WHMIS 2015 (GHS) Awareness

Yes. Under Canada's Hazardous Products Act and every provincial and territorial OHS Act, employers must ensure workers who may be exposed to hazardous products receive WHMIS education and training before they begin work with those products. This dual-layer obligation applies to all 13 jurisdictions - from Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act to Ontario's OHSA to Quebec's Act respecting occupational health and safety. Workers in federally regulated industries (banks, airlines, telecommunications) fall under the Canada Labour Code Part II instead, but the WHMIS training requirement is the same.

Every WHMIS 2015 supplier label must include: the product identifier, hazard pictograms (red-diamond graphic symbols), a signal word (either 'Danger' for high-severity hazards or 'Warning' for lower severity), hazard statements describing the nature of the hazard, precautionary statements describing how to minimize harm, and the supplier identifier - the name, address, and phone number of the Canadian manufacturer or importer. Supplier labels must also be bilingual (English and French). When a product is transferred into a new container at work, the employer must apply a workplace label, which has different but still mandatory requirements under provincial OHS legislation such as Alberta OHS Code Section 397 and Ontario OHSA Regulation 860.

Under WHMIS, Safety Data Sheets must be reviewed and updated at least every three years, or sooner whenever new hazard information becomes available. Employers are legally required to keep current SDSs readily accessible to all workers who may be exposed and to the Joint Health and Safety Committee - at all times, not just during training. Each SDS follows a mandatory 16-section format; in an emergency, Section 4 (First-Aid Measures), Section 6 (Accidental Release/Spill Response), and Section 8 (Exposure Controls/PPE) are the sections workers reference most. Failure to maintain accessible, current SDSs is a violation under provincial legislation such as Alberta OHS Code Section 400, BC OHS Regulation Section 5.11, and Ontario OHSA Reg 860 Section 17.

The response depends on the route of exposure, and the specific steps are always documented in Section 4 of the product's SDS. For skin contact, remove contaminated clothing and flush the affected area with large amounts of water for at least 15 minutes. For eye contact, immediately irrigate at an eyewash station for at least 15 minutes with eyelids held open - brief interruptions during that window significantly increase the risk of permanent damage, particularly with alkaline chemicals. For inhalation, move the person to fresh air and call 911 if breathing is difficult. For ingestion, do not induce vomiting unless SDS Section 4 or poison control specifically directs it - call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or 911 immediately. Always provide the SDS to the treating physician.

The Hierarchy of Controls ranks hazard controls from most to least effective: Elimination (remove the hazard entirely), Substitution (replace with a safer product), Engineering Controls (physical isolation such as fume hoods or local exhaust ventilation), Administrative Controls (work procedures, exposure limits, job rotation), and PPE as the last resort. PPE - respirators, gloves, face shields - does not reduce the hazard itself and studies show even properly fitted respirators can have face-seal leakage of 5–25%. Alberta's OHS Code Part 2 and BC's OHS Regulation Section 5.54 both require employers to apply this hierarchy when assessing and managing chemical exposures, meaning PPE alone is not sufficient for serious chemical hazards.