Annual Report 2002–2003

Right to information and trade secrets protection: A balancing act

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission (HMIRC), an independent agency accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Health, ensures a balance between industry’s right to protect confidential business information and the right of workers to know about the hazardous materials they deal with in the workplace.

Chemical suppliers are required to provide employers with information on the hazards of materials produced or used in Canadian workplaces. Suppliers must disclose the health and safety risks associated with their products, together with instructions for safe handling, storage, transportation, disposal and first-aid treatment. This information is conveyed by the product’s mandatory material safety data sheet (MSDS) and label, and may be used by employers to prepare workplace MSDSs and labels and as part of workplace safety education.

When suppliers or employers want to protect confidential business information, such as the chemical identity of one or more trade secret hazardous ingredients, they must file a claim for exemption with HMIRC. The Commission rules on whether the claim is valid under the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act. It also determines whether the MSDS and label comply with the requirements of the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), a wide array of laws, regulations and procedures designed to minimize workplace injury and illness from the use of hazardous chemicals.

The Commission is governed by a tripartite Council of Governors representing industry, labour, and the federal, provincial and territorial governments.

President’s Message

Last year the Commission emerged from renewal as a client-focused agency with an increased capacity to fulfill our dual mandate: to safeguard the right of workers to know about the hazardous materials they deal with in the workplace and to uphold the right of chemical companies and employers to protect trade secrets.

One of our accomplishments in 2002–03 was a reduction in the claims backlog. Expediting the elimination of this backlog is the Commission’s highest priority, and we’ll be maximizing the use of our resources even further to achieve it. Our new training program and ingredient tracking system, both introduced last year, are the types of creative approaches to increasing capacity we’ll be looking to duplicate in the coming years.

A valuable new framework for such improvements began to take form last year as the Commission embarked on a government-wide initiative to modernize management practices. A capacity assessment completed in 2002–03 told us that our work on renewal had paid off, and also gave us some guidance as to where to next focus our efforts. The plans and priorities that grew out of the assessment will no doubt assist us when we gather as a management team in the fall of 2003 to map the Commission’s strategic direction for the next three to five years.

The unusual tripartite structure of the Council of Governors—representatives from industry, labour and government who govern the Commission—illustrates why openness and transparency are so critical to our effective operation. We continued to make efforts last year to reach out to our stakeholders, whether by participating in trade shows or introducing even more consultation into the claims process.

For the fourth consecutive year, there were no appeals filed with the Commission, which in my view is a sign that the renewal-driven, more communicative and transparent approach to claims processing is having a positive effect on the acceptance of our decisions and orders. This, in turn, is good for worker health and safety, since MSDSs are being brought into compliance in a more timely fashion. Still, we feel that there is room to communicate even more with our clients, and in the next year we’ll evaluate the effectiveness of our current suite of communication tools with an eye to investing in those that work best for us and those we serve.

Last year also saw a re-evaluation of how the Commission communicates with and supports its employees. A Wellness Committee has been set up to design programs to improve workplace well-being, such as the official awards program introduced last year.

Fiscal year 2002–03 confirmed the fitness of the course we’ve set for ourselves, bringing substantial returns on our investments in improving our processes, jumpstarting our productivity and connecting with our clients. I look forward to working with Commission staff, the Council of Governors, and our clients and stakeholders next year to build on these accomplishments.

Weldon Newton