Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015)
Adaptation of the GHS to Canada.
The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) is the Canadian adaptation of the GHS and is included in the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17), as amended by SOR/2020-38 and SOR/2022-272. It is a compreted system that provides information on the health and safety of hazardous products intended for use, handling or storage in Canadian workplaces.
The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) regulates the content of Safety Data Sheets, in accordance with Part 4 and Annex 1 of the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17, SOR/2020-38, SOR/2022-272), and also the content of labels, in accordance with Part 3 of the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17, SOR/2020-38, SOR/2022-272).
The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) is aligned with the seventh revised edition of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), also include select provisions that align parts of the HPR with the 8th revision of the GHS Purple Book. However, it does not implement the entire system, as the WHMIS excludes hazard categories from the Purple Book and incorporates amendments.
Classification:
Unlike the seventh revised edition of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), only has two types of hazards for the purposes of classification and labelling:
- Physical Hazards.
- Health Hazards.
And it excludes Environmental Hazards.
Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) excludes the following hazard categories from the UNECE's GHS:
- Physical Hazards:
- ✘ Desensitised explosives, all categories.
- Health Hazards:
- ✘ Acute toxicity, category 5.
- ✘ Skin corrosion/irritation, category 3.
- ✘ Aspiration hazard, category 2.
- Environmental Hazards:
- ✘ All hazard classes and categories are excluded.
However, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) includes the following own hazard classes and categories (not listed in GHS):
- Physical Hazards Not Otherwise Classified (PHNOC).
- Health Hazards Not Otherwise Classified (HHNOC).
- Biohazardous Infectious Materials.
Labelling
In Canada, the WHMIS requires the labelling of products used in the workplace that meet the criteria for classification as hazardous, in accordance with Parts 7 and 8 of the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17, SOR/2020-38, SOR/2022-272).
There are two main types of WHMIS labels:
- • The packaged chemical labels.
- • The workplace labels.
Suppliers of hazardous products must apply a label to their packaging that meets the requirements of the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17, SOR/2020-38, SOR/2022-272).
A label in a workplace is required when:
- • A hazardous product is produced (made) at the workplace and used in that workplace.
- • A hazardous product is decanted into another container.
- • The supplier label is missing or illegible.
The labels of Chemicals packaged must be in the two official languages of Canada (English and French). They may be bilingual (in one label) or available as two labels (one in English and one in French).
Products classified in accordance with Parts 7 and 8 of the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17, SOR/2020-38, SOR/2022-272) must clearly and visibly include the product name, hazard pictogram(s), signal word, hazard statements, precautionary statements and supplementary information, together with supplier information on the substance or mixture.
Since Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) is a system intended exclusively for the professional / industrial sector, for the labeling of Chemical products intended for consumer use, it is necessary to take into account the Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulations (SOR / 2001 -269).
Safety data Sheet (SDS):
All product classified as hazardous under WHMIS that is intended for use, handling or storage in a Canadian workplace must have a Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
The Safety Data Sheet must be in the two official languages of Canada (English and French).
They can be provided as one bilingual SDS, or as two (one in English and one in French). In cases where two separate SDS are used, the English and French parts must be provided to the buyer at the same time.
The sixteen sections contained in Annex 1 of the Hazardous Products Regulations HPR (SOR/2015-17, SOR/2020-38, SOR/2022-272) are:- Identification.
- Hazard identification.
- Composition/information on ingredients.
- First-aid measures.
- Fire-fighting measures.
- Accidental release measures.
- Handling and storage.
- Exposure controls/personal protection.
- Physical and chemical properties.
- Stability and reactivity.
- Toxicological information.
- Ecological information.
- Disposal considerations.
- Transport information.
- Regulatory information.
- Other information.
In the case of Section 3 (Composition/information on ingredients), any ingredient expressed in a concentration range must use concentration ranges established by the regulation, and may not be freely set.
Meanwhile, Confidential Business Information (CBI) must comply with the provisions of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations (SOR/88-456) to modify the product name of the substances on the Safety Data Sheet.
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