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About Us

Mandate

Under the authority of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act and the provincial and territorial occupational health and safety acts, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission is an arm’s length administrative agency charged with carrying out a multi-faceted mandate:

• to formally register claims for trade secret exemptions, and issue registry numbers;
• to issue decisions on the validity of claims for exemption using prescribed regulatory criteria;
• to make decisions on the compliance of material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and labels within the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) requirements as set out in the Hazardous Products Act and Controlled Products Regulations and various provincial and territorial occupational health and safety acts; and
• to convene independent, tripartite boards to hear appeals from claimants or affected parties on decisions and orders issued by the Commission.

The Commission’s clientele consists of a number of WHMIS stakeholders: suppliers and employers in the chemical industry who wish to protect their trade secrets from being disclosed on MSDSs or labels; employers who rely on supplier MSDS information to prepare their own workplace MSDSs and training programs; and labour representing all workers who are exposed to these products.

Vision

The Commission will:

• Be a client-oriented agency committed to improving service quality and timeliness at a fair and reasonable cost to those who directly benefit from our work.
• Provide regulatory decision-making that is based on sound scientific principles and take pride in being a professional regulatory organization seeking creative and progressive approaches to enhancing workplace safety.
• Resolve complaints and disputes, whether under statutory mandate or not, in a manner that is impartial, fair and prompt.

Mission

As a vital and independent agency, accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Health, the mission of the Commission is to:

• Ensure a balance between industry’s right to protect confidential business information and the right of employers and workers to know about the hazardous materials they deal with in the workplace.
• Provide a trade secret mechanism within WHMIS.
• Resolve complaints and disputes impartially, fairly and promptly through statutory or alternate means.

Objectives

We aim to ensure that:

• Our work is highly visible and widely recognized.
• Our employees exhibit a business attitude through a strategic and client-oriented approach.
• Our activities achieve maximum worker health and safety benefits while minimizing impact and cost to industry standards and practices.
• Feedback from our clients and stakeholders is incorporated into improving our processes and programs.
• Established service standards are consistently achieved when handling client complaints.
• Disputes are resolved effectively by offering viable options and an appeal mechanism is available to respond to client needs.
• A comprehensive policy framework, driven by input from stakeholders, guides the operations of the Commission’s core programs.
• Cost recovery, consistent with Treasury Board policy, is achieved for decisions rendered on the validity of claims for trade secret exemptions, and cost recovery associated with MSDS compliance decisions rendered in the public interest, is eliminated.

Values and Operating Principles

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, like all federal departments and agencies, is adjusting to a range of new challenges. We recognize that in order to remain relevant and to provide effective and efficient performance and service quality, change is critical. If we ask ourselves which values and operating principles can best trigger this change, the answers would be:

FAIRNESS: in our ability to provide service and perform statutory functions.

TIMELINESS: in our ability to provide services within established and reasonable time frames.

ACCESSIBILITY and TRANSPARENCY: in our ability to provide information and services simply and clearly and with policies and procedures that are understandable to everyone.

ACCOUNTABILITY: in our ability to base regulatory instruments on rigorous cost/benefit analysis and to be accountable for programs and impact of decisions, while providing services in a manner that is cost-effective for everyone involved.

QUALITY and CONSISTENCY: in our ability to render accurate, relevant, dependable, understandable, predictable and error-free decisions while ensuring enforcement of firm and consistent regulations in the decision-making process.

COMPETENCY and RESPECT: in our ability to provide services based on a high level of skill, knowledge, scientific and technical competence, and to demonstrate respect and professionalism to everyone who comes into contact with the Commission.

SECURITY and CONFIDENTIALITY: in our ability to store and handle the trade secrets of our claimants and to balance confidentiality with openness and transparency in our day-to-day duties.

Operating Structure

The Council of Governors

The Commission is governed by a Council of Governors, consisting of members representing workers, suppliers, and employers, and the federal, provincial and territorial governments. The Council is responsible for making various recommendations to the Minister of Health. Please click here to know more about the Council of Governors.

The Role of the President and Chief Executive Officer

The President and CEO is appointed by the Governor in Council, and as the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, has the authority and responsibility to supervise and direct the organization’s work on a day-to-day basis. The President is accountable to the Council of Governors and the Minister of Health. The President’s Office acts as Secretariat to the Council of Governors. Please click here to know more about the President and CEO, Mr. Weldon Newton.

The Operations Branch

The Vice-President, Operations Branch has the authority and responsibility to supervise and direct the work of the MSDS Compliance, the Screening and the Client Services divisions.

