What changed from WHMIS 1988
Under WHMIS 2015, "controlled products" are called "hazardous products", and there are:
- new rules for classifying hazardous workplace chemicals
- two main hazard classes: physical hazards and health hazards
- new label requirements, including pictograms instead of symbols that correspond to hazard classes
- a different format for safety data sheets
The key responsibilities of suppliers, employers and workers are the same under WHMIS 2015.
How adopting GHS improves health and safety
WHMIS was largely unchanged from 1988 until WHMIS 2015 adopted the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) standards. The benefits include:
- The criteria for classifying chemicals are more comprehensive and detailed, so suppliers can more easily show how severe a hazard is.
- WHMIS 2015 covers some hazardous properties that WHMIS 1988 did not, for example specific target organ toxicity (single exposure) and aspiration hazard.
- Labels and safety data sheets use standardized language, so employers and workers get the same core information about a product regardless of supplier.
- Safety data sheets have a standard format, so information is easier to find, and the information workers and emergency responders need most appears first.
- Safety data sheets contain more comprehensive information, which gives employers and workers a broader range of hazard information and makes training easier.
- Some of the new pictograms are easier to understand than the old symbols, which helps workers who have difficulty reading.
Adopting GHS also makes international trade in chemicals easier and makes Canadian suppliers more competitive.
The transition
The move from WHMIS 1988 to WHMIS 2015 took place in three phases, starting on February 11, 2015, when the amended federal Hazardous Products Act and the new Hazardous Products Regulations came into force.
- Phase 1 (February 11, 2015 to May 31, 2017): manufacturers and importers could sell hazardous products with either old or new labels and safety data sheets. From June 1, 2017, they had to comply with WHMIS 2015 only.
- Phase 2 (June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018): distributors could still sell products with either old or new labels and safety data sheets. From June 1, 2018, all suppliers had to comply with WHMIS 2015.
- Phase 3 (June 1, 2018 to November 30, 2018): employers had six months to bring existing inventories into compliance. By December 1, 2018, the transition had to be complete for everyone, with no hazardous products in the workplace carrying old WHMIS labels and safety data sheets.
Training workers on new labels and safety data sheets
The type and amount of training depends on whether a product is new to the workplace or newly classified as a hazardous product:
- If workers already know how to work safely with a product and it arrives with WHMIS 2015 labels and safety data sheets, they may keep using it, but must be trained as soon as practicable on the content and format of the new supplier labels and safety data sheets.
- If a hazardous product with WHMIS 2015 labels and safety data sheets was not previously used in the workplace, it may be stored but not used until workers are trained on the supplier labels and safety data sheets and on procedures for its safe use, storage, handling and disposal, including in an emergency.
- The same applies to a product that is a hazardous product under the new system but was not a controlled product under the old one.
A generic worker training course is available free online from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). More information about the federal WHMIS requirements is available at WHMIS.gc.ca and on Canada's National WHMIS Portal.