The letters W-H-M-I-S stand for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. WHMIS is a Canada-wide hazard communication system. It affects suppliers, importers, and distributors who provide potentially hazardous materials used at work sites, and employers and workers who use those materials. The purpose of WHMIS is to ensure that workers have the information they need to work safely with hazardous materials at the workplace.
Key components of WHMIS are cautionary labelling for containers of WHMIS "controlled products", the requirement to provide material safety data sheets (MSDS) and worker education and training programs.
WHMIS Supplier Labels have the following format:
Please note the design of the border around the outside, this is called the WHMIS Cross Hatching and is a requirement for a WHMIS label.
Suppliers must create MSDSs in both English and French by the time they begin selling the product in Canada. Material safety data sheets must provide product identity, hazardous ingredients, physical data, fire or explosion hazard, reactivity data, toxicological properties, preventative and first aid measures and the name and contact details for further information. MSDSs must be readily accessible to the workers on the work site and to the Health & Safety Committee or representative.
It should be noted that anyone responsible for transporting a WHMIS controlled product must receive training in the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG).
WHMIS applies only in Canada, different rules and regulations apply in the US and elsewhere. The United Nations has been working on an uniform set of standards called the ‘Globally Harmonised System’ (GHS). For an explanation of the impact of GHS on WHMIS please see our Blog WHMIS After GHS.
Related Pages: WHMIS Online Training Courses.
