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Alberta Legislation

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)

This material has been extracted from the Acts and Regulations of the Province to help students understand the subject. It is not an official source of information and must not be used for any other purpose. This will be covered in greater detail in your online WHMIS training course.

The following is © 1995 - 2010 Government of Alberta.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE 2009

Part 29 Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
Application
395(1) Subject to subsections (3), (4) and (5), this Part applies to controlled
products at a work site.
395(2) An employer must ensure that a controlled product is used, stored,
handled or manufactured at a work site in accordance with this Part.
395(3) This Part does not apply if the controlled product is
(a) wood or a product made of wood,
(b) tobacco or a tobacco product,
(c) a hazardous waste, or
(d) a manufactured article,
(i) that is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture,
(ii) that has a shape or design that determines its use in whole or in part, and
(iii) that, under normal use, will not release or otherwise cause a person to be exposed to chemicals emanating from it.
395(4) Except for section 407, this Part does not apply if the controlled product is
a dangerous good, under the Dangerous Goods Transportation and Handling Act, to the extent that its handling, offering for transport or transport is subject to that Act.
395(5) Sections 398, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407 and 408 do not apply if the controlled product is
(a) an explosive governed by the Explosives Act (Canada),
(b) a cosmetic, device, drug or food governed by the Food and Drug Act
(Canada),
(c) a product governed by the Pest Control Products Act (Canada),
(d) a nuclear substance governed by the Nuclear Safety and Control Act
(Canada), or
(e) a product, material or substance packaged
(i) as a consumer product, and
(ii) in a quantity normally used by a member of the general public.

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Hazardous waste
396 If a controlled product is a hazardous waste generated at the work site, an
employer must ensure that it is stored and handled safely using a combination of
(a) any means of identification, and
(b) instruction of workers on the safe handling of the hazardous waste.

Training
397(1) An employer must ensure that a worker who works with or near a
controlled product or performs work involving the manufacture of a controlled
product is trained in
(a) the content required to be on a supplier label and a work site label
and the purpose and significance of the information on the label,
(b) the content required to be on a material safety data sheet and the
purpose and significance of the information on the material safety
data sheet,
(c) procedures for safely storing, using and handling the controlled
product,
(d) if applicable, the procedures for safely manufacturing the controlled
product,
(e) if applicable, the methods of identification referred to in section 402,
(f) the procedures to be followed if there are fugitive emissions, and
(g) the procedures to be followed in case of an emergency involving the
controlled product.
397(2) An employer must develop and implement the procedures referred to in
subsection (1) in consultation with the joint work site health and safety
committee if there is one.

Label required
398(1) Subject to subsection (4), an employer must ensure that a controlled
product or its container at a work site has a supplier label or a work site label on
it.
398(2) An employer must not remove, modify or alter a supplier label on a
container in which a controlled product is received from a supplier if any
amount of the controlled product remains in the container.
398(3) If the supplier label on a controlled product or its container is illegible or
is removed or detached, an employer must immediately replace the label with
another supplier label or a work site label.

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398(4) Despite section 395(2), an employer may store a controlled product that
does not have a supplier label or a work site label on it for not more than 120
days if the employer
(a) is actively seeking the supplier label or the information required for a
work site label,
(b) posts a placard that complies with section 401, and
(c) ensures that a worker who works with or in proximity to the stored
controlled product
(i) knows the purpose of the placard and the significance of the
information on it,
(ii) is trained in the procedures to be followed if there are fugitive
emissions, and
(iii) is trained in the procedures to be followed in case of an emergency involving the controlled product.
398(5) If a controlled product is received at a work site in a multi container
shipment and the individual containers do not have supplier labels on them, the
employer must apply to each individual container a work site label.
398(6) If a controlled product imported under section 23 of the Controlled
Products Regulations (Canada) (SOR/88 66) is received at a work site without a
supplier label, the employer must apply a label disclosing the information and
displaying the hazard symbols referred to in paragraph 13(b) of the Hazardous
Products Act (Canada).
398(7) If a bulk shipment of a controlled substance is received at a work site, the
employer must
(a) if a supplier label is provided, apply the supplier label to the
controlled product or its container, or
(b) if a material safety data sheet or a statement in writing is transmitted
in accordance with section 15 of the Controlled Products Regulations
(SOR/88 66) and a supplier label is not provided, apply a work site
label to the controlled product or its container.

Production or manufacture
399 If an employer produces or manufactures a controlled product for use at
a work site, the employer must ensure that the controlled product or its container
has, at a minimum, a work site label on it.

