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Section I Overview

President's Message

As the President and CEO, I am pleased to present the 2007-08 Departmental Performance Report for the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission (HMIRC).

HMIRC operates within the context of the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Health. Under WHMIS and the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, the Commission is mandated to achieve a balance between the right of workers to know about the hazardous materials they deal with in the workplace and the right of industry to protect confidential business information. Through our compliance efforts, the Commission continues to be an important health and safety advocate for workers as well as a strategic partner to industry, helping to safeguard trade secrets that help companies compete in the marketplace.

In 2007-08 the Commission identified the following four priorities as its areas of focus: improving services to clients and stakeholders; monitoring and implementing changes resulting from Canada's response to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS); operationalizing the legislative amendments to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act; and enhancing management excellence.

As an organization with only one program activity - the Claims Exemption Process - the capacity to process claims for exemption as efficiently as possible directly impacts the service that can be provided to clients and stakeholders. Over the past year, we worked hard to make operational improvements aimed at increasing our efficiency in the review of claims. Backlog reduction was a top priority and attending to the associated capacity issues a central focus. In 2007-08, extensive work was completed to prepare for the roll out of the backlog reduction plan, aimed at eliminating the backlog over the next three years as well as strengthening our administrative and corporate capacity. This involved securing preliminary funding and preparatory work for the new evaluators; revamping the evaluator training program and creating a career-development program are examples of the work undertaken. In addition, the Commission successfully rolled out an interactive, electronic Application for a Claim for Exemption form in October 2007, offering claimants several innovative features which make filing a claim more user-friendly and efficient for all concerned.

The Commission continued to monitor Canada's implementation of the GHS, an international initiative to harmonize approaches to classification and hazard communications. We are an active partner in interdepartmental working groups and within the federal Health portfolio. The Commission participates on the WHMIS Current Issues Committee and related working groups and is also actively participating in the review of the Hazardous Products Act and other legislation that may impact the Commission and/or hazardous materials subject to confidential business information regulations.

On March 29, 2007, Bill S-2 amending the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act received Royal Assent and became Chapter 7 of the Statutes of Canada, 2007. The enactment into law of the legislative amendments marks the completion of a renewal process, which began in 1998, and has been supported unanimously by our Council members, representing labour, suppliers, employers and the federal/provincial/territorial governments. The next phase will be the implementation - realization - of the amendments.

Implementation of these legislative changes requires consequential amendments to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations and Hazardous Materials Information Review Act Appeal Board Procedures Regulations. The regulatory amendments will streamline the claim process and reduce the administrative burden on claimants. The proposed amendments were published in the April 12, 2008, issue of the Canada Gazette, Part I.

Enhancing management excellence was also a priority. Through strategic partnerships within the Health Portfolio and with other departments, the Commission continued to access interdepartmental resources and expertise, and gather best practices, as needed. A comprehensive Human Resources Plan was developed to address the commission's needs and a proactive communications approach employed by management to increase employee awareness of HR modernization initiatives, and, most importantly, to convey our increased focus on the learning and development of employees. As a management team, we will continue to pursue our aspiration to be a workplace of choice in Canada - one that rewards excellence and offers a supportive environment for all employees.

I am proud of the Commission's accomplishments this last fiscal year. I look forward to working with the Commission's highly qualified staff and its Council of Governors throughout the implementation phase of the renewal process. I am confident that the professionalism, dedication and hard work of our staff will continue to reap rewards for Canadians - providing quality service to our claimants and making a positive contribution to the health and safety of Canadian workers.

Sharon A. Watts
President and CEO

Management Representation Statement

I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2007–08 Departmental Performance Report(DPR) for the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission (HMIRC).

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2007-08 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board Secretariat guidance;
• It is based on the department's Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture that were approved by the Treasury Board;
• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;
• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
• It reports finances based on approved numbers from the Estimates and the Public Accounts of Canada.

Sharon Watts President and Chief Executive Officer		Date

Summary Information

Health Portfolio Overview

The Minister of Health is responsible for maintaining and improving the health of Canadians. This is supported by the Health Portfolio, which comprises Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission (HMIRC or the Commission), the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, and Assisted Human Reproduction Canada. Each member of the Portfolio prepares its own Departmental Performance Report.

The Health Portfolio consists of approximately 12,000 full-time equivalent employees and an annual budget of over $3.8 billion.

Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission - Reason for Existence

The Commission provides a mechanism for protecting the trade secrets of those companies which manufacture, supply and/or use hazardous materials and to accurately inform Canadian employees who work with such materials about the intrinsic health and safety hazards.

Mandate

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Act mandates the Commission to:

• register claims for trade secret exemptions and issue registry numbers;
• adjudicate and issue decisions on the validity of claims for exemption using prescribed regulatory criteria;
• make decisions on the compliance of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) and labels to Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) requirements; and
• convene independent boards with representatives drawn from labour, suppliers or employers to hear appeals from claimants or affected parties on the Commission's decisions and orders.

Mission

The Commission's mission is to:

• ensure a balance between industry's right to protect confidential business information and the right of employers and workers to know about the hazardous materials they deal with in the workplace;
• provide a trade secret mechanism within WHMIS; and
• resolve complaints and disputes impartially, fairly and promptly through statutory or alternate means.

Vision

HMIRC has defined its vision as:

• making decisions based on both sound scientific principles and regulations, and taking pride in being a professional quasi-judicial organization seeking creative and progressive approaches to enhancing workplace safety; and
• resolving complaints and disputes, whether under statutory mandate or not, in a manner that is impartial, fair and prompt.

Values and operating principles

The Commission recognizes that continuous improvement is critical to remaining relevant and to providing effective and efficient performance and service quality. HMIRC has identified the values and operating principles that foster continuous improvement in its operations.

FAIRNESS-in its ability to provide services and to perform statutory functions.

TIMELINESS-in its ability to provide services within established and reasonable time frames.

ACCESSIBILITY and TRANSPARENCY-in its ability to provide information and services simply and clearly, and with policies and procedures that are understandable to everyone.

ACCOUNTABILITY-in its ability to propose legislative approaches only when they meet rigorous cost-benefit analysis and to be accountable for programs and the impact of decisions, while providing services in a manner that is cost-effective for everyone involved.

QUALITY and CONSISTENCY-in its ability to render accurate, relevant, dependable, understandable, predictable and error-free decisions, while ensuring consistent, firm enforcement of the regulations.

COMPETENCY and RESPECT-in its ability to provide services based on a high level of skill, knowledge, scientific and technical competence, and to demonstrate respect and professionalism to everyone who comes into contact with the Commission.

SECURITY and CONFIDENTIALITY-in its ability to store and handle the trade secrets of its claimants.

Program Activity Architecture

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
3,506(1)	3,828(2)	3,621(3)

⁽¹⁾ Planned Spending includes $482 K for contributions to employee benefit plans (EBP).
⁽²⁾ Total Authorities include $73K for adjustments resulting from collective agreements, $190 K for non-controllable spending, $151 K from funds carried -forward from the previous year and a reduction in EBP of $92 K.
⁽³⁾ The variance between Total Authorities and Actual Spending is due to HMIRC's challenges in recruiting and retaining staff.

Human Resources (Full-time equivalents)

Planned	Actual	Difference
35	32	3(1)

⁽¹⁾ The variance is due to HMIRC's challenge to meet full capacity.

Commission's Priorities ($ thousands)

2007–2008
Status on Performance			Planned Spending	Actual Spending
Strategic Outcome: Trade secret exemptions within WHMIS that balance the right of industry to withhold bona fide confidential business information with the right of employers and workers to be provided with complete and accurate information on the health and safety hazards posed by workplace chemicals.
	Program Activity Claims Exemption Process		3,506	3,621
Key Programs	Expected Results
Claims Processing	Workers are provided with accurate information about the health and safety hazards of exposure to chemicals found in the products associated with claims for exemption.	Successfully met	3,331	3,587
	Valid confidential business information about suppliers' and employers' hazardous products is protected.	Successfully met
Dispute Prevention/Appeals	Disputes are resolved in a fair and effective manner.	Successfully met	175	34

Context

Labour, industry and government agree on the importance of reducing illnesses and injuries from hazardous materials in Canadian workplaces. WHMIS, a combination of laws, regulations and procedures, was created in 1987 to help achieve this goal.

WHMIS requires suppliers–including manufacturers, importers and distributors-and employers to provide information on the hazards of chemicals produced or used in Canadian workplaces. It requires cautionary labelling for containers of controlled (hazardous) products as designated under federal regulations, and requires that suppliers provide a MSDS for each product.

Each MSDS must include several types of information. For example, it must list all hazardous ingredients in the product, any toxicological properties, the safety precautions workers need to take when using the product, and first-aid treatment in case of exposure. Employers must provide their employees with this MSDS information, as well as with training and education programs.

