Update on changes to WHMIS requirements and transition period

Work Safe Alberta has released an Occupational Health and Safety bulletin to assist Alberta employers and workers understand the impact of the recent amendments to the federal WHMIS legislation ( see my earlier blog post Federal government announces changes to WHMIS Legislation ) particularly during the transition period when suppliers have the option to comply with either the new WHMIS system (WHMIS 2015) or the old system (WHMIS 1988).

During the transition period, Alberta employers may receive hazardous products that follow either WHMIS 1988 or WHMIS 2015. Employers will need to be familiar with both systems and be able to educate and train workers on both systems. The Work Safe Alberta bulletin provides guidance to employers in meeting their WHMIS obligations during this transition period and until Alberta’s occupational health and safety legislation is amended to align with the federal WHMIS changes.

The Work Safe Alberta bulletin can be found here.

The federal transitional requirements can be found in the Canada Gazette Part II.

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Cristina Wendel

About Cristina Wendel

Cristina advises and represents employers in all aspects of occupational health and safety matters, including day-to-day compliance, incident response, investigations and defending employers charged with occupational health and safety offences. She also represents federally and provincially regulated, unionized and non-unionized employers in a variety of employment and labour law matters such as wrongful dismissal claims, employment standards disputes, human rights issues, labour arbitrations and labour relations board proceedings.

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