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Decanted products
400(1) If a controlled product is decanted at a work site into a container other
than the container in which it was received from a supplier, the employer must
ensure that a work site label is applied to the container.
400(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a portable container that is filled directly
from a container that has a supplier label or a work site label if all of the
controlled product is required for immediate use and the controlled product is
(a) under the control of and used exclusively by the worker who filled
the portable container,

(b) used only during the shift during which the portable container is
filled, and
(c) the contents of the portable container are clearly identified on the container.

Placards
401(1) Sections 398, 399 and 400 do not apply if an employer posts a placard
respecting a controlled product that
(a) is not in a container,
(b) is in a container or in a form intended for export from Canada, or
(c) is in a container that
(i) is intended to contain the controlled product for sale or other disposition, and
(ii) is labelled, or is about to be labelled, in an appropriate manner having regard to the intended disposition.
401(2) A placard referred to in subsection (1) must
(a) have the information required to be on a work site label printed large enough to be read by workers,
(b) be big enough to be conspicuous, and
(c) be located in a conspicuous place at the work area where the
controlled product is stored.

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Transfer of controlled products
402 Sections 398, 399 and 400 do not apply to a controlled product at a work
site if
(a) the controlled product is contained or transferred in
(i) a piping system that includes valves,
(ii) a reaction vessel, or
(iii) a tank car, tank truck, ore car, conveyor belt or similar conveyance, and
(b) the employer identifies the controlled product by using colour coding,
labels, placards or some other means of effective identification.

Laboratory samples
403(1) Section 398 does not apply to a controlled product in a laboratory sample
if
(a) the sale or importation of the controlled product is exempt from the
application of paragraph 13(a) or (b) or paragraph 14(a) or (b) of the
Hazardous Products Act (Canada) by the Controlled Products Regulations
(Canada) (SOR/88 66), and
(b) the container for the laboratory sample is labelled in accordance with
paragraph 10(b) or 17(b) of the Controlled Products Regulations
(Canada) (SOR/88 66).
403(2) An employer must ensure that a laboratory sample brought into the
laboratory is packaged in a container that has a label with the following
information printed on it:
(a) the product identifier;
(b) the chemical identity or generic chemical identity of an ingredient of
the controlled product referred to in paragraph 13(a) of the Hazardous
Products Act (Canada), if it is known to the supplier or the employer;
(c) the name of the supplier or other person providing the sample;
(d) the emergency telephone number of the person providing the sample;
(e) the statement “Hazardous Laboratory Sample. For hazard
information or in an emergency call”, followed by the emergency
telephone number of the person providing the sample.

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403(3) An employer must ensure that using the emergency telephone number
required under subsection (2)(d) provides
(a) the user with hazard information in respect of the controlled product,
and
(b) a medical professional with information in respect of the controlled
product that
(i) is referred to in paragraph 13(a) of the Hazardous Products Act
(Canada) and in the possession of the person who is providing
the laboratory sample, and
(ii) may be required for a medical diagnosis or treatment in an emergency.
403(4) Where a controlled product is in a container other than the container in
which it was received from the supplier, the employer is exempt from section 400
if the controlled product is used in a laboratory and is clearly identified.
403(5) Where a controlled product is manufactured and used in a laboratory, the
employer is exempt from section 399 if the controlled product is clearly
identified.
403(6) Where a controlled product is produced at the work site and is in a
container for the sole purpose of use, analysis, testing or evaluation in a
laboratory, the employer is exempt from section 400 if the controlled product is
clearly identified and the provisions of section 397 are complied with.

Material safety data sheet — supplier
404(1) An employer who acquires a controlled product for use at a work site
must obtain a supplier material safety data sheet for that controlled product
unless the supplier is exempted from the requirement to provide a material
safety data sheet by section 9 or 10 of the Controlled Products Regulations (Canada)
(SOR/88 66) and complies with that section.
404(2) Despite section 395(2), an employer may store a controlled product for
which there is no supplier material safety data sheet for not more than 120 days
if the employer is actively seeking the supplier material safety data sheet.

Material safety data sheet — employer
405(1) An employer must prepare a material safety data sheet for a controlled
product produced or manufactured at a work site.
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405(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a fugitive emission or an intermediate
product undergoing reaction within a reaction vessel.
405(3) An employer may provide a material safety data sheet in a format
different from the supplier material safety data sheet or containing additional
hazard information if
(a) the supplier material safety data sheet is available at the work site,
and
(b) the material safety data sheet, subject to section 408,
(i) includes the information required for a supplier material
safety data sheet, and
(ii) states that the supplier material safety data sheet is available at
the work site.

