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Page 10 WHMIS SPECIAL EDITION Wednesday March 1S89 MSDS provides immediate information MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET SECTION PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION AND USE SECTION HAZARDOUS INGREDIENTS- SECTION TOXICOLOGICAL PROPERTIES J naD SECTION PREVENTIVE MEASURES o in rci SECTIONS FinST AID MEASURES SECTIONS REACTIVITY DATA MTM MO Mill COMXHM SECTION PREPARATION DATE OF am it This example of the format for a material safety data sheet was produced by the Ontario Ministry of Labor How farmers are affected By PETER HAGGERT Toronto Bureau Thomson tows Service The sector in six Canadian provinces must y comply with Workplace Hazardos Materials In formation System regulations In British Columbia Alberta On tario and Prince Edward Island though provincial WHMIS regula are covered under and safety acts that do not set policy for the farming community In Alberta and PEI its simple Farming is exempt from There are no exceptions said Al berta labor ministry spokesman Chris Rivera explaining that while most industries fall under the provin ces occupational health and safety legislation which includes WHMIS regulations farming is covered by Workers Compensation Board rules The same holds true for PEI That may change Were very anxious to be under the Occupa tional Health and Safety Act said P Federation of Agriculture di rector Leo In Ontario and BCf it so simple Some farmers ar by regulaUons in and BC fall under the occu pational health and safety acts Farmingis not covered by those acts A farming is defined in Ontario as growing of crops and livestock when you get into pro cessing on a farm then its ered a factory operation said Don Hall Ontarios coordina tor And a factory operaUon is covered by Ontarios occupational health and safety legislation Hall said this has caused some in terpretation problems with at least one sector of the industry growers l A typical mushroom operation grows and picks mushrooms then moves the goods to another building for washing cutting and packaging While the growing and picking is a farming operation the processing is considered a factory said Hail Where the product goes into a cleaning sorting and packaging op eration those portions of the opera tion are covered by WHMIS con curs Bill Rose of Ontarios Farm Safety Association The association recognizes the fine line between exemption and inclu sion and has provided seminars throughout the province to explain just how farms fall in line with the legislation We also continue to offer training in to supervisory staff of very large firms on the site of the com pany said Rose Rose said the associations semi nars nave been well attended One thing encouraging to see is a great deal ofinterest by our members to attend seminars said gen eral manager Jane Reed We have encouraged the farm in dustry to comply with the legislation even though we realize most opera tions are exempt said Reed The legislation means that in On tario two farms can be growing bar ley yet one is exempt from guidelines For instance Farmer White oper ates a barley farm He sends his pro duce to a processor When an em ployee on Whites farm uses a welding rod the employer is not bound to provide hazardoususe raining as outlined in guide- Mies However at Farmer Browns there is packaging and on any kind of production line operation the use of a welding rod would require specific training under WHMIS guidelines We have a couple of similar categories here said BC Workers Compensation Board spokesman Ken Gray BC farming operations are cov ered by Workers Compensation Board rules and not occupational health and safely legislation with a few exceptions Mushroom farmers in BC face the same scenario as mushroom growers in Ontario Some of our horticultural opera tions are covered by occupational health and safety legislation as well said Gray an occupational Greenhouses devoted stricUy to nonfood production such as cut flowers are bound by occupational health and safety therefore legislation WHMIS still has an impact on On tario BC and Alberta farms according to Morley Brownsteln head of the division of Con sumer and Corporate Affairs Ca nada will still be visible in any hazardous goods shipped to the farm Packaging and labelling of goods is the responsibility of the supplier and falls under federal regulations In time this will lead to a general awareness of on On tario BC and Alberta farms even though provincial regulations in cluding the necessity for employee training might not be mandatory for all farm workers In the other six provinces farms are considered workplaces where WHMIS regulations apply Implementation of could help save lives By DOUGLAS ARMOUR Toronto Bureau Thomson News Service TORONTO An industrial acci dent in Ontario three years ago that left four workers injured and one worker dead might have been pre vented had Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System reg ulations been in force says an official with the Ontario Ministry of Labor This should not have happened under in that workers would have had a better understanding of the hazards of the material and the precautions that are to be taken said Sandra Glasbeek manager of the Ontario Ministry of Labors strategic policy unit The five workers were using cleaning solvent to remove excessive adhesive from a conveyor belt that led to a drying oven when fumes from the solvent ignited in the oven One of the workers died from injuries suf fered in the flash fire Under WHMIS which came into effect in October workers receive specific information on precautions to be taken and how to handle hazard ous materials Suppliers of hazardous materials are required to provide tins informa tion in the form of material safety data sheets and special labelling Employers in turn are required to ensure that information does come with the hazardous material and that workers are informed and trained If WHMIS had been fa place before the flash fire occurred information on the hazards of the cleaning sol vent including its flammabllity would have been provided to the em ployees through labels and material safety data sheets says Glasbeek In addition as required by the employees would have received educationtraining on what proce dures to use Under workplaces are intended to have procedures in place all procedures in place to ensure that materials can be used safely said Glasbeek She notes that employers at many small companies like their employ ees were not made aware of the na ture of the hazardous mate u in their workplace prior to because there was no requirement that the supplier provide that infor mation to workplaces The only duty on the supplier would have been a duty under general tort law or manufacturers liabltty says Glasbeek Following an investigation of the accident ministry orders were issued to ensure the company ob tained material safety data sheets for all hazardous materials used at its plant The company was fined for failing to ensure adequate protection for its employees On its own the company decided to substitute a nonflammable cleaning solvent for the solvent previously used at the plant In order to illustrate the impact may have Glasbeek agreed to comment on a specific case pany and employee names were not used She believes WHMIS regulations may save lives