When labour, industry and government agreed to create WHMIS, they recognized the need to balance the rights of workers and employers to have health and safety information with the rights of chemical suppliers to protect confidential business information.

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Act and its regulations provide the mechanism to create that balance through the HMIRC. The Commission is an independent agency with a quasi-judicial role that supports the WHMIS responsibilities and interests of the federal, provincial and territorial governments, workers, employers and the chemical industry.

Role of the Commission

If a supplier or employer wants to withhold information that they believe to be a trade secret, they must file a claim with the Commission for exemption from its WHMIS obligations to disclose this information. The screening officers review these claims against the applicable federal, provincial or territorial regulations, and rule on the claims' validity. This process involves communication between evaluators, screening officers and claimants, to ensure transparency.

The scientific evaluators play a key health and safety role in the claim review process. They review the MSDSs and labels associated with a claim for exemption to ensure the health and safety information is complete and accurate in accordance with WHMIS requirements, based on the Hazardous Products Act, the Canada Labour Code, and the Controlled Products Regulations, and provincial and territorial occupational health and safety legislation. This helps ensure that workers are informed of the hazards of exposure to chemicals found in products associated with claims for exemptions. When evaluators identify missing or incorrect information, they advise the screening officers who issue formal orders requiring claimants to make the necessary changes and to submit the corrected MSDS within 75 calendar days.

The Commission also convenes independent boards to hear appeals from claimants or affected parties challenging decisions and/or orders.

In addition, HMIRC responds to requests from federal, provincial and territorial government health and safety officials for information about claims for exemption to help these officials administer and enforce their WHMIS obligations.

A model partnership of key stakeholders across all jurisdictions

HMIRC deals with many WHMIS stakeholders:

• labour organizations and workers;
• suppliers in the chemical industry;
• employers with workplace WHMIS programs; and
• federal, provincial and territorial government agencies with WHMIS responsibilities.

As an independent agency, the Commission is a model of industry, labour and government consultation, consensus and cooperation. Its adjudicative efforts must result in a fair balance between the right of workers to know and the right of suppliers and employers to safeguard confidential business information. The Commission makes a tangible contribution to worker health and safety and is a strategic partner to both the industry and employers. Through its work, the Commission supports the Government of Canada's priority of "healthy Canadians" by ensuring that workers in Canada have complete and accurate information to take the appropriate actions to minimize the health risks they encounter in their workplace. HMIRC's work also supports the federal, provincial and territorial governments in delivering their occupational safety and health regulatory activities, making the Commission one of very few adjudicative bodies in Canada that represent multiple levels of government.

Governance structure

The Commission's governance structure is a model of collaboration. The Council of Governors provides strategic advice and guidance to the Commission and makes recommendations to the Minister of Health. It consists of up to 18 members representing key stakeholders across all jurisdictions:

• 2 representing workers,
• 1 representing suppliers,
• 1 representing employers,
• 1 representing the federal government, and
• between 4 and 13 representing the provincial and territorial governments responsible for occupational health and safety.

The Commission's President and Chief Executive Officer is appointed by the Governor in Council and has the authority to supervise and direct the organization's day-to-day activities.

The Vice-President of Operations directs the work of the MSDS Compliance and Screening divisions.

The Vice-President of Corporate Services and Adjudication directs the work of the Corporate Services, Regulatory Affairs and Appeals, and Communications divisions.

For a more detailed structure, please refer to Section III - Supplementary Information, Appendix A – HMIRC's Organization.

Risks and challenges

HMIRC has been experiencing a significant increase in both the number and the complexity of claims for exemption from trade secret disclosure. This, coupled with a chronic shortage of qualified scientific personnel and insufficient resources in supporting areas, has resulted in a claim processing backlog of approximately two years.

As a small agency, the Commission is challenged by both its financial and human resources needs. Recruiting and retaining qualified personnel is always difficult for a small agency. In the case of HMIRC this is further complicated by the fact that the qualified scientific personnel it requires is a group that has been declared a shortage group in the federal government. By establishing a partnership with its Health portfolio partners, the Commission has begun building a pool of suitable candidates who can be recruited on short notice.

The Commission's size presents operational challenges. In 2007-08, the Commission operated with 35 FTEs and a budget of $3.5 million. About 85% of the Commission's budget is required for salaries; the remaining 15% is designated for non-discretionary or statutory program spending, leaving little or no flexibility for discretionary spending.

