How long is whmis good for in canada

An employer may demonstrate that reviews have been conducted in various ways, for example, through the keeping of records, or in the minutes of a joint health and safety committee meeting. Therefore, workers should be paid at their regular or premium rate in accordance with their collective agreement, if any, or the Employment Standards Act, To do this assessment, the employer must go through the same steps that a supplier goes through when classifying products intended for sale to other workplaces.

The employer should:. If the material meets the criteria of any category or sub-category of a WHMIS hazard class, it is a hazardous product. A copy of it must be available to workers and given to the joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative if any , or else it must be given to a representative of the workers if there is no joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative subsection 39 2 , OHSA. Assistance to the employer to properly assess and classify hazardous products is available from private consultants and from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.

The WHMIS Regulation provides complete or partial exemptions for various hazardous products, including hazardous waste. While WHMIS label and SDS requirements do not apply to these products, if any of them are used, handled or stored at a workplace, the employer is still required to train workers who are or may be exposed. Various laws govern the sale and use of these products and include labelling and other information requirements.

Worker training should result in workers being able to understand the existing product labels and information and using the products safely. Hazardous waste is defined as a hazardous product that is acquired or generated for recycling or recovery or is intended for disposal subsection 1 1 , WHMIS Reg.

An employer is required to ensure the safe storage and handling of hazardous waste through a combination of identification and worker education subsection 4 4 , WHMIS Reg. Any means of container identification would be considered acceptable, as long as it is understood by the workers. Examples include:. The employer is not required to provide a label or SDS for containers of hazardous waste. No workplace label, identification or SDS is required for a fugitive emission, or for a hazardous product that exists only as an intermediate and undergoes further reaction within a process or reaction vessel subsection 1 2 , WHMIS Reg.

Fugitive emission means a gas, liquid, solid, vapour, fume, mist, fog or dust that meets the following conditions:. Fugitive emission refers to a small amount of a hazardous product that is known to escape from process equipment or from emission control equipment where workers may be readily exposed e. It does not refer to an escaped amount that would require any type of containment or clean-up measures to be taken nor does it include emissions to the environment.

The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development advances safe, fair and harmonious workplace practices that are essential to the social and economic well-being of the people of Ontario. Skip to main content. WHMIS and the employer. The supplier label The employer must ensure that every hazardous product received from a supplier, whether in a container or not, is labelled with a supplier label subsection 8 1 , WHMIS Reg.

Exception for small containers A supplier label may be removed from a container with a capacity of 3 millilitres or less if the label interferes with the normal use of the hazardous product subsection 8 4 , WHMIS Reg. Imported hazardous products An employer who imports and receives a hazardous product for use in its own workplace, either without a supplier label or with a supplier label that does not comply with the requirements of the federal HPR , must attach a label to the product that meets the labelling requirements of the HPR for that product subsection 8 6 , WHMIS Reg.

Bulk shipments and unpackaged hazardous products A "bulk shipment" means a shipment of a hazardous product that is contained without intermediate containment or intermediate packaging in, a vessel with a water capacity equal to or greater than litres; a freight container, road vehicle, railway vehicle or portable tank; the hold of a ship; or a pipeline subsection 1 1 , WHMIS Reg.

Updating the supplier label If an employer receives significant new data from a supplier about a hazardous product, the employer must use this information to update every relevant supplier label as soon as practicable subsection 8 5 , WHMIS Reg.

Significant new data means information about a product that would: change its classification in a category or subcategory of a hazard class, result in its classification in another class, or change the ways to handle it safely.

The information requirements for a workplace label are general and employers have some flexibility regarding language and format but it must contain three items: A product identifier identical to that on the SDS for the hazardous product meaning it must be the brand name, chemical name, common name, generic name, trade name, code name or code number of the hazardous product. Information for the safe handling of the hazardous product meaning precautions that the worker must take to minimize the risks of adverse health effects or physical injury.

These precautions can be conveyed using pictures, words, pictograms or any other mode of communication. Whatever mode of communication is used, it must be combined with worker education to ensure that the purpose and significance of the information is conveyed to workers.

A statement that a safety data sheet, if supplied or produced, is available For some hazardous products, no safety data sheet will be available; for example, the hazardous products listed in Hazardous products exempt from WHMIS of this guide as partially exempt from the WHMIS Regulation.

