WHMIS 2015 cheat sheet

WHMIS is implemented through federal, provincial, and territorial law: the federal Hazardous Products Act (HPA) and Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) govern suppliers, while provincial/territorial OHS law governs workplaces.

The 2015 update aligned Canada with the UN Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for classification and labelling of chemicals; the current federal framework is often called WHMIS 2015.

Federal role: Health Canada administers the HPA/HPR, sets hazard classes and label/SDS content rules, and maintains the national WHMIS program; it does not inspect most workplaces.

Provincial/territorial role: labour ministries enforce workplace duties such as workplace labels, SDS availability, education, and safe use; requirements vary by jurisdiction.

The supplier's legal duty is to classify hazardous products correctly and provide compliant labels and SDSs; the employer's duty is to ensure products are labelled, SDSs are accessible, and workers are educated.

Classification under the HPR is hazard-based, not risk-based: a product is classified by its intrinsic hazard properties, not by exposure likelihood or control measures.

HPR hazard classes include physical hazards, health hazards, and environmental hazards; only classes and categories adopted into the HPR are regulated under WHMIS.

GHS is an international framework that countries implement differently; a GHS-compliant label or SDS from another country is not automatically WHMIS 2015 compliant.

Where the HPA/HPR and provincial OHS rules overlap, both apply; compliance with supplier rules does not remove employer duties, and vice versa.

WHMIS 2015 uses GHS-style pictograms: a black symbol on a white background inside a red diamond border, used only for the hazard classes assigned to that symbol.

Physical hazard classes in the HPR include flammable gases, aerosols, liquids and solids; oxidizing gases/liquids/solids; gases under pressure; self-reactive substances; pyrophoric liquids/solids; and organic peroxides.

Additional physical classes include self-heating substances, substances that emit flammable gases on contact with water, combustible dusts, and corrosive to metals.

Health hazard classes include acute toxicity, skin corrosion/irritation, serious eye damage/eye irritation, respiratory or skin sensitization, and germ cell mutagenicity.

Health classes also include carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, specific target organ toxicity (single and repeated exposure), aspiration hazard, and biohazardous infectious materials.

The flame pictogram covers flammables, pyrophorics, self-heating substances, water-reactive substances that emit flammable gas, and organic peroxides.

The corrosion pictogram covers skin corrosion and serious eye damage, and separately corrosive to metals; the exclamation mark covers irritation, sensitization, acute toxicity (harmful), and specific target organ toxicity (single exposure, category 3).

The health hazard pictogram (silhouette with starburst on chest) covers carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, respiratory sensitization, and specific target organ toxicity (single or repeated exposure).

The gas cylinder pictogram means gases under pressure; the skull and crossbones means acute toxicity (fatal or toxic); the exploding bomb covers self-reactive substances and organic peroxides; the biohazardous infectious materials pictogram is a WHMIS-specific symbol.

A supplier label must be attached by the supplier and include: product identifier, initial supplier identifier (name, address, telephone), pictogram(s), signal word, hazard statement(s), and precautionary statement(s).

The signal word is either "Danger" (more severe) or "Warning" (less severe); some hazard classes/categories require no signal word.

Hazard statements describe the nature of the hazard (e.g., "Highly flammable liquid and vapour"); precautionary statements describe prevention, response, storage, and disposal measures.

Supplier labels must be in English and French, be legible, and remain attached and legible as supplied; the supplier must provide a label for each container of a hazardous product.

Workplace labels are required when a hazardous product is transferred from its supplier container into another container, or when a supplier label becomes illegible or is removed.

A workplace label must include the product identifier, information for safe handling, and a statement that a Safety Data Sheet is available; it need not repeat pictograms or hazard statements unless the jurisdiction requires it.

Some jurisdictions permit alternative labelling systems (e.g., colour coding or a coding system) if workers are educated on the meaning; the employer must still ensure required information is available.

Portable containers used immediately by the worker who transferred the product may be exempt from a workplace label under many jurisdictions, but the product must be used only by that worker and only for the immediate task.

A supplier label must not be removed, defaced, or altered while the product remains in the container; if a label is damaged, the employer must replace it with a workplace label or a new supplier label.

A WHMIS 2015 SDS has 16 sections in a fixed order; the supplier must provide an SDS in English and French for each hazardous product.

Sections 1-3 cover identification, hazard identification (including GHS classification), and composition/information on ingredients; Section 4 covers first-aid measures.

Sections 5-8 cover fire-fighting measures, accidental release measures, handling and storage, and exposure controls/personal protection (including exposure limits and engineering controls).

Sections 9-12 cover physical and chemical properties, stability and reactivity, toxicological information, and ecological information; Sections 13-16 cover disposal, transport, regulatory information, and other information (including revision date).

The employer must make SDSs readily available to workers in the workplace, in the language(s) they understand, and in a location accessible during work hours.

Employers must educate workers on: the hazards of the products, the meaning of labels and pictograms, SDS content and how to use it, and safe work procedures and emergency response.

Education must be updated when new products are introduced, when SDSs or labels change, or when new hazard information becomes available; training records should be maintained.

Workers have the right to know about hazardous products they work with and the right to refuse unsafe work under most provincial/territorial OHS laws.

An SDS must be current; the supplier should update it as new information arises, and employers should replace outdated SDSs with the most recent version available.