Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc.
February 19, 2016
Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc. (OHCOW) has joined the growing list of non-profit organizations that have implemented info:HR from HR Systems Strategies Inc. (HRSS).
OHCOW is a pro-active team of health and safety professionals committed to promoting the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being for workers and their communities. ocw
OHCOW had been manually tracking employee time-off and entitlements using spreadsheets. As well, they were using a payroll program that lacked the ability to retain data permanently. As a result, “We were looking for a system that could host Human Resources information in-house, giving us greater control of our records,” said Sha Bai, Accounting Manager for OHCOW.
OHCOW conducted a market scan for HRIS solutions and came up with a short list of their top choices. The final decision to go with info:HR was based on functionality, ease of use, and value based on price. In addition, OHCOW received strong recommendations and endorsement from other info:HR clients in the Health and Safety field and in the not-for-profit sector. “While we did our own research and due diligence, it was comforting to receive positive reviews from other long-time info:HR clients,” commented Sha.
Other key considerations for OHCOW were the capabilities of info:HR and the ESS module to manage employee master data as well as provide superior entitlements tracking. “We are noticing there is more transparency regarding entitlements. Employees can easily see entitlements online, and supervisors can see staff vacation requests all in one calendar; these features provide functionally and save time with respect to scheduling,” said Sha.
The implementation of info:HR and ESS typically takes two months from the first day of training, however OHCOW’s implementation of ESS was complete in 4 weeks. “I had a deadline and we met it, employees were trained a day or two after I completed my training and were using the system by the deadline date,” Sha added.
As for future plans, Sha said, “We will be tracking employee professional development, which will include attaching training certifications to employee profiles, as well as functionality around employee emergency contact information and property/equipment tracking.”
Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) was established in 1989 by the Ontario Federation of Labour and is funded through the Ontario Ministry of Labour. The first clinic opened in 1989 in Hamilton, with subsequent clinics opened in Toronto, Windsor, Sudbury, Sarnia and Thunder Bay. Staffed by an inter-disciplinary team of nurses, hygienists, ergonomists, Occupational Health Coordinators, client service coordinators and contracted physicians, each OHCOW clinic provides comprehensive occupational health services and information in five areas:
- An inquiry service to answer work-related health and safety questions
- Medical diagnostic services for workers who may have work-related health problems
- Group service for workplace health and safety committees and groups of workers
- Outreach and education to increase awareness of health and safety issues, and promote prevention strategies
- Research services to investigate and report on illnesses and injuries