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Since 1988, WHMIS regulations in Canada have protected
workers and the environment from the hazards of
chemicals and substances that can be found in the
workplace. WHMIS works through three main elements:
1.
WHMIS Labels that identify the type of hazard and
the precautions to take with standardized symbols and
phrases,
2. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that
provide the workplace with detailed information on
controlled products, and
3. Mandatory WHMIS training for workers using or
potentially using controlled products to ensure safety
in the workplace.
After much
consultation, the Globally Harmonized System of
Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), was
adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
in July 2003. This grand design reconciled the many
hazard communication regulations available throughout
the world in an attempt to produce one standard system
of classification and labeling, the GHS. Hazard symbols
will be harmonized so that workers throughout the world
can identify the dangers no matter where in the world
the controlled product was manufactured. The GHS will
also enable a supplier to produce one Material Safety
Data Sheet that would satisfy the requirements of all
export markets, rather than research and produce many
different MSDS for every different jurisdiction. The GHS
also has a wider application, not just in workplaces. It
also deals with consumer goods and chemicals during
transport.
In the workplace,
these changes will mean:
1.
New hazard symbols to recognize. Instead of the current
8 symbols covering the
6 classes and divisions of controlled products, the GHS
will expand the hazard classification into three Groups
(Physical Hazards, Health hazards, and Environmental
Hazards), which then have subsidiary Classes and
Categories.
2.
Safety Data Sheets will be more comprehensive with 16
sections of required information, expanding on the
current 9 sections. WHMIS already allows the use of
these new 16 section Safety Data Sheets if they contain
all the information required by the current 9 part MSDS.
3.
And of course, new training to implement these changes
will have to be done.
When can we expect to
see GHS come into effect?
The upgrade to the
GHS regime is underway, although full implementation has
been delayed. More information can be found at
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/intactiv/ghs-sgh/index-eng.php
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