The Corporate Services and Adjudication Branch

The Vice President, Corporate Services and Adjudication, has the authority and responsibility to supervise and direct the work of the Corporate Services, the Regulatory Affairs and Appeals, and the Communications divisions.

A Senior Management Committee (SMC) brings together the six division directors. SMC deals with day-to-day management issues, and helps coordinate the tasks that cut across division and branch boundaries. The Executive Committee consists of the two Vice-Presidents and the Commission’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and deals with long-term strategic and policy matters.

Business Lines

The Commission is taking a leadership role in program improvement. We have moved beyond organizational assessment to turn our program objective and stakeholders’ interests into action. We have adopted a business attitude that focuses on performance and strategic partnerships, while maintaining and preserving our key values and operating principles. To accomplish this, we have re-defined the organization into three core areas:

1. MSDS Compliance
2. Client Services
3. Dispute Resolution

Unique in nature, the three business lines utilize individual processes and approaches in response to the different roles they are mandated to carry out. The creation of these new business lines represents a positive and pragmatic step towards modernizing our services and meeting our clients’ changing needs.

MSDS Compliance

Objective

The aim of MSDS Compliance is to regulate, in the public interest, the maximum health and safety benefits in the workplace through ensuring that the information on the MSDS, which is the subject of a claim for exemption, provides appropriate health and safety information and guidance.

Design Principles

1. Openness, accessibility and transparency, while respecting the confidentiality provisions of the legislation, guide our actions to regulate in the public interest.
2. Fairness is the cornerstone of our decision-making process.
3. A firm dedication to ensuring that workplace health and safety, and sound scientific principles, judgement and information, guide the decisions we render.
4. Stakeholder satisfaction drives our process for complaint management.
5. High standards direct our annual program performance review.

Description

This business line contributes to the right of workers to know about the health and safety hazards of exposure to chemicals found in products associated with claims for exemption by ensuring that MSDSs and labels are compliant with WHMIS requirements. This includes an assessment of the scientific information relevant to each product and/or its ingredients and advice on the health and safety hazards posed by the product pursuant to the Hazardous Products Act, the Canada Labour Code, and provincial and territorial occupational health and safety legislation. Where non-compliance is found, a formal order for the revision of the MSDS is issued and a follow-up done to ensure compliance.

This activity will continue to result in a direct contribution to the reduction of workplace-related illness and injury which, in turn, has the effect of easing economic pressures due to compensation claims and health care costs.

Client Services

Objective

The aim of Client Services is to assist suppliers or employers in protecting their products’ confidential business information while allowing them to meet their disclosure obligations under WHMIS.

Design Principles

1. Professionalism, cost-effectiveness, timeliness and responsiveness define our claims registration service.
2. A firm understanding of business/government relations guides our service delivery.
3. Fairness and justice reflect our processes.
4. Openness and accountability encourage client feedback.
5. Prompt and courteous service define our complaint management process.

Description

The responsibilities within this area include the formal registration of claims for exemption, the issuance of registry numbers, the security of claim-related information and the issuance of a decision on claim validity pursuant to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act. In addition, Client Services provides general advice and guidance to claimants and monitors levels of client satisfaction.

Dispute Resolution

Objective

The aim of Dispute Resolution is to provide all parties with a range of options for discussion on issues arising from the decisions and orders of the Commission in order to prevent disputes from arising and where they do arise, to address them as early and effectively as possible.

Design Principles

1. Clarity and straightforwardness reflect our service and information delivery.
2. Expeditious resolution of cases, transparency of activities, and informality direct our complaint and dispute resolution processes.
3. Effective procedures and methods facilitate the identification and resolution of complaints.
4. Our unbiased approach to the decision-making process ensures impartial service to all parties.
5. Flexibility and fairness are reflected in our dispute resolution options.
6. Durable outcomes ensure better compliance, fewer disputes and improved relations for all parties involved in case settlements.
7. All parties will be encouraged to seek consensus agreements in resolving their dispute.

Description

This business line includes the convening of independent tripartite boards to hear appeals or disputes from claimants or affected parties in order to address issues or disputes as early and effectively as possible.

An appeal may relate to the compliance of an MSDS, to the rejection of a claim or to a request that confidential business information be disclosed in confidence to an affected party for occupational safety and health reasons.

Dispute resolution options such as mediation or facilitated discussion, will be implemented in a manner that is cost-effective and fair to everyone involved.

The Commission is striving to be a model public service organization. You can find out more about the Commission’s operations through our publications under the Publications On-Line link on this site.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Commission for additional information or clarification.