Hazardous substances exposure control plan template
A complete written plan for the chemicals in your workplace, in 14 editions: one for each province and territory and one for federally regulated workplaces. It is written for a workplace with many hazardous products and no single one that dominates, such as a plant, a maintenance shop, a laboratory or a municipality, and brings them all under one system: WHMIS labels and safety data sheets, a chemical inventory, control banding to set the controls for each product and task, storage by compatibility, and spills. Each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations. Every purchase includes all 14, in English and in French: 28 editable Word files you make your own.
A look inside
Sample pages from the plan, marked and cut short. Your copy has no watermark.
What’s in the plan
1. Purpose, scope and the law
The substances the plan covers, from WHMIS products and consumer products to what the work produces and waste, where it applies and the tasks you tick, the law that applies in your jurisdiction with pinpoint citations (section 1.3), and how the plan fits your program.
2. Responsibilities
The employer, the plan administrator, supervisors, everyone who does the work, the committee or representative, the person who assesses exposure, contractors, suppliers and other employers, purchasing, and the physician or occupational health provider.
3. The hazard
What hazardous substances are, how they enter the body and what they do, signs and symptoms, fire, explosion and dangerous reactions, how WHMIS tells you about a product, your inventory and register, where they are found in your work, and the substances that need a plan of their own.
4. Risk assessment
When and how each product and task is assessed and who assesses it, exposure limits and our action level, control banding in four bands from the product’s hazard, the amount used and how easily it gets into the air, and when you reassess.
5. Controls
Controls chosen in order, from substitution reviews to ventilation, administrative controls, storage and segregation by compatibility, and PPE, what they cannot do, and the controls for each band and task.
6. Safe work procedures
Rules for every task with hazardous products and 13 procedures: introducing a new product, receiving products and checking labels, decanting and workplace labels, storing products and keeping incompatible ones apart, mixing and using products, products absorbed through the skin, corrosives, sensitizers, carcinogens and reproductive toxins, opening lines, tanks and equipment, small spills, large spills and releases, and waste and empty containers.
7. Respiratory protection and PPE
When respirators are used and how they are chosen, the cartridge change schedule, fit testing and medical fitness, use and care, gloves chosen by permeation, eye and face protection, and clothing, footwear and other protection.
8. Hygiene facilities and decontamination
Hygiene rules, facilities, eye wash stations and emergency showers, taking off protective equipment and washing, and work clothing and laundry.
9. Exposure monitoring
What is measured, who measures and how, when, working out and acting on the results, sharing them, and checking ventilation.
10. Health monitoring
Where the law requires it, who is offered it, what it includes, results, workers who are sensitized, asking for a review of your work, and records.
11. Education and training
Who is trained and when, WHMIS education, training in the plan, how training is given and checked, and training records.
12. Emergencies and exposure incidents
What counts as an exposure incident, what to do at once, first aid, fire, reactions and gas alarms, reporting and investigation, and follow-up for the people exposed.
13. Records, communication, consultation and review
The records you keep, sharing the plan, consulting your committee or representative, and reviewing the plan.
Appendix A. Regulatory cross-reference
Every provision of your jurisdiction’s law the plan is written to meet, in plain words, with the section that meets it and whether an inspector will also want your records. Each entry links to its section.
Appendix B. Forms
8 print-ready forms, each with a form code: the chemical inventory and register, the task risk assessment and control band, the new product approval and substitution review, the storage and emergency equipment inspection, the exposure monitoring and ventilation record, the WHMIS and plan training record, the spill, release and exposure incident report and the plan review record.
One plan, 14 editions
Each plan is written once and fitted to the law of each of Canada’s 14 jurisdictions: the ten provinces, the three territories and federally regulated workplaces under the Canada Labour Code. Each edition takes the name its law gives the document, and its own limits, terms and citations.
Every purchase includes all 14, each in English and in French: 28 Word files. The French editions follow the English section for section and form for form, and their cross-reference matches row for row. Laws published only in English keep their English titles.
Written to the law where you work
Section 1.3 of each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations: what that law calls the plan, its exposure limits, and what the law adds, such as WHMIS, designated substances, storage and fire code rules, hygiene facilities, monitoring or reporting. Appendix A lists every provision the plan is written to meet, in plain words, with the section that meets it and whether an inspector will also want to see your records. Each entry links to its section.
