The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)

The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is a national system designed to ensure that all employers obtain the information they need to inform and train their employees properly about hazardous materials used in the workplace.

Eligibility Criteria

WHMIS applies to all workplaces in Canada. 

Summary

Through legislation, the WHMIS consensus establishes uniform requirements to ensure that the hazards of materials produced or sold in, imported into, or used within workplaces in Canada are identified by suppliers and employers using standard classification criteria.

WHMIS is consistent with the worker's "right to know" what the hazards are and what needs to be done to control them in the workplace. Existing occupational health and safety legislation in Canada requires that workers be informed about the risks they may encounter on the job. WHMIS provides employers and workers with one additional tool to improve their understanding of hazardous materials. To make the best use of this tool, suppliers and employers have certain responsibilities.

A "supplier" is a manufacturer, processor or packager of a controlled product or a person who, in the course of business, imports or sells controlled products. A "controlled" product is defined for WHMIS under the federal Hazardous Products Act as meaning any product, material or substance specified by the regulations to be included in any of the classes listed in Schedule II of the Act . An "employer" is, for the purposes of WHMIS, the user of a controlled product in the workplace or the producer of a controlled product as part of a workplace process.

Suppliers must convey hazard information to purchasers in a specified manner by means of labelling on the controlled products or containers of the controlled products and by providing more detailed information concerning the controlled product in the form of a material safety data sheet (MSDS).

Under occupational health and safety legislation, employers are also required to provide their employees with hazard information received from suppliers and in respect of controlled products produced in the workplace.

Additional Information on WHMIS

For further information about employer responsibilities under the legislation, contact the Federal Labour office nearest you.

Manitoba Contact(s):
Regional Office
Labour Program
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
201-391 York Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3C 0P4
Fax: 204-983-2117
Toll-free (information): 1-800-641-4049
Web site: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/home.shtml
 

National Contact(s):
National Headquarters
Labour Program
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Gatineau, Quebec  K1A 0J2
Toll-free (publications): 1-800-641-4049
Web site: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/home.shtml