Canadian Safety Reporter

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 News | October 2014 | CSR Transition from WHMIS to universal GHS continues By Liz FOSTer the recent publIcatIon of the joint action Plan from the Canada-United States regula- tory Cooperation Council is the latest push forward in the long journey to transition from the Canadian Workplace Hazard- ous Materials information Sys- tem (WHMiS) to the universal Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). GHS is a standardized, inter- nationally consistent approach to classifying chemicals accord- ing to their physical, health and environmental hazards. GHS covers all hazardous chemical substances and mixtures, com- municating hazard information through labels and safety data sheets. GHS is expected to improve on Canada's current WHMiS system by clarifying the com- munication of hazard informa- tion, identifying hazards not addressed under the current system and providing more de- tailed information on hazardous products to both employers and employees. WHMiS — in place in Canada since 1988 — is implemented at the federal level through the Hazardous Products act (HPa), and the Controlled Products regulations (CPr). The system requires suppliers of hazardous chemicals intended for work- place use to classify products and provide related hazard in- formation on material safety data sheets and labels. The amended HPa received royal assent in june 2014, al- lowing the federal government to propose a plan to replace the CPr with the Hazardous Prod- ucts regulations (HPr) and implement GHS. HPr will differ from the cur- rent CPr in its new approach to establishing classification of workplace hazardous chemi- cals, the classification of physi- cal hazards, the classification of health hazards, hazard commu- nication and exemptions. "implementation of the GHS worldwide would facilitate in- ternational trade and enhance workplace safety by provid- ing workers with standardized and consistent information on chemical hazards," said eric Morrissette, a senior media rela- tions advisor for Health Canada. a key objective of the imple- mentation of the GHS is to cre- ate a system that would allow the use of a single north american label and safety data sheet for each hazardous product, he said. Despite efforts to harmo- nize regulations, however, Mor- rissette said some differences — such as bilingual labels in Canada — will continue to exist. adrian Miedema, a partner in the Toronto employment Group of Dentons Canada LLP, said efforts to harmonize have been complicated by indepen- dent provincial and territorial health and safety laws. "in Canada, each province has its own health and safety laws that apply to the majority of employees," Miedema said. "if there was going to be harmoni- zation that is not just a matter of federal jurisdiction — hazard- ous products fall within federal jurisdiction — the federal gov- ernment would have to not only enter into an agreement with the United States but also enter into an agreement with all the prov- inces that they were all going to harmonize in the same way." Due to these complications, Miedema said he doubted the harmonization of occupational health and safety regulations would extend past the imple- mentation of GHS. "Following changes to federal legislation, the implementation of the GHS would require prov- inces and territories to make their own legislative and regula- tory amendments," Morrissette said of the efforts to harmonize. "Health Canada has been work- ing closely with the provinces and territories to transition to the new system." The Canadian Centre for Oc- cupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), in partnership with Health Canada, developed and released two free online train- ing courses to help workplaces prepare for WHMiS after GHS. according to Health Canada, the updated WHMiS laws are expected to be in force by june 2015. Under the proposed legis- lation, GHS would apply to sec- tors currently under WHMiS. additionally, eight sectors currently excluded from WH- MiS — including consumer products, pest control products, explosives, cosmetics, medical devices, drugs, food, wood and products made from wood — could be moved to a schedule on the HPa under the new legisla- tion. The updated classification and labeling system will be aligned with the United States' Hazard Communications Stan- dard. The joint action Plan — pub- lished by the Canada-United States regulatory Cooperation Council — details the two gov- ernments' efforts to continue to co-ordinate the regulation of occupational health and safety moving forward. "efforts towards regulatory alignment will be conducted by lead departments and agencies, under broad guidance from the rCC and in consultation with impacted stakeholders," the joint action Plan reads. "Both Canada and the U.S. have among the highest stan- dards of health and safety in the world, founded on strong and ef- fective procedures for the devel- opment, assessment and mar- keting authorization (approval, licensing and/or registration) of health… and the classification of workplace chemicals." The joint action Plan prom- ises harmonizing occupational health and safety regulations through the implementation of GHS will reduce the potential for confusion among systems and lead to benefits from in- creased worker protection and safety. The regulatory Cooperation Council was launched in Febru- ary 2011 to increase regulatory transparency and co-ordination between Canada and the United States. "Implementation of the GHS worldwide would facilitate international trade and enhance workplace safety by providing workers with standardized and consistent information on chemical hazards." Credit: Ecelop\Shutterstock

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