VelocityEHS | MSDSonline Reminds Chemical Distributors of Health Canada’s September 1 WHMIS 2015 / GHS Compliance Deadline
08/02/2018
VelocityEHS and MSDSonline are reminding businesses that September 1, 2018 is the second compliance deadline for Health Canada’s GHS-aligned Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015). By this date, chemical distributors covered by WHMIS 2015 are responsible for ensuring that WHMIS 2015 compliant safety data sheets (SDSs) and supplier labels accompany the hazardous products they sell to businesses in Canada. Any U.S. or other non-Canadian suppliers interested in shipping hazardous products to Canadian customers will want make sure their products meet these requirements as well.
The September 1 WHMIS deadline for distributors marks the beginning of Phase 3 of Health Canada’s GHS transition and represents the point in time when all suppliers across Canada — manufacturers, importers and distributors alike — are required to provide Canadian workplaces with compliant WHMIS 2015 labeled hazardous products and SDSs.
Preceding this distributor deadline was the June 1, 2018 deadline for chemical manufacturers and importers, who since that date, have been required to ensure their hazardous products are reclassified according to the physical and health hazard criteria set forth in the new Hazardous Product Regulations (HPR), and that shipments to downstream users include updated WHIMS 2015 supplier labels and SDSs.
Let VelocityEHS | MSDSonline Help!
VelocityEHS | MSDSonline offers a variety of expert resources to help hazardous product manufacturers, importers, distributors and employers throughout Canada simplify compliance with WHMIS 2015. Our WHMIS 2015 Compliance Checklist and WHMIS 2015 Employer 3-Year SDS Verification Rule Map are two helpful guides offered free of cost to help those covered by WHMIS 2015 better understand their compliance requirements.
Our exclusive webinar, “WHMIS 2015: All 3 Compliance Deadlines Hit in 2018 — Are You Ready?” on August 21, 2018 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST provides a detailed overview of the new WHMIS 2015 requirements, along with strategies and best practices for ensuring compliance.
We also offer a comprehensive suite of MSDSonline chemical management software products and services to help with the daunting task of bringing your business into compliance with the new WHMIS 2015 requirements. For manufacturers, importers and distributors, the company’s MSDSonline SDS Authoring and Regulatory Consulting Services, including CBI claim registration support, are of particular value. Our in-house team of chemical safety and regulatory experts are available to provide one-on-one support with WHMIS 2015 chemical reclassifications, SDS document translations and authoring, trade secret filing support and more.
Employers, meanwhile, can take advantage of the award-winning, cloud and mobile-enabled HQ and HQ RegXR Accounts to assist with the GHS transition. Our powerful, yet easy-to-use SDS and chemical inventory management tools include automatic GHS-aligned SDS document flagging and updates to help you streamline the transition from your old MSDSs to the new WHMIS 2015 formatted SDSs. You can also quickly and easily provide employees with immediate, right-to-know access to your updated library of SDSs. And employers who are federally regulated or located in provinces or territories that have retained the SDS 3-year verification rule can save time and money with the help of our Verification Services, which eliminate the need for calling each of your hazardous product suppliers to verify whether or not your SDSs are considered current.
