Hazard Alerts

• Hazard Alerts - Overview
• Objective
• Hazard alerts and related publications
• Links to agencies issuing alerts

Hazard Alerts - Overview:

Hazard alerts and related documents are issued by occupational health and safety (OHS) agencies to advise workers, employers and health and safety professionals of those workplace incidents involving occupational hazards requiring immediate attention. Hazard alerts describe these incidents, the identified occupational hazards and communicate prescribed workplace safety guidelines and practices to prevent and reduce future occurrences of similar workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

This page, established in response to a request from OHSmembers of the Intergovernmental WHMIS Coordinating Committee, provides a listing of chemical and biological substances for which hazard alerts have been issued by Canadian OHS agencies as well as those issued by the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Hazard alerts related to ergonomics (musculoskeletal disorders) and to other physical interaction with the work environment have not been listed here.

Objective:

The objective of this page is to enable users to identify for which substances a hazard alert has been issued. It will also enable OHS agencies to benefit from each others' experience and thereby allow them to optimize the allocation of resources towards the reduction of occupational risks and the prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities as new hazards are identified.

Hazard Alerts and Related Publications:

Explanatory notes:

n.o.s.: not otherwise specified
n.s.: not specified

List of hazard alerts (current to December 2002); pdf :

Links to agencies issuing alerts:

Canada: The CANOSH Web site (developed and maintained by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety) provides links to hazard alerts, safety bulletins and related publications issued by Canadian OHS agencies.

United States: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the U.S. Federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related disease and injury. Hazard alerts and related publications can be accessed from the NIOSH "Publications and Products" page.