury/incident reports and documents
  • Training reports
  • Minutes of meetings
  • Emergency procedures
• Send automatic email notification when responsibilities are assigned
• Create, assign and track corrective and preventive actions
• Monitor progress for implementing the elements through the Self-Assessment Tool
• Generate numerous reports for management reviews

Content

How will the Administrator View help me identify health and safety program requirements?

The Administrator View of OSH Works was based upon the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) management principle. The focus of the PDCA principle is to emphasize and foster continual improvement of your workplace health and safety performance. OSH Works utilizes this principle to organize your health and safety program into the following sections: Lead, Plan, Do, Check and Act.

Each element page provides a description of the element and a task table. The task table lists all key responsibilities related to the element that need to be performed to meet and comply with the element requirements.

Tools and Resources may also be available that include links to free resources, such as sample documents, CCOHS’ OSH Answers, and information about fee-based resources, such as CCOHS’ Legislation services, e-courses and publications.

Can I incorporate my current health and safety policies, procedures, safe work practices, meeting minutes, inspection reports, etc. into OSH Works?

Yes, you can either upload electronic files to OSH Works or, if they exist on your internal network, you can link to the files. Acceptable file formats that can be uploaded to OSH Works include Word documents, images, Excel files, PDFs, and more.

Once I have entered my organization’s specific information into my OSH Works account, where is it stored, how can I control who has access to it, and how long will it remain in the system?

Information that is entered into OSH Works resides on the secure server at CCOHS and will be accessible only to the people that have access to your OSH Works account. For the submitted Incident and Injury reports, employees will only be able to view the content of the Incident and Injury reports that they generated. Managers/supervisors will be able to access, through their Employee View, the Incident and Injury reports they generated as well as the Incident and Injury reports submitted by the employees that report to them, as designated through the Staff Directory.

In the Administrator View, the content of all documents, reports, etc. is available. Access to the Administrator View is intended to be restricted to a few key personnel that have the responsibility for developing and managing your health and safety program.

There is no expiry date for the uploaded reports - they remain available for as long as your OSH Works account is active or until you physically delete the records.