ARCHIVED - Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission - Report

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Section II - Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

 

Strategic Outcome: Chemical trade secrets are protected and required health and safety information in Canadian workplaces is compliant.

Program Activity: Statutory Decisions and Compliant Information

Program Activity Description

The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) requires chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors, and employers to provide cautionary labelling and material safety data sheets (MSDSs) for every controlled product produced, used or intended for use by workers in Canadian workplaces. Pursuant to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission has the mandate to make decisions on the validity of claims for exemption from disclosure requirements under WHMIS, while ensuring that associated health and safety information made available to Canadian workers is compliant with the WHMIS standards. Specifically, to fulfill its program requirements, the Commission registers claims, issues decisions on claim validity and compliance, offers claimants an opportunity to comply voluntarily and when necessary, orders claimants to take actions to bring MSDSs and/or labels into compliance. In carrying out this program, the Commission fosters proactive compliance. It assists claimants in respecting relevant statutory requirements by providing the information, knowledge, tools and support they need to submit complete and accurate claims and bring associated MSDSs and/or labels into compliance.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
2,804	2,804	2,804

Human Resources (FTEs)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
25	25	25

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Claimants submit valid claims	Percentage of claims found to be valid on review	100%
Claimants are proactively compliant with Workplace Hazardous Material Information System requirements	Average number of violations in material safety data sheets of record	4.5

Planning Highlights

In order to achieve the Expected Results, the Commission will focus on the following areas:

The establishment of a compliance baseline to inform future proactive approaches.
In order to develop proactive approaches to claim validity and improved WHMIS compliance, HMIRC will analyze claim information to determine where in the claim process it can best introduce its expertise on hazardous classification and communication. This will also help to identify the most critical areas. Once a more complete compliance baseline is in place, the Commission will have an enhanced capability to foster proactive compliance in claimants.

Claimants are provided with the knowledge, tools and information to be WHMIS compliant.
As part of WHMIS, the Commission is responsible for communicating WHMIS requirements to claimants and verify that submitted MSDSs are accurate and compliant. To this end, it will pursue various means to share information from its knowledge base, and it will continue to invest in the development of tools to best convey and apply this information. The sooner health and safety information is compliant, the better for Canadian workers.

Ongoing improvements to claim processing.
The Commission will continue to process claims efficiently and effectively, and to introduce improvements that further enhance various stages of the process, such as an e-Submission pilot

Program Activity: Stakeholder Engagement and Strategic Partnerships

Program Activity Description

The exclusive work completed by the Commission enables it to gather unique information and data holdings on hazard communications under the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System in terms of completeness, accuracy, comprehensibility and accessibility. Through partnerships, the Commission attempts to more fully a) mine, b) test and compare and c) share its knowledge so as to improve hazard communications for Canadian industry and Canadian workers. It also uses this knowledge to improve the understanding and proficiency of interested domestic and international public bodies in developing hazard communication approaches, tools and standards. Consequently, this program supports the establishment of mutually beneficial partnerships that contribute to the creation and distribution of information and knowledge that enhance the safe handling of hazardous chemicals.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
543	543	543

Human Resources (FTEs)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
5	5	5

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Improved knowledge and proficiency of hazard communications	Percentage of participants who increased knowledge of hazard communication due to outreach activity	75%
	Percentage of participants at outreach activity who used increased knowledge to improve hazard communication	25%

Planning Highlights

In order to achieve the Expected Results, the Commission will focus on the following areas:

Explore and identify stakeholder interest in forming mutually beneficial partnerships.
With its unique expertise, and taking into account the limited resources available, the Commission will leverage its knowledge and experience and that of partners to maximize the achievement of outcomes by pursuing mutually beneficial partnerships. As a preliminary step in the development of partnerships, HMIRC will seek opportunities to engage informally with other relevant organizations.

Share information to improve stakeholder knowledge of hazard communications.
The exclusive work the Commission performs allows it to gather unique information. HMIRC will place greater emphasis on analyzing, synthesizing and sharing its knowledge and information of a non-confidential nature so as to enhance the completeness, accuracy, comprehensibility and accessibility of hazard communications to the benefit of stakeholders.

Internal Services

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. At HMIRC these groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Legal Services; Communications Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Acquisition Services; and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
1,176	1,176	1,176

Human Resources (FTEs)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
12	12	12

Planning Highlights

The Commission will extend and further implement its Integrated Plan over 2010-2016, concentrating especially on operational components in support of its strategic directions and identified outcomes. These efforts will confirm key strategic functions and priorities, allocate resources accordingly, and concentrate on the delivery of outputs to ensure alignment with and contribution to outcomes.

The Commission's volunteer participation in a horizontal audit on the Management, Resources and Results Structure (MRRS) Policy will be followed up with implementation of recommendations in 2012-13. The monitoring and refining of evaluation tools will help to measure the impact of products and services and, ultimately, contribute to greater efficiency, effectiveness and economy. Evidence-based information will be used to report on results, demonstrate value to Canadians, as well as support improvement and engagement towards management of excellence.

The Commission will complete and refine tools and guidelines related to human resources management, financial management, information technology (IT) and information management (IM). In addition, IT and IM will provide the requisite support to new initiatives, such as e-submissions; a strategic communications plan will assist efforts at outreach and knowledge translation; the implementation of the Budget Management Framework will clarify reporting and accountability; and Commission participation in the Shared Services Working Group and Steering Committee for Finance will ensure small agency concerns are taken into consideration.

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