Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (SOR/86-304)

Application

• 10.30 (1) This Division does not apply in respect of any

  • (a) tobacco or a tobacco product as defined in section 2 of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act;

  • (b) manufactured article as defined in section 2 of the Hazardous Products Act; or

  • (c) wood or a product made of wood.

• (2) This Division, other than section 10.43, does not apply in respect of hazardous waste.

Safety Data Sheets and Labels in Respect of Certain Hazardous Products

• 10.31 (1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 10.42, every employer shall implement the provisions of sections 10.27 and 10.28 in respect of a hazardous product and may, in so doing, replace the generic name of the product with the brand name, chemical name, common name or trade name, if the hazardous product

  • (a) is present in the work place;

  • (b) was received from a supplier; and

  • (c) is one of the following:

    • (i) a hazardous product, other than wood or a product made of wood, that is listed in Schedule 1 to the Hazardous Products Act,

    • (ii) a nuclear substance, as defined in section 2 of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, that is radioactive.

• (2) An employer may store a hazardous product received from a supplier without having a supplier label on it, without having obtained a safety data sheet for it and without having conducted an employee education and training program with respect to the matters referred to in subparagraphs 10.14(2)(a)(ii) and (c)(ii)

  • (a) while the employer is actively seeking a supplier label and a supplier safety data sheet for the hazardous product; and

  • (b) if labelling affixed to the container of the hazardous product containing information on the hazardous product is not removed, defaced, modified or altered.

Supplier Safety Data Sheets

• 10.32 (1) If a hazardous product, other than a hazardous product referred to in paragraph 10.31(1)(c), is received in the work place by an employer, the employer shall, without delay, obtain a supplier safety data sheet in respect of the hazardous product from the supplier, unless the employer is already in possession of a supplier safety data sheet that

  • (a) is for a hazardous product that both has the same product identifier and is from the same supplier;

  • (b) discloses information that is current at the time that the hazardous product is received; and

  • (c) was prepared and dated less than three years before the day on which the hazardous product is received.

• (2) If the supplier safety data sheet in respect of a hazardous product in a work place is three years old or more, the employer shall, if feasible, obtain from the supplier a current supplier safety data sheet.

• (3) If it is not feasible for an employer to obtain a current supplier safety data sheet, the employer shall update the hazard information on the most recent supplier safety data sheet that the employer has received, on the basis of the ingredients disclosed on that supplier safety data sheet and on the basis of any significant new data that becomes available to the employer.

• (4) The employer is exempt from the requirements of subsection (1) if a laboratory sample of a hazardous product is received in the work place from a supplier who is exempted by the Hazardous Products Regulations from the requirement to provide a safety data sheet for that product.

Work Place Safety Data Sheets

• 10.33 (1) Subject to section 10.42, if an employer produces in the work place a hazardous product, other than a fugitive emission or an intermediate product undergoing reaction within a reaction or process vessel, or imports into Canada a hazardous product and brings it into the work place, the employer shall prepare a work place safety data sheet in respect of that hazardous product.

• (2) Subject to section 10.42, if an employer receives a supplier safety data sheet, the employer may prepare a work place safety data sheet to be used in the work place in place of the supplier safety data sheet if

  • (a) the work place safety data sheet discloses at least the information disclosed on the supplier safety data sheet;

  • (b) the information disclosed on the work place safety data sheet does not disclaim or contradict the information disclosed on the supplier safety data sheet;

  • (c) the supplier safety data sheet is readily available for examination by employees in any form, as determined in consultation with the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative; and

  • (d) the work place safety data sheet discloses that the supplier safety data sheet is available in the work place.

• (3) An employer shall review the accuracy of the information disclosed on a work place safety data sheet referred to in subsection (1) or (2) and update it as soon as feasible after new hazard information or significant new data becomes available to the employer.

• (4) If the information required to be disclosed on the work place safety data sheet is not available or not applicable to the hazardous product, the employer shall, in place of the information, insert the words “not available” or “not applicable”, as the case may be, in the English version and the words “non disponible” or “sans objet”, as the case may be, in the French version, of the work place safety data sheet.

Availability of Safety Data Sheets

• 10.34 (1) Every employer shall, in any work place in which an employee is likely to handle or be exposed to a hazardous product, keep readily available a copy of the work place safety data sheet or the supplier safety data sheet, as the case may be, in English and in French, for examination by employees and by any policy committee, work place committee or health and safety representative.

• (2) The work place safety data sheet and supplier safety data sheet shall be made available in any form, as determined in consultation with the policy committee or, if there is no policy committee, the work place committee or the health and safety representative.

Labels

• 10.35 (1) Subject to sections 10.37 to 10.39, each hazardous product, other than a hazardous product referred to in paragraph 10.31(1)(c), in a work place and each container in which the hazardous product is contained in a work place shall, if the hazardous product or the container is received from a supplier,

  • (a) in the case where the hazardous product is in a bulk shipment, be accompanied by a supplier label;

  • (b) in the case where the employer has undertaken in writing to apply a label to the inner container of the hazardous product, have applied to it a supplier label as soon as feasible after the hazardous product is received from the supplier; and

  • (c) in any other case, have applied to it a supplier label.

