BUILDING TEAM CAPACITY AND HARMONY

As a small agency with a single mandate, HMIRC dedicates approximately 75 percent of its human resources to operations—primarily to the processing of claims for trade secret exemption. Over the past year, as the Commission focused on increasing the efficiency of its claim process, a comprehensive business case was produced identifying a shortfall in the resources required to maintain and increase the Commission’s operational and administrative capacity. The Commission has experienced a significant rise in the number and complexity of claims for exemption from trade secret disclosure. This, coupled with a chronic shortage of qualified scientific personnel and insufficient resources in supporting areas, has resulted in a two-year claim-processing backlog. Near year end, the Commission secured funding for the first year of a three-year backlog elimination plan.

After collaborating with organizations to gather best practices, HMIRC’s management team created a comprehensive HR strategy that defined multiple channels for recruitment. The Commission restructured physically as well, knocking down walls, building new offices and extending its technology infrastructure to accommodate the expanded team.

Staffing up

Recruiting and retaining qualified personnel is an ongoing challenge for small agencies. This is especially true for HMIRC, given the highly specialized nature of its scientific work and a shortage of qualified talent. As part of its human resources strategy and plans to reduce its claim backlog, in 2007-08 the Commission established a partnership with federal Health Portfolio partners to begin building a pool of qualified scientific candidates who can be recruited on short notice. The Commission also introduced tools to increase employee awareness of human resources modernization by integrating HR planning and business planning, empowering line managers to be more actively involved in HR planning, and promoting continuous learning and development of all employees.

Outreach and the web

HMIRC’s most prominent communications and outreach tool is its website. A full review of the website was undertaken last year in preparation for introduction of the legislative and regulatory amendments. The revised website will be launched once the new legislative amendments are enacted. The Commission also initiated efforts to modernize its website in adherence with the Common Look and Feel 2.0 standard set out by the Treasury Board Secretariat. Launch is slated for December 2008.

Engaging with stakeholders

Once again, the Commission was a presence at several key industry events—including the Society of Toxicology’s 47^th Annual ToxExpo in Seattle, Washington, and the Eleventh International Congress of Toxicology in Montréal, Quebec. These forums allow the Commission to maintain a dialogue with toxicologists from around the world, and with specialists in consumer product safety, safety assessment and data management. During the year, HMIRC also presented its findings on MSDS violations to the Canadian Association of Manufacturers and Exporters, raising awareness of trends in data reporting and areas for improvement. In addition, the Commission co-authored a scientific paper with the National Office of WHMIS at Health Canada on MSDS violations. The paper was presented at the Health Canada Science Forum.

Research activity

Drawing on its expertise and scientific nature, the Commission continues to provide input on and guide research activities related to occupational safety and health (OSH). In 2007-08, HMIRC teamed up with other players as part of a Compliance working group tasked to identify priority OSH research to be undertaken jointly by the federal, provincial and territorial regulatory occupational safety and health jurisdictions. The Commission is also following progress of a major study being conducted by Health Canada assessing environmental chemical concentration levels in mothers and their infants.