Toxic substances management process: risk management strategy

The risk management strategy explains why risks to human health and the environment posed by the use and/or release of a substance must be managed, describes existing management initiatives or instruments in place to reduce uses and/or releases both domestically and internationally, and outlines what should be done in the future to prevent or control further use and/or release of the substance. It is prepared by the strategy leader for that substance in collaboration with and based on input received from risk managers and the previously mentioned risk management team.

Developing a strategy for each toxic substance not only helps coordinate the activities undertaken by each risk manager (i.e. background studies, proposed risk management objective, consultations), it also helps to identify gaps in the overall management approach and enables implications of the approach to be analyzed (i.e. the impact of a tool proposed for one sector's use or release of a substance on another sector's use or release).

Ideally work on the risk management strategy will begin prior to publication in the Canada Gazette under section 77(6) of the final results of an assessment conducted on the substance and the Ministers' recommendations that the substance be added to the List of Toxic Substances. An early start on the development of the risk management strategy is preferable as once the Ministers' recommendation is published, risk managers and strategy leaders have up to two years to develop and publish a proposed preventive or control instrument.

Key components of the risk management strategy include:

• proposed risk management objectives,
• proposed risk management tools including instruments,
• implementation plan (describes how the tools will be implemented including expected timeline)
• consultation approach, and
• issues specific to the substance.