• (2) Subject to sections 10.37 to 10.39 and 10.42, if a hazardous product, other than a hazardous product referred to in paragraph 10.31(1)(c), is received from a supplier and an employer places the hazardous product in the work place in a container other than the container in which it was received from the supplier, the employer shall apply to the container a supplier label or work place label that discloses the following information:

  • (a) the product identifier;

  • (b) the hazard information in respect of the hazardous product; and

  • (c) a statement indicating that a safety data sheet for the hazardous product is available in the work place.

• (3) Subject to sections 10.41 and 10.42, no person shall remove, deface, modify or alter the supplier label applied to

  • (a) a hazardous product that is in the work place; or

  • (b) the container of a hazardous product that is in the work place.

• 10.36 (1) Subject to sections 10.37 to 10.39, if an employer produces in the work place a hazardous product, other than a fugitive emission, or imports into Canada a hazardous product and brings it into the work place, and the hazardous product is not in a container, the employer shall disclose the following information on a work place label applied to the hazardous product or on a sign posted in a conspicuous place in the work place:

  • (a) the product identifier;

  • (b) the hazard information in respect of the hazardous product; and

  • (c) a statement indicating that a work place safety data sheet for the hazardous product is available in the work place.

• (2) Subject to sections 10.37 and 10.39, where an employer produces a hazardous product in the work place, other than a fugitive emission, or imports into Canada and brings into the work place a hazardous product, and places the hazardous product in a container, the employer shall apply to the container a work place label that discloses the information referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c).

• (3) Subsection (2) does not apply in respect of a hazardous product that is

  • (a) intended for export, if the information referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) is disclosed on a sign posted in a conspicuous place in the work place; or

  • (b) packaged in a container and offered for sale in Canada, if the container is or is in the process of being appropriately labelled for that purpose.

Portable Containers

10.37 If an employer stores a hazardous product in the work place in a container that has applied to it a supplier label or a work place label, a portable container filled from that container is exempted from the labelling requirements under section 10.35 or 10.36 if

• (a) the hazardous product is required for immediate use; or

• (b) the following conditions apply in respect of the hazardous product:

  • (i) it is under the control of and used exclusively by the employee who filled the portable container,

  • (ii) it is used only during the work shift in which the portable container was filled, and

  • (iii) it is clearly identified by a work place label applied to the portable container that discloses the product identifier.

Special Cases

10.38 An employer shall, in a conspicuous place near a hazardous product, post a sign in respect of the hazardous product that discloses the product identifier if the hazardous product is

• (a) in a process, reaction or storage vessel;

• (b) in a continuous-run container;

• (c) in a bulk shipment that is not placed in a container at the work place; or

• (d) not in a container and stored in bulk.

Laboratories

• 10.39 (1) If a laboratory sample of a hazardous product is the subject of a labelling exemption under subsection 5(5) of the Hazardous Products Regulations, a label that is provided by the supplier and is affixed to, printed on or attached to the container of the sample received at the work place and that discloses the following information in place of the information required under paragraph 3(1)(d) of those Regulations is considered to comply with the requirements set out in section 10.35 with respect to a supplier label:

  • (a) if known by the supplier, the chemical name or generic chemical name of any material that is in the hazardous product and that is classified under the Hazardous Products Act and the Hazardous Products Regulations as a biohazardous infectious material; and

  • (b) the statement “Hazardous Laboratory Sample. For hazard information or in an emergency, call/Échantillon pour laboratoire de produit dangereux. Pour obtenir des renseignements sur les dangers ou en cas d’urgence, composez”, followed by an emergency telephone number for the purpose of obtaining the information that must be provided on the safety data sheet of a hazardous product.

• (2) If a laboratory sample of a hazardous product is the subject of a labelling exemption under subsection 5(6) of the Hazardous Products Regulations, a label that is provided by the supplier and is affixed to, printed on or attached to the container of the sample received at the work place and that discloses the following information in place of the information required under paragraph 3(1)(c) or (d) of those Regulations is considered to comply with the requirements set out in section 10.35 with respect to a supplier label:

  • (a) if known by the supplier, the chemical name or generic chemical name of any material or substance that is in the hazardous product and that is referred to in subsection 3(2) of Schedule 1 to the Hazardous Products Regulations; and

  • (b) the statement “Hazardous Laboratory Sample. For hazard information or in an emergency, call/Échantillon pour laboratoire de produit dangereux. Pour obtenir des renseignements sur les dangers ou en cas d’urgence, composez”, followed by an emergency telephone number for the purpose of obtaining the information that must be provided on the safety data sheet of a hazardous product.

• (3) If a hazardous product is in a container other than the container in which it was received from a supplier or is produced in the work place, the employer is exempt from the requirements set out in section 10.36 and subparagraph 10.37(b)(iii) if

  • (a) the employer has complied with subsection (4);

  • (b) employee education and training is provided as required by these Regulations; and

  • (c) the hazardous product

    • (i) is a laboratory sample,

    • (ii) is intended by the employer to be used solely for analysis, testing or evaluation in a laboratory, and

    • (iii) is clearly identified through any mode of identification visible to employees at the work place.

• (4) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(a), the employer shall ensure that the mode of identification used and the employee education and training provided enable the employees to readily identify and obtain either the information required on a safety data sheet or the information set out in subsections (1) and (2) with respect to the hazardous product or laboratory sample.

• (5) The employer is exempt from the requirements of section 10.35 if a laboratory sample of a hazardous product is received in a work place from a supplier who is exempted by the Hazardous Products Regulations from the requirement to provide a label for that product.