The Institute for Work & Health introduces the  Health & Safety Smart Planner – a new, user-friendly tool that is  designed to help workplaces understand the full benefits and costs of  occupational health and safety programs and interventions.

A free, user-friendly software program developed by the Institute for  Work & Health (IWH) can help workplaces see the benefits and costs  of their health and safety programs. Called the Health & Safety  Smart Planner, the tool is expected to be available for downloading from  IWH’s website by the spring of 2010.

“Health and safety planning should be based on a thorough analysis of  all the benefits and costs associated with an intervention. This can be  a challenge for workplaces to undertake,” says Dr. Emile Tompa, an IWH  scientist and economist who led the software development. “In the Smart  Planner, we’ve tried to build sound economic principles into a format  that’s easy to use.”

The up-front costs of occupational health and safety (OHS)  initiatives can deter firms from investing in them. Yet the overall  benefits – such as lower injury rates or productivity gains – may  outweigh these costs over time. The Smart Planner helps to present a  complete picture of all the benefits and costs. In technical terms, this  is known as an economic evaluation, an area in which Tompa is an  expert.

There are several versions of the Smart Planner. The first one,  designed for the manufacturing and service sectors in Ontario, was  funded by Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s Research  Advisory Council. Another version, supported by funding from WorkSafeBC,  is being developed for the health-care sector in British Columbia.

Find more information on IWH's website