In such cases, a workplace label would not require any statement regarding a safety data sheet. Employer-produced hazardous products An employer who produces a hazardous product in its own workplace must ensure that the product or its container has a workplace label subsection 9 1 , WHMIS Reg. Decanted hazardous products In general, if a hazardous product is transferred from the supplier container into another container at the workplace, the second container must have a workplace label subsection 10 1 , WHMIS Reg.

No label is required on a portable container filled directly from a container with a supplier or workplace label: if all of the hazardous product in the portable container is required for immediate use clause 10 2 b , WHMIS Reg.

Updating a workplace label An employer is required to update a workplace label as soon as practicable after significant new data about the product becomes available to the employer subsection 9 3 , WHMIS Reg.

Identifying hazardous products in piping systems and vessels When a hazardous product is contained or transferred in, a pipe, a piping system including valves, a process vessel, a reaction vessel, or a tank car, tank truck, ore car, conveyor belt or similar conveyance. The supplier SDS An employer who purchases a hazardous product for use, handling or storage at a workplace must obtain a supplier SDS for the product.

Updating a supplier SDS An employer is required to update the most recent supplier SDS at the workplace as soon as practicable after significant new data about a product is provided by the supplier, or becomes available to the employer in some other way subsection 17 2 , WHMIS Reg.

Disclosure of data source for employer SDS Subject to any exemptions for confidential business information, the employer must disclose the source of any toxicological data the employer used to prepare the workplace SDS , if asked to do so by an inspector, a worker, a member of a joint health and safety committee, a health and safety representative, or a representative of the workers if there is no joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative section 25, WHMIS Reg.

Electronic copy The employer is not required to provide paper copies of SDS s. Worker education General information to be provided to workers An employer must ensure that a worker who works with, or may be exposed to a hazardous product is informed about all hazard information the supplier has provided about the product.

There may be sources in addition to those listed above that the employer may wish to consult. Specific topics to be covered in a worker education program A worker education program on hazardous materials must include instruction on the following subsection 7 1 , WHMIS Reg.

Participating in worker education programs Under the OHSA , an employer has a general duty to ensure a worker exposed or likely to be exposed to a hazardous product receives and participates in prescribed instruction and training subsection 42 1 , OHSA.

Again, confirm these details with your local jurisdiction. Workers must participate in the education and training sessions, and follow the safe work procedures established by their employer.

It is up to the employer to decide. However, each workplace is different, and your potential exposure to hazardous products will vary. Employers must make sure that workers receive training that is specific to that workplace, and to the work you will be performing.

The legislation places the obligation for education and training with the employer, and it outlines the minimum requirements for education and training.

This education and training may be provided by the employer, or by a qualified person or agency that the employer has chosen. Regardless of who delivers the education and training, employers remain legally responsible to ensure the protection of workers.

Some jurisdictions have reported that employers have been contacted by external companies that use high-pressure sales tactics. Notices from these jurisdictions remind employers that they have a choice when deciding on an external training provider.

The goal is to provide education and training that suits both the general education and work-site specific training information you need for hazardous products and the procedures used at your workplace. Add a badge to your website or intranet so your workers can quickly find answers to their health and safety questions.

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information, CCOHS does not guarantee, warrant, represent or undertake that the information provided is correct, accurate or current.

CCOHS is not liable for any loss, claim, or demand arising directly or indirectly from any use or reliance upon the information. OSH Answers Fact Sheets Easy-to-read, question-and-answer fact sheets covering a wide range of workplace health and safety topics, from hazards to diseases to ergonomics to workplace promotion.

Search all fact sheets: Search. Type a word, a phrase, or ask a question. Education and training can be thought of as two separate parts. Education refers to general or portable information such as how WHMIS works and the hazards of the products. Definitely not. These factors include the industry the employees works in, whether or not they are directly exposed to chemicals and what those specific chemicals are, and the extent of exposure, just to name a few. Many employers who do not contain many chemicals in their workplaces do not create comprehensive WHMIS programs.

This can create issues because they are not certain how often the training is required and when it expires. Any worker who may be exposed to a hazardous chemical must be able to easily answer the following questions:. Quite simply, if a worker cannot answer the above questions, they must immediately receive adequate WHMIS education and training.

Following this recommendation is ideal since it helps to ensure that workers are regularly and more easily able to answer the very important questions that we reviewed above.