Thank you very much, Madam Chair, members of the committee.
My name is Suzy McDonald. I'm with Health Canada. I thought I'd begin today by providing a brief explanation of the roles of both Health Canada and the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, which I'll refer to as the commission, in protecting worker health and safety as it relates to hazardous materials in the workplace.
The workplace hazardous materials information system, also known as WHMIS, is designed to protect worker health and safety while allowing industry to protect confidential business information. This program was established in Canada in 1988 through interlocking federal, provincial, and territorial legislation.
At the federal level the Hazardous Products Act and its associated regulations require suppliers, such as chemical, mining, and petroleum sectors, to classify workplace hazardous materials and provide information on these hazardous materials. Just so we're clear, the vast majority of these materials are workplace chemicals.
Essentially, if you produce a hazardous material for work in the workplace, that hazardous material needs to have a label that identifies the hazards, and it must be accompanied by a material safety data sheet, an MSDS, that provides information to workers on how to handle the product, what personal protective equipment to wear, which first aid measures should be taken if you come into direct contact with the product, and how the product should be disposed of or what you should do in the case of an accidental spill.
When selling or importing hazardous materials for workplace use, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, the portion of the bill before you today, enables suppliers and employers to protect confidential business information. Essentially, companies can submit a claim to the commission which reviews the information and ensures that the label and the MSDS contain the correct information even when companies are not going to disclose the actual ingredients.
The commission reviews between 350 and 400 such claims a year. In addition to this, federal, provincial, and territorial occupational health and safety legislation and regulations place requirements on employers to inform and train their workers on the safe use of hazardous products using the labels and the material safety data sheets as provided by suppliers. At the federal level, the Canada Labour Code prescribes these requirements for federally regulated industries.
As set out in the bill before you today, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act would be amended to transfer the responsibilities and the functions of the commission to Health Canada and as a result, the commission would cease to stand as a stand-alone agency.
The changes presented in the bill before you are administrative in nature, which means that they make the changes needed so that the commission will no longer be a stand-alone agency. The responsibilities and functions of the commission will not change as they transfer to Health Canada. The changes will not alter the operation of the exemptions permitted for confidential business information.
I would say that the changes to the act fall into a few broad categories. One, it repeals mention of the president and the council of governors as they will no longer exist. Two, it replaces the council of governors, which is established through a governor in council appointment, with a new ministerial advisory council enacted through this legislation. The composition of the new council would mirror that of the existing council. Three, it ensures that the employees and their positions from within the commission are transferred to Health Canada, including any employees who may be impacted by workforce adjustment. Four, it repeals sections of the act that through legislation set out requirements that would no longer be required for a stand-alone agency, an annual report for example.
The amendments to the act will not affect its primary purpose, which is to provide for the granting of exemptions under WHMIS so as to protect confidential business information. All key aspects of the act related to the claim for exemptions remain the same, including registration of claims, issuance of registry numbers, determination of claim validity, determination of compliance of the material safety data sheets and labels, and convening of independent tripartite boards to hear appeals from claimants or affected parties on decisions and orders under the act.
Health Canada already serves as a national coordinator for WHMIS. If the budget bill passes, staff and the commission will be merged with existing WHMIS staff. Moving the confidential business information review role of the commission to Health Canada achieves two objectives: efficiencies and ensuring that the responsibilities for protecting workers can be managed in a balanced, effective and efficient way.
Again, the roles and responsibilities of the commission are not changing as they transfer to Health Canada. The technical experts who work at the commission will continue their work once they transfer to Health Canada, only now they'll work more closely with experts from the WHMIS program across the department.
Both stakeholders and provincial and territorial partners, some of whom are here today, have been notified of the proposed changes and they will continue to be engaged throughout this process.
Thank you.