WHMIS 2015 key terms

An international system for classifying chemicals and communicating their hazards through standardized criteria for hazard classes, pictograms, signal words, hazard statements, and Safety Data Sheets.

Canadian federal legislation that governs the sale and import of hazardous products and provides the legal authority for the Hazardous Products Regulations and WHMIS supplier requirements.

Federal regulations made under the Hazardous Products Act that set out the technical rules for classifying hazardous products and the label and SDS content suppliers must provide.

Canada's current Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, which aligns Canadian requirements with GHS criteria while adding workplace-specific duties for labels, SDSs, and worker education.

A broad category of physical or health hazard defined in the regulations, such as flammable liquids or carcinogenicity, under which products are grouped by the nature of the danger they present.

A subdivision within a hazard class that ranks the severity of the hazard, often using numbers or letters, so that Category 1 generally represents the most serious level.

A standardized graphic symbol, drawn as a black symbol on a white background inside a red diamond border, that communicates a specific type of physical or health hazard.

The red-diamond symbol showing a flame, used for physical hazards such as flammable liquids, gases, aerosols, and solids, as well as pyrophoric and self-heating substances.

The pictogram depicting a flame above a circle, used for oxidizing gases, liquids, and solids that can intensify fire by supplying oxygen or reacting to release heat.

The symbol showing a skull and crossed bones, used for acute toxicity hazards that can cause serious harm or death after a single short-term exposure by inhalation, skin contact, or ingestion.

The symbol of a human torso with a starburst over the chest, used for hazards such as carcinogenicity, germ cell mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, respiratory sensitization, and specific target organ toxicity.

The symbol showing liquid dripping from one surface onto a hand and a material, used for substances that cause severe skin burns or serious eye damage and for corrosive to metals hazards.

The symbol of an exclamation mark, used for less severe hazards such as skin or eye irritation, skin sensitization, acute toxicity at lower categories, and respiratory irritation.

The symbol depicting a gas cylinder, used for gases under pressure, including compressed, liquefied, dissolved, and refrigerated liquefied gases.

The symbol of an exploding sphere, used for explosive substances and mixtures and for self-reactive substances and organic peroxides that may explode or react vigorously.

The only WHMIS pictogram not drawn from GHS: a symbol of a microorganism inside a circle, used for organisms and toxins that cause or may cause disease in humans or animals.

A single word, either Danger or Warning, printed on a label to indicate the relative severity of a hazard, with Danger assigned to the more serious categories.

A standardized phrase on a label that describes the nature and, where appropriate, the degree of the hazard, such as highly flammable liquid and vapour.

A standardized phrase describing recommended measures to prevent or minimize adverse effects from exposure, handling, storage, or disposal of a hazardous product.

The label a manufacturer, importer, or distributor must attach to a hazardous product sold or imported into Canada, providing the product identifier, hazard information, and supplier contact details.

A label prepared by the employer for a hazardous product transferred into a container other than the original, or whose supplier label has been lost or damaged, showing required hazard information.

A permitted situation in which a workplace label is not required, such as a portable container filled and used immediately by the worker who dispensed it, or a product identified by a clearly understood code.

The name or number by which a hazardous product is identified on both its label and its Safety Data Sheet, allowing workers to match the two documents correctly.

A standardized sixteen-section document that provides detailed hazard, handling, storage, and emergency information about a hazardous product, prepared by the supplier and made available to workers.

The exposure controls and personal protection section of a Safety Data Sheet, listing occupational exposure limits and recommended engineering controls and personal protective equipment.

The first aid measures section of a Safety Data Sheet, describing the necessary treatment after inhalation, skin or eye contact, or ingestion, including symptoms and notes for medical personnel.

The accidental release measures section of a Safety Data Sheet, covering personal precautions, protective equipment, emergency procedures, and methods for containment and cleanup of spills.

The employer's duty to instruct workers on the hazards of products they work with or near, including how to read labels and SDSs and how to use controls safely.

The principle underlying WHMIS that workers are entitled to information about the hazardous products they handle, balanced against confidential business information protections.

Trade secret information, such as a specific chemical identity or concentration, that a supplier may withhold from a label or SDS under strict rules while still disclosing its hazards.

Harmful effects occurring after a single or short-term exposure to a substance, classified by lethal dose or concentration values and often shown with the skull and crossbones pictogram.

An adverse health outcome that develops after repeated or prolonged exposure, such as cancer, organ damage, or respiratory disease, as opposed to an immediate acute effect.

A substance or mixture that can cause cancer, classified under health hazard criteria and communicated with the health hazard pictogram and a Danger signal word.

A health hazard class covering substances that cause damage to particular organs, such as the liver or lungs, after single or repeated exposure, communicated with the health hazard pictogram.

A substance that may cause an allergic skin reaction after repeated contact, classified under health hazard criteria and labelled with the exclamation mark pictogram and a Warning signal word.

Irreversible damage to skin, such as visible necrosis, following contact with a substance, classified as a serious health hazard and communicated with the corrosion pictogram and a Danger signal word.

A liquid with a flash point at or below the threshold set in the regulations, classified into categories by flash point and boiling point and labelled with the flame pictogram.

The lowest temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapour to form an ignitable mixture with air near its surface, a key property used to classify flammability.

A gas contained under pressure, including compressed, liquefied, and dissolved gases, classified as a physical hazard and communicated with the gas cylinder pictogram.

A reactive substance containing the peroxide structure that can decompose exothermically and may be flammable, explosive, or shock sensitive, classified as a physical hazard.

A workplace airborne concentration guideline, such as a time-weighted average or short-term limit, intended to protect workers from adverse health effects and listed in SDS Section 8.