Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System

The key elements of the system, which came into effect on October 31, 1988, are cautionary labelling of containers of WHMIS controlled products, the provision of material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and worker education and site-specific training programs.

The coordinated approach avoided duplication, inefficiency through loss of scale and the interprovincial trade barriers that would have been created had each province and territory established its own hazard communication system.

[1] As such, each of the thirteen federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) agencies responsible for OHS has established employer WHMIS requirements within their respective jurisdiction.

[2] These requirements place an onus on employers to ensure that controlled products used, stored or handled in the workplace are properly labelled, that material safety data sheets are made available to workers, and that workers receive education and site-specific training to ensure the safe storage, handling and use of controlled products in the workplace.

[9][10] WHMIS 2015 regulations cover materials, referred to as a 'hazardous products' used in a workplace, that meets the criteria of hazard classification, such as toxicity, flash point.