Annual Report 2004–2005

President’s Message

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial agency of government which plays an essential role in the protection of workers’ health and safety. The Commission, through its enabling statute, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, is responsible for the review of safety documentation in all situations in which the secret ingredients, mixture or concentration of a hazardous material is a trade secret. Through a federal, provincial and territorial occupational safety and health communication system, we worked diligently this past year in delivering our core mandate—ensuring that safety documentation reviewed by the Commission and relied upon by workers is accurate while maintaining the confidentiality of trade secrets. This is what we call our balancing act . . . we ensure a balance . . . between a worker’s right to know what is in the products that they are working with and their dangers and . . . industry’s right to withhold information that would reveal its trade secret formulations.

The Commission delivers a truly national program. Key to the governance of the Commission is our tripartite Council of Governors. The governors represent organized labour, industry, the federal government and all provincial and territorial governments. Council acts as an advisory body and provides strategic advice and guidance. It is through this Council that the concerns of stakeholders are expressed, and it is through this Council that appropriate means of resolving these concerns are identified.

When I was appointed President and CEO, the Commission was going through a difficult period with its stakeholders. In the late 1990s, and with full support of the Council of Governors, we undertook a renewal program to make operations more effective and to address stakeholders concerns, through improved service delivery, increased transparency and accountability and modernized administrative procedures. Through this consultative process, many improvements to the operation of the Commission were identified. We have delivered on our commitments to stakeholders for all except three which require amendments to our enabling statute.

These amendments will reduce the time required to review claims for exemption from disclosure of confidential information, speed up the correction of the information workers need to handle hazardous materials safely and expedite the processing of appeals when Commission’s decisions are challenged. The net result will be earlier access by workers to complete and accurate information on the safe handling of hazardous materials. This can only be positive for workplace health and safety. The efficiencies introduced will also reduce administrative burden on chemical industry claimants, thereby encouraging innovation. The changes are straight forward, and they are the product of extensive discussion and consensus among industry, labour and federal, provincial and territorial governments. With Parliament’s approval, this then will complete the Commission’s renewal journey.

As a member of the health portfolio partnership network, I work in close collaboration with my health portfolio partners and in particular, Health Canada. The portfolio promotes an interactive communications exchange and collaborative approach in responding to horizontal portfolio and government-wide issues. The success of the health portfolio approach is evidenced in many of the government-wide reviews that have necessitated labour intensive and often time sensitive reports to central agencies.

As I look back at 2004–05, I realize that, thanks to the dedication and competence of our staff, we have put another demanding, yet successful year behind us. I look forward to working with Council, Commission staff, and our clients and stakeholders in the year ahead with the knowledge that our vigilance in maintaining the balancing act has had and will continue to have a direct and positive impact on workplace safety whilst affording trade secret protection to industry.

Weldon Newton