Information current
406(1) If the most recent supplier material safety data sheet for a controlled
product at a work site is 3 years from its latest revision, an employer must, if
possible, obtain an up to date supplier’s material safety data sheet for the
controlled product.
406(2) If an employer is unable to obtain a supplier’s material safety data sheet
that is less than 3 years old, the employer must review, and revise if necessary,
the existing supplier’s material safety data sheet on the basis of the ingredients
disclosed on the sheet.
406(3) An employer must update a material safety data sheet referred to in
section 405(1)
(a) not more than 90 days after new hazard information becomes
available to the employer, and
(b) at least every 3 years.

Availability of material safety data sheet
407 An employer must ensure that the material safety data sheet required by
this Part is readily available at a work site to workers who may be exposed to a
controlled product and to the joint work site health and safety committee if there
is one.

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Claim for disclosure exemption
408 An employer may file a claim with the Hazardous Materials Information
Review Commission that the following information is confidential business
information and should be exempt from disclosure on a label or a material safety
data sheet required under this Part:
(a) the chemical identity or concentration of an ingredient of a controlled
product;
(b) the name of a toxicological study that identifies an ingredient of a
controlled product;
(c) the chemical name, common name, generic name, trade name or
brand name of a controlled product;
(d) information that could be used to identify a supplier of a controlled
product.

Interim non-disclosure
409(1) Subject to subsection (2), an employer who claims an exemption from the
Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission may,
(a) delete the information that is the subject of the claim for exemption
from the material safety data sheet for the controlled product, and
(b) remove a supplier label and replace it with the work site label that
complies with this Part.
409(2) An employer may delete confidential business information and remove
the documents from the date the employer files the claim for exemption until its
determination by the Commission, if the employer discloses on the material
safety data sheet, and where applicable, on the label of the product or its
container,
(a) the date on which the claim for exemption was filed, and
(b) the registry number assigned to the claim for exemption under the
Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (Canada).
409(3) An exemption is valid for three years after the date the Commission
determines the information is confidential business information.

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Exemption from disclosure
410(1) If an employer is notified by the Hazardous Materials Information
Review Commission that a claim for exemption under section 408 is valid, the
employer may, subject to subsection (2),
(a) remove the supplier label and replace it with a work site label that
complies with this Part, and
(b) delete the confidential business information from the material safety
data sheet for the controlled product.
410(2) An employer may delete confidential business information from a
controlled product’s material safety data sheet label if the employer includes on
its material safety data sheet and, if applicable, on its label or the container in
which it is packaged,
(a) a statement that an exemption from disclosure has been granted,
(b) the date of the Hazardous Materials Information Review
Commission’s decision granting the exemption, and
(c) the registry number assigned to the claim for exemption under the
Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (Canada).
410(3) The information referred to in subsection (2) must be included for a
period of 3 years beginning not more than 30 days after the final disposition of
the claim for exemption.

Duty to disclose information
411(1) An employer who manufactures a controlled product must give, as
quickly as possible under the circumstances, the source of toxicological data used in preparing a material safety data sheet on request to
(a) an officer,
(b) a concerned worker at the work site,
(c) the joint work site health and safety committee, or
(d) if there is no joint work site health and safety committee, a
representative of concerned workers at the work site.
411(2) The Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (Canada), applies to the
disclosure of information under subsection (1).

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Information — confidential
412(1) If an officer or other official working under the authority of the Hazardous
Products Act (Canada) obtains information from the Hazardous Materials
Information Review Commission under paragraph 46(2)(e) of the Hazardous
Materials Information Review Act (Canada), the officer or other official
(a) must keep the information confidential, and
(b) must not disclose it to any person except in accordance with this Part
and for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the
Hazardous Products Act (Canada) or the Occupational Health and Safety
Act.
412(2) A person to whom information is disclosed under subsection (1)(b)
(a) must keep the information confidential, and
(b) must not disclose it to any person except in accordance with this Part
and for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the
Hazardous Products Act (Canada) or the Occupational Health and Safety
Act.

Information to medical professional
413(1) An employer must give information that the employer has, including
confidential business information exempted from disclosure under this Part, to a
medical professional for the purpose of making a medical diagnosis or treating a
worker in an emergency.
413(2) A person to whom confidential business information is given under
subsection (1) must not give the information to another person except for the
purpose of treating a worker in an emergency.
413(3) A person to whom confidential business information is given under
subsection (2) must keep the information confidential.

Limits on disclosure
414(1) A person must not use or disclose confidential business information
exempted from disclosure under this Part except in accordance with sections 412
and 413.
414(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who makes a claim for
exemption or to a person acting with that person’s consent.