Changes to WHMIS
The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is changing. Since 1988, WHMIS has been Canada’s hazard communication system for workplace chemicals. It is a national system implemented through interlocking federal, provincial and territorial legislation and regulations.
WHMIS is changing to adopt new international standards for classifying hazardous chemicals and providing information on labels and safety data sheets. These new international standards are part of the Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and are being phased in across Canada between February 2015 and December 2018. In Ontario, proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to implement WHMIS 2015 were introduced on April 2, 2015 in Bill 85. When these amendments are passed, the WHMIS Regulation would be amended.
What’s Different?
WHMIS 2015 includes new harmonized criteria for hazard classification and requirements for labels and safety data sheets (SDS).
Under WHMIS 2015, "controlled products" are called "hazardous products" and there are:
- new rules for classifying hazardous workplace chemicals;
- two main hazard classes – physical hazards and health hazards;
- new label requirements, including pictograms instead of symbols that correspond to hazard classes; and,
- a different format for safety data sheets
The key responsibilities of suppliers, employers and workers are the same under WHMIS 2015.
Training
During the transition, employers must ensure that workers are trained on:
- products with WHMIS 1988 labels and material safety data sheets for as long as they are still used in the workplace; and,
- products with WHMIS 2015 labels and safety data sheets, as soon as practicable after these products enter the workplace and, in some cases, before they are used.
For more information about the new federal WHMIS requirements, please visit the Health Canada website. For information on the transition to WHMIS 2015 in Ontario, please see the FAQs on the Ministry of Labour's website. General information for suppliers, employers and workers is available at Canada's National WHMIS Portal.
Register your employees today for LBMAO's user-friendly Online Health & Safety Training program which features the latest WHMIS training course update, along with many other mandatory courses. For more information visit www.lbmao.on.ca or call us at (905) 625-1084, TF: 1-888-365-2626.