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Page WHMIS SPECIAL EDITION Wednesday March 15 1989 How WHMIS came to be By GIL HARDY Ottawa Bureau Thomson News Service OTTAWA More than three mil lion Canadians are getting the tools to better protect themselves from ha zardous materials in the The tools are information and training The protection comes in the form of the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System which ensures employees are getting all the neces sary information needed to work safely says Alan CotterUl a scien tific project officer with the product safety board at Consumer and Corpo rate Affairs It fulfills the workers right to know what hes working with and the hazard of that material CotterUl says It provides the worker and the employer with sufficient information to adequately protect the worker from hazardous material and to use the material safely WHMIS grew out of a widespread concern that workers deserved to know what they were handling on a daily basis Provincial governments occupational health and safety regu lators organized labor and industry all agreedthat a national system was needed to identify hazardous mater ial Jt was the occupational health and safety committee of the Canadian As sociation of Administrators of Labor Legislators which approached Con sumer and Corporate Affairs to use the Hazardous Products Act as the most suitable vehicle to put obliga tions on the suppliers Cotterill says Six years of discussions were necessary before Bill C70 which amended the Canada Labor Code and other acts and enacted the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act was passed by Parliament in June 1987 But Cotterill says that much time was necessary because so many different groups were involved Industry labor and provincial and federal governments all had a say in the eventual regulations One of the unique things about WHMIS is that it is a tripartite pro cess It represents a consensus so all these parties are partners to they all share ownership of says CotterUl The federal legislation was passed because all three parties in Commons agreed with its aim and methods The law puts the onus on suppliers to provide labelling and in formation sheets on materials The provincial role was to enact legislation requiring employers to provide the information to workers and to educate them Federal studies indicate will save billion in reduced job- related illness and accidents over years The system will cost mil lion to implement for a net saving of 493 million IMPACT The same studies looked at the ef fect WHMIS will have on small bu sinesses which often complain about the burden of government regula tions Cotterill says there will be an impact but not an undue one CotterUl says the effects of WHMIS also be felt in the agricultural industry Farms are considered to be work places and some of the products used by farmers will be subject to WHMIS These could include such materials as if they meet the hazard ous criteria laid out in the controlled products regulations which are part of the system Animal feeds that may contain drugs are exempt from be cause they faU under the Food and Drug Act Explosives and other material subject to safetyrelated legislation such as the Pest Control Act and the Food and Drug Act are also exempt The enabling legislation provides for a review of these exemptions in itself will be evaluated in a few years to see how it is func tioning The legislation also created a Ha zardous Materials Information Re view Commission headed by Claude StPierre director of workplace hy giene for Quebecs Occupational Health and Safety Commission The review commission is an inde pendent body that hears submissions from employers and suppliers seek ing exemption from WHMIS report ing and disclosure requirements It is expected to deal primarily with re quests for exemptions under the le gislations mechanism to protect trade secrets CotterUl says the chemical indus try will be most directly affected by But the systems reach ex tends well beyond a single industry Its a very broad effect All work places where people are exposed to hazardous material feel the im pact Benefits outweigh costs say local firms By DONNA KELL Herald Staff As of today March the federal government has imposed legislation to protect employees working with hazardous materials in the workplace Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System is a labelling and general informa tion system designed to prevent accidents and to inform workers of potential dangers involved in using chemicals and other hazar dous materials Substances must be labelled under the new law and dangers to eyes skin and other suscepti ble parts must be outlined through symbols on the labels Material Safety Data Sheets MSDS must be posted where employees can reach them The wUI provide information on both the material being work ed with and its potential hazards Four government videos were issued to employers under WHMIS The videos involve a general information regarding what hazardous materials can do like when something can potentially explode what materials never to leave in the hot sun and why a container should be closely monitored for their contents only employees working with hazardous materials viewed all four films a more general fUm was viewed by employees not in direct contact with the hazardous material The onus will be on the people in the workplace said PG Bell Manufacturing Manager Sidney Miedema He said he hopes the system would prevent absenteeism in the long run although it takes time and money to implement right now Curwood Manufacturing Ltd named Georgetowns Business of the Year for 1988 by the Chamber of Commerce has had its ing and information system in place since Nov 2 months before the governments March deadline says a company spokesman We had to do a complete cradle to grave investigation beginning in the summer said Gary Curwoods person nel supervisor Its a costly program but I think the benefits to the employee far outweigh the costs he said Mr Gabet said his company has eliminated one substance Information important for protection Its like wearing glasses At first they feel clumsy and awkward and they dont feel part of you After awhile you feel nak ed without them The metaphorical glasses referred to by local manufactur ing manager Sidney Miedema are the guidelines of the new government safety program short for Workplace Hazardous Materials Informa tion System was recently ap proved at the federal government level Mr Miedema of PG Bell Divi sion of Metal Fabricating said although the program is costly both in terms of money and hours like anything corrective it takes an investment and requires some adjustment The cost is he said all borne by the company but this is a necessary evil Its an extra burden its an extra cost that will have to be passed on to the consumer But information is always a good thing to protect people he said In the short run there will be expenditures but in the long run money could be saved as employees take less time off for hazardous materialrelated il lness he said The governments education of workers should begin in the schools said Mr Miedema Children exposed early to chemical safety will make it a way of life he said And although funds are re quired to implement the system of data sheets labels and employee training for WHMIS Mr Miedema believes that the government has taken a fair ap proach All companies are on the same level he said All com panies are paying to implement the program at the same time for the March 15 deadline thought to have longterm chronic health effects Methylethylketone MEK was scrapped by Curwood six weeks ago he said Mr Gabet said most employees were receptive to and offered suggestions for ventila tion and labelling The general reaction was very positive he said uses a variety of solvents and inks in their com pany of 150 employees Another large Hills company Varian Canada Ltd on River Drive has taken a gradual approach to the government legislation Weve been dealing with this since 1965 said Jan Kron Human Resources manager Its been a very smooth transi tion for us Ms Kron said Varian has been informed of trends in safety legislation by following Joint effort WHMIS was not developed on a whim WHMIS regulations in each pro vince are based on a deve loped model Provincial governments the fed eral government and occupational health and safety agencies consult ing with labor and business deve loped the model provincial regulations are based on While many regulations are the same across the country some pro vincial regulations do vary in areas such as the amount of fines for em ployers who break the regulations Hon on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods and the provincial governments SpiUs bill WHMIS she said is operating in conjunction with a provincial law called The Right to Know legislation We use a lot of chemicals here said Ms Kron I guess the WHMIS legislation has been a shock to many com panies but not to Varian she said And Varian doesnt resent government officials looking over their shoulders and lurking in the hallways while WHMIS gets roll ing in Ontario Its a new program to employees and it needs continual reinforcement said Ms Kron Support your community BLUE BOX PROGRAM Recycle this newspaper along with glass bottles and jars plastic soft drink containers RECYCLING It only works if we all do our part DRG STATIONERY COMPANY PAPETERIE COMPAGNIE GEORGETOWN L7G 4T4 1KDCH KOCH MATERIALS COMPANY 30 Armstrong Avenue Georgetown Ontario Canada L7G 4R9 Specialty Films For Packaging CURWOOD PACKAGING CANADA LIMITED 1H Armstrong Avenue Georgetown Proud to call Georgetown Ontario Home OB4Loplical PO Box GEORGETOWN ONT ONT 180O268O152 CAN 18002680140 nited OPaul Campbell President A PROVINCIAL PAPERS A Member of the Helton Hills Community For Over 80 Years and Proud ol Rosetta St Georgetown 8772221