REGULATORY NEWS FOR WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulatory requirements for traceability

A new section titled “5.0 Traceability-specific labelling requirements by food commodity” has been added to Regulatory requirements: Traceability.

• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety releases annual report

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has released its 2018-2019 Annual Report of the Council. The report outlines the Centre’s significant accomplishments, and milestones reached as the centre advocated for the total physical and psychological health and well-being of working people in Canada.

• Manitoba prosecutes employer for worker injuries for training deficiencies

Manitoba Growth, Enterprise and Trade is reminding employers to ensure that workplaces are safe and workers are adequately trained to perform their duties after an employer was prosecuted for violations of The Workplace Safety and Health Act and Regulations.  As a result, a penalty totalling more than $50,000 was ordered by the courts.

• Ontario launches annual Safe at Work consultations

We invite you to participate in the Ministry of Labour’s Workplace Health and Safety consultations taking place in October 2019.  These discussions will be an opportunity to help shape the future direction of the ministry’s Safe at Work Ontario strategy for 2020/21.  Your feedback will help improve the effectiveness of our Safe at Work Ontario campaigns and enhance the compliance support we offer.

• NFPA releases a new energy storage system standard

To help provide answers to different stakeholders interested in energy storage system (ESS) technologies, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released NFPA 855, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, the first comprehensive collection of criteria for the fire protection of ESS installations. The standard provides requirements based on the technology used in ESS, the setting where the technology is being installed, the size and separation of ESS installations, and the fire suppression and control systems that are in place.

• California adds 6 substances to Proposition 65

Effective September 13, 2019, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is adding 2-amino-4-chlorophenol (CAS No. 95-85-2), 2‑chloronitrobenzene (CAS No. 88-73-3), 1,4-dichloro-2-nitrobenzene (CAS No. 89-61-2), 2,4-dichloro-1-nitrobenzene (CAS No. 611-06-3), N,N-dimethylacetamide (CAS No. 127-19-5), and para-nitroanisole (CAS No. 100-17-4) to the list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer for purposes of Proposition 65.  The listing of these chemicals is pursuant to the “Labor Code” listing mechanism.

• Restrictions proposed for skin sensitizers in textiles and leather goods

Some chemicals are a source of growing concern as they can cause allergic reactions following skin contact. Swedish and French authorities estimate that between 4 and 5 million people in the European Economic Area are sensitised to chemical substances present in finished textile and leather articles. To protect the general public, they have proposed to restrict chemical substances known to cause this effect in such articles, as well as in hides and furs, when they are placed on the market for the first time.

• Four new chemicals to be considered for Rotterdam Convention listing

The Chemical Review Committee (CRC-15) meets from 8 to 10 October in Rome and will consider four new chemicals. Parties and Observers are now invited to comment.

• Listing of two new chemicals in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention

The amendments to list hexabromocyclododecane and phorate in Annex III enter into force on 16 September 2019. Parties are invited to provide import responses by 16 June 2020.

Safety Share

• World’s First Aid Day – September 14^th

This World First Aid Day (September 14th) – observed on the second Saturday of every September – we encourage you to sign up for a St. John Ambulance first aid course. The sooner you learn the lifesaving skills of first aid, the better – you never know when you will need to use them!