Canada Labour Code

Marginal note:Further specific duties of employer

125.1 Without restricting the generality of section 124 or limiting the duties of an employer under section 125 but subject to any exceptions that may be prescribed, every employer shall, in respect of every work place controlled by the employer and, in respect of every work activity carried out by an employee in a work place that is not controlled by the employer, to the extent that the employer controls the activity,

• (a) ensure that concentrations of hazardous substances in the work place are controlled in accordance with prescribed standards;

• (b) ensure that all hazardous substances in the work place are stored and handled in the manner prescribed;

• (c) ensure that all hazardous substances in the work place, other than controlled products, are identified in the manner prescribed;

• (d) subject to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, ensure that each controlled product in the work place or each container in the work place in which a controlled product is contained has applied to it a label that discloses prescribed information and has displayed on it, in the manner prescribed, all applicable prescribed hazard symbols;

• (e) subject to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act, make available to every employee, in the prescribed manner, a material safety data sheet that discloses the following information with respect to each controlled product to which the employee may be exposed, namely,

  • (i) if the controlled product is a pure substance, its chemical identity, and if it is not a pure substance, the chemical identity of any ingredient of it that is a controlled product and the concentration of that ingredient,

  • (ii) if the controlled product contains an ingredient that is included in the Ingredient Disclosure List and the ingredient is in a concentration that is equal to or greater than the concentration specified in the Ingredient Disclosure List for that ingredient, the chemical identity and concentration of that ingredient,

  • (iii) the chemical identity of any ingredient of the controlled product that the employer believes on reasonable grounds may be harmful to an employee and the concentration of that ingredient,

  • (iv) the chemical identity of any ingredient of the controlled product the toxicological properties of which are not known to the employer and the concentration of that ingredient, and

  • (v) any other information with respect to the controlled product that may be prescribed;

• (f) where employees may be exposed to hazardous substances, investigate and assess the exposure in the manner prescribed, with the assistance of the work place committee or the health and safety representative; and

• (g) ensure that all records of exposure to hazardous substances are kept and maintained in the prescribed manner and that personal records of exposure are made available to the affected employees.