Every legal reference was checked against the official texts between October 5 and October 6, 2026, and each edition lists its sources and the date each was checked. A template can’t make you compliant on its own, and we don’t claim it does: the plan works once a qualified person adapts it to your work.
Who it is for
Employers with many hazardous products and no single one that dominates: manufacturing plants, maintenance and fleet shops, laboratories, cleaning and custodial services, farms, utilities, schools and municipalities.
Silica, asbestos, lead, isocyanates and hazardous drugs need a plan of their own, and section 3.9 says how this plan works beside them: it still covers their labels, storage, spills and waste. You tick the tasks you do in section 1.2 and delete the procedures you never need.
Lifetime updates
When the law changes, we publish a new edition and email everyone who bought the template, on its own or in the Manufacturing and fabrication exposure control plan pack and 3 other bundles. Every update is free, for as long as we publish it.
Version 1.1 October 6, 2026
- Prince Edward Island: section 1.3 now names the fire codes its Fire Safety Regulations adopt for storing and handling flammable liquids.
- Quebec: section 1.3 now sets out what the Fire Safety Act requires (ss. 2, 4 and 5).
Version 1.0 October 6, 2026
- First edition, in 14 jurisdiction editions (one for each province and territory, and one for federally regulated workplaces), each in English and French.
- Every legal reference checked against the official texts between October 5 and October 6, 2026. Each edition lists its sources and the date each was checked.
More exposure control plans
Get all six in the Manufacturing and fabrication exposure control plan pack for $449.95, $269.75 less than buying them separately. Or buy templates together and save on the whole order: 2 for 10% off, 3 for 15% off, 4+ for 20% off.
All provinces, territories and federal
Manufacturing and fabrication exposure control plan pack (welding fume and gases, noise, solvents and VOCs, isocyanates, hazardous substances, respiratory protection)$449.95
All provinces, territories and federal
Health care exposure control plan pack (infectious disease, hazardous drugs, hazardous substances, mould, heat stress, respiratory protection)$449.95
Questions
Which edition do I use?
The one for the law that covers the workplace: the province or territory where the work is done, or the federal edition if your business is federally regulated under Part II of the Canada Labour Code (for example, interprovincial trucking, airlines, railways, banks and telecommunications). If you are not sure which law covers you, confirm it with your regulator before you rely on an edition. All 14 come with every purchase, in English and French, so you never pay twice for the right one.
Is this legal advice? Will it make us compliant?
No. It is a template, not legal advice: a complete plan written to the law with every requirement cited, as a starting point. The plan only works once a qualified person adapts it to your work (your tasks, your materials and the exposure your own assessment finds) and you put it in place and follow it, so no template can promise compliance. If you want help with that, our team does it too.
Does it cover my province’s own rules?
Yes. Section 1.3 of each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations: what that law calls this document, the exposure limit, and what the law adds to the plan, such as monitoring, health checks, notices, records or training. Where the law changes something in the plan’s general text, section 1.3 says what and where. Appendix A then lists every provision the plan is written to meet, with the section of the plan that meets it.
What if we work in more than one province?
Use the edition for each place you work: every purchase includes all 14. Each edition is complete on its own, and they share the same sections and form codes, so crews moving between provinces work to the same plan and only what the law changes is different.
What format is it in, and can I edit it?
Editable Microsoft Word (.docx) files on US Letter pages: 28 of them, one for each of the 14 jurisdictions in English and in French. Type your company name once and desktop Word puts it on the cover, in every header and through the text. Shaded “Tailor” notes say what to check or change in each section, and highlighted placeholders mark every name, date and place you fill in. The files also open in Google Docs and Word on the web, where you use Find and replace to put your company name in.
What happens when the law changes?
We update the plan, and you get every update free for as long as we publish it: lifetime updates at no extra charge, for all 14 editions in both languages. We email you when a new edition is ready, with what changed and a link to download it.
Can I use it for more than one company?
Each purchase is licensed to one company. Consultants setting up programs for several clients should contact us.
Want it built for you?
Our safety advisors assess the hazards in your work and help you tailor the plan to it, from the risk assessment to the procedures your crews follow and the controls behind them.
Hazard assessments and control