9.7 WHMIS

As part of the workplace safety program, employers are responsible for ensuring their workers are protected from hazardous products, previously referred to as controlled products. WHMIS, or the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, is designed to protect workers from the health effects of exposure to hazardous products.

Globally, there has been a move to align all hazardous product legislation to create uniformity. As such, the GHS, or the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, was created to support such uniformity. In 2015, Canada updated its WHMIS legislation to what is known as WHMIS 2015 to align with GHS. Throughout this chapter, we will review the three elements of WHMIS 2015, look at hazard classification and the transportation of dangerous goods. Take the time to complete this activity that highlights the transition to WHMIS 2015.

There are three essential elements that make up WHMIS 2015.

(a) Labels

(b) Safety Data Sheets

(c) Education and Training

Let’s explore each of these elements individually to fully understand their importance for your workplace safety program.

Labels

The first element of WHMIS 2015 focuses on the label attached to a hazardous product. There are two types of labels in WHMIS 2015. The supplier label is affixed to the hazardous product by the supplier prior to the product arriving at the workplace. The workplace label is affixed to the hazardous product if the original supplier label falls off, or if a worker decants the product into a new container.

See the poster by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety to review the required content of a supplier label and a workplace label. In addition, below you will find a WHMIS label activity you can complete to assist with your understanding of hazardous product labels.

Pictograms are graphics that help the worker to instantly recognize the type of hazardous product they are working with and the immediate hazard, such as a corrosive material. Pictograms can be found on the safety data sheet, or on the supplier label attached to the hazardous product.

WHMIS 2015 consists of 10 pictograms. Review the pictogram poster from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety as it highlights all 10 pictograms every worker needs to be familiar with.

Signal Words

Every label is to contain a Signal Word.

• “Danger ” and “Warning” are the two signal words used to emphasize hazards.
• The appropriate signal word, “Warning” or “Danger”, is determined based on the hazard classification of the product” (Health Canada, 2016)

Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

The second element of WHMIS 2015 focuses on Safety Data Sheets. Before a supplier ships a hazardous product to a workplace, they are responsible for attaching a Safety Data Sheet. Once received by the workplace, the employer must make the new data sheet available to all workers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in an accessible area. This might include a hard copy of the data sheet in a binder and/or an electronic copy of the data sheet on an accessible computer.

Each safety data sheet consists of 16 sections, and in Canada, the safety data sheet must be available to workers in both English and French. Review the handout from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety which details the 16 sections of the safety data sheet.

Education and Training

The third element of WHMIS 2015 is education and training. Whether it is an existing employee or a new hire, everyone must have WHMIS 2015 training. Equally important is the training record. Every employer must ensure they can quickly and easily access training records for all safety training programs, including WHMIS 2015. These records may be required by a court, a government agency, workers compensation, an inspector, or the joint health and safety committee to name a few.

During the WHMIS 2015 training session, it is important to instruct workers on the location of the Safety Data Sheets (SDS), and how to read the data sheet as it contains important first aid, usage and storage instructions. In addition, workers need to know how to read a workplace and a supplier label. Should an employee decant a hazardous product from a labelled container into a new container, the individual must immediately advise their supervisor so a workplace label can be created and attached to the new container. Lastly, every worker must understand the WHMIS 2015 pictograms so they can recognize the type of risk they are handling.

To learn more about WHMIS Online Certification Training see Canada Safety Training Centre’s website. 

“11.1 An Introduction to WHMIS 2015” & “11.2 Hazards Groups, Classes and Categories” & “11.3 The Three Elements of WHMIS 2015” from Human Resources for Operations Managers by Connie Palmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.