Consequently, the Commission must carefully balance its resources between operational requirements and strategic initiatives. These can be both internally driven and externally mandated. Externally, HMIRC faces ongoing pressure to implement numerous government-wide initiatives, such as the Treasury Board Policy Suite Renewal and Management Accountability Framework (MAF), the Federal Accountability Act and the Public Service Modernization Act, which are aimed at improving service and accountability to the Canadian public.

In 2007-08, the Commission was required to participate in the MAF V (2007-2008) Assessment, which placed considerable workload burden on the Commission's limited staff. The Commission is seriously challenged in its ability to adequately address these resource-intensive initiatives as well as deliver its own statutory mandate.

Alignment with Government of Canada outcomes

Canada places the health of its population high on the list of key priorities. Canada's public health system exists to safeguard and improve the health of Canadians. The responsibility for public health is spread across federal, provincial and territorial governments. An essential part of any occupational health and safety program is ensuring that those employed in workplaces requiring the use of hazardous materials have the information they need to use those materials without risk of injury and without short or long-term health threats. In this respect, an important part of the Commission's mandate is the scientific review of the completeness and accuracy of the health and safety information supplied to employers and workers using hazardous products. The Commission's work supports improved occupational health and safety for Canadian workers, a key element to achieving a healthy Canadian population.

The Commission also provides a mechanism for protecting the trade secrets of those companies which manufacture, supply and/or use hazardous materials. This part of the balancing equation supports the Government of Canada's strategic outcome of a fair and secure marketplace, which is directed at ensuring that the marketplace continues to foster competitive conditions to attract investment, encourage innovation, and protect the public interest. The Commission's mandate protects bona fide trade secrets and allows the marketplace to function competitively while at the same time, the Commission protects the public interest by ensuring that workers required to use hazardous materials have the information they need to use those materials safely.

Overall Performance

In 2007-08 the Commission identified the following four priorities as its areas of focus: improving services to clients and stakeholders; monitoring and implementing changes resulting from Canada's response to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS); operationalizing the legislative amendments to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act; and enhancing management excellence.

As an organization with only one program activity, the Claims Exemption Process, the capacity to process claims for exemption as efficiently as possible directly impacts the service that can be provided to clients and stakeholders. Over the past year, HMIRC worked hard to make operational improvements aimed at increasing the Commission's efficiency in the review of claims. Backlog reduction was the top priority and attending to the associated capacity issues a central focus. HMIRC produced a comprehensive business case that identified the resources needed to eliminate the backlog over the next three years as well as to strengthen its administrative and corporate capacity. This earned HMIRC the first year of funding, allowing for preparations to expand the team and renovations to existing office space to house the new recruits.

Extensive work was completed in preparation for the backlog reduction plan for claims and MSDSs in the evaluation system such as, initiating the recruitment of new evaluators, revamping the evaluator training program and creating a career-development program. In addition, the Commission successfully rolled out an interactive, electronic Application for a Claim for Exemption form in October 2007. The new form offers innovative features, which make it easier for claimants to use.

The Commission continued to monitor and participate in the development of Canada's implementation of the GHS. The GHS is an international initiative to harmonize approaches to classification and hazard communications. HMIRC is an active partner in interdepartmental working groups and in the federal Health portfolio. In addition, to carrying out its role, the Commission participates on the WHMIS Current Issues Committee and related working groups.

On March 29, 2007, Bill S-2 amending the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act received Royal Assent and became Chapter 7 of the Statutes of Canada, 2007. As a result of these legislative changes, amendments to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations and Hazardous Materials Information Review Act Appeal Board Procedures Regulations were required. The changes are aimed at streamlining the claims filing process for claimants and expediting the correction of information workers need to use hazardous materials safely in the workplace. The proposed amendments were published in the April 12, 2008 issue of the Canada Gazette, Part I.

Enhancing management excellence was also a priority at HMIRC in 2007-2008. Through strategic partnerships within the Health Portfolio and with other departments, the Commission continued to access interdepartmental resources and expertise. After collaborating with organizations to gather best practices, HMIRC's management team created a comprehensive HR strategy that defined multiple channels for recruitment. A comprehensive strategic Human Resources plan was developed and refined in order to address the Commission's corporate needs, so that it can continue to provide its claimants and stakeholders with the best service possible.

The Commission also introduced tools to increase employee awareness of human resources modernization; integrating HR planning and business planning, empowering line managers to be more actively involved in HR planning and promoting continuous learning and development of all employees.

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