Labels (Supplier)

• Labels - Overview
• Links to applicable Acts and Regulations
• Special provisions
• Language requirements
• Format
• Testing requirements
• Ingredient disclosure
• Elements of label
• Hazard Symbols & Label Border
• Standardized wording
• Labelling for transportation cycle
• Labelling of consumer chemicals
• Diagnostic specimens, labelling of:
• Publications

Labels - Overview:

Section 13 of the Hazardous Products Act (HPA) places a legal requirement on the Canadian supplier of a WHMIS controlled product "intended for use in a work place in Canada" to apply a label disclosing prescribed information as a condition of sale. Section 14 of the HPA places a legal requirement on the Canadian importer of a controlled product to apply a label as a condition of importation. Section 23 of the Controlled Products Regulations (CPR) sets out the requirements for an imported controlled product that is to be labelled or repackaged in Canada.

A product, material or substance is a controlled product if it falls within any of the hazard criteria specified in Part IV of the CPR. A controlled product may be a "pure" substance, a tested mixture or an untested mixture. Section 33 of the CPR sets out the procedures for a supplier to establish whether or not a substance is a controlled product and, with the exception of the hazard symbols (specified by paragraph 19(1)(d) of the CPR), does not necessarily apply to the determination of the other information that must be disclosed on the label.

Although the classification criteria specified in Part IV of the CPR may provide a useful guideline for certain label information, subject to certain exemptions and other allowances, label information is prescribed in section 19 of the CPR.

The term "label" is defined in section 11 of the HPA and "includes any mark, sign, device, stamp, seal, sticker, ticket, tag or wrapper".

For information on workplace labels and other employer obligations of WHMIS, please refer to the "Employer Requirements" page.

Applicable Acts and Regulations:

Links are provided on the "Publications" page.

Special provisions:

The categories of products which are not subject to the supplier MSDS and label requirements of the HPA are specified in section 12 of the HPA. Certain special provisions ("exemptions") for labels for products which are subject to the HPA are specified in the CPR as follows:

special provision	as it relates to ....	Section of CPR
bulk shipments	definition of; manner of transmitting label information	2(2); 15 and 18
importation	exemption from labelling	23
multi-containers	labelling of outer versus inner containers / Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations	14
laboratory samples	definition of; ingredient disclosure	2(1); 16
laboratory supply house	hazard symbols and label border	17 and 20(2)
small quantity (100 ml)	risk statements, precautionary statements and first aid measures	19(1)(e)
supplier identifier	identifier to be disclosed	19(4) and (5)
symbols	disclosure of the "skull and cross-bones" versus the toxic "T" symbol	19(5)
trade secret	product and supplier identifier	19(2)

Language Requirements:

Within WHMIS hatched border - As specified in subsection 24(3) of the CPR, labels must be in both English and French. It is acceptable to have both English and French information within one WHMIS border or to have the English and French information within two separate WHMIS borders. However, if the second option is used, hazard symbols must be depicted on both the English and the French labels. Neither the HPA nor CPR preclude the use of other languages within the border.

Outside of WHMIS hatched border - The language(s) of non-prescribed information is outside of the scope of the HPA.

Format:

The following is an example of an acceptable format for a WHMIS supplier label:

NOTE: To save the high resolution label border image file, hold the Shift key down while clicking on the link. A "Save As" pop-up window will appear, enabling the user to specify the location of the file; 400kb, dimenaions: 4.25x3.25in, 600dpi).

Testing Requirements:

Neither the HPA nor the CPR impose a legal requirement to test materials to for the purposes of label disclosure. As a fundamental principle, during the development of WHMIS, all stakeholders agreed that nothing in the hazard criteria, nor any part of WHMIS, would require additional toxicological testing. Rather, WHMIS was designed to make the best use of existing toxicological data. There is, however, an implicit requirement to conduct testing to respect the MSDS ingredient disclosure requirements stipulated in Section 13 of the HPA if this information is not known to the supplier/importer of a WHMIS controlled product.

Regarding physical hazards, in the absence of test results on the product or test results on a product with similar properties to classify the product, a supplier must recognize that if the supplier sells the product and has classified it as not meeting the criterion and the product does in fact meet the criterion, the supplier will be in violation of the law.

Ingredient Disclosure:

Neither the HPA nor CPR require ingredient disclosure on the supplier label of a controlled product. Paragraph 13(a) of the HPA sets out what ingredients are subject to disclosure on the MSDS and section 4 of the CPR specifies the concentration above which those ingredients must be disclosed.

Label Elements:

Element	as it relates to ...	Section of CPR
design	border and placement of label on container	20
durability	requirement for	21(2)
first aid meaures	disclosure of	19(1)(e)(iii)
information disclosure	containers > 100 ml in volume	19(1)(a) to (e)
ingredient disclosure	disclosure on label	not required
language	use of English and French	24(3)
legibility	requirement for	21(1)
precautionary measures	disclosure of	19(1)(e)(ii)
product identifier	definition of; identifier disclosed on MSDS	2(1); 28
revisions	time frames	29
risk phrases	definition of; disclosure of	2(1); 19(1)(e)(i)
symbols	colour; reproduction of	22; 28 and Schedule II
trade secret	substitute information	26 and 27

Standardized Wording

Where the container of a controlled product has a capacity of more than 100 millilitres, subparagraph 19(1)(e)(i) of the CPR requires the disclosure of "risk phrases that are appropriate to the controlled product..." and 19(1)(e)(ii) the disclosure of "precautaionary measures to be followed when handling, using or being exposed to the controlled product". The risk phrases and safety phrases used in the countries of the European Union may provide some guidance in meeting these requirements.

Risk Phrases

Safety Phrases

Labelling Under Whmis Versus That for Transportation Cycle:

A supplier who transports WHMIS controlled products may also be subject to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and its regulations.

If a product does not have any inner containers (e.g., a drum of solvent), then a WHMIS supplier label must be applied to the container in addition to a TDG label. In such cases, the TDG label must not appear within the WHMIS supplier label border.

Labelling Under Whmis Versus That for Consumer Chemicals:

Please refer to the section of the Reference Manual corresponding to the discussion of paragraph 12(f) of the Hazardous Products Act.

Diagnostic Specimens, Labelling of:

Please refer to the frequently asked questions ("FAQs") page.

Publications:

American National Standards Institute; "Hazardous Industrial Chemicals - Precautionary Labeling", ANSI Z129.1-2000;http://web.ansi.org/

Canadian Centre for Occupational Safety and Health (CCOHS) - "WHMIS and WHMIS Labelling Requirements";http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/msds_lab.html