Abstract
Traditionally in Canada, there are three health and safety rights: the right to participate (joint workplace health and safety committees); the right to refuse unsafe and unhealthy work; and the right to know about workplace hazards. By the end of the 1970s, the right to know had been established in law across Canada, but it was not enough to cover workplace chemical hazards in particular. The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) was a project set up by the Canadian federal government in 1982 to address the issue. This article tells the story of how labor got the progressive WHMIS agreement(1985) and how the agreement has been implemented in the following years.
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References
1.
Final Report of the Workplace Hazardous Information Steering Committee to the Deputy Minister of Labour Canada, April 1985 , Labour Canada Catalogue No. L46-1568/85E.
2.
A Submission to the Steering Committee of the Hazardous Materials Information System by the Canadian Labour Congress, May 1983 .
3.
Health and Safety at Work, Report of the Committee 1970–72 , Chairman Lord Robens, London, HMSO, July 1972 .
4.
Health and Safety at Work Act, UK, 1974 .
5.
Hazardous Product Act (1985); Controlled Products Regulations and the Ingredient Disclosure List Regulation (1988 ).
6.
Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (1985) and the Regulations (1985 ), amended 2002.
7.
Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, Annual Report, 2004–2005 .
8.
Canada Labour Code, Part II, Health and Safety, and Regulations.