|
The WHMIS law doesn’t specify how frequently WHMIS
education courses must be provided. Instead, the law
provides a standard for the effectiveness of the
training and requires that the standard be achieved on
an ongoing basis. There is, however, a legal requirement that
a company's WHMIS
program be reviewed at least annually or more frequently
if required by a change in work conditions or available
hazard information. Reviewing the program will identify
whether your company's WHMIS training program should be
updated.
What is the standard for WHMIS worker
education?
Workers have met the WHMIS education standard if they
can answer the following four questions related to the
controlled products they work with or near:
| (1) What
are the hazards of the controlled product? |
| (2) How
are you protected from those hazards? |
| (3) What
do you do in case of an emergency? |
| (4)
Where can you get additional hazard information? |
To decide if
this standard has been met, you might want to offer
practical or written tests or assess workers through job
observation.
Essentially,
the onus is on the employer to decide how often WHMIS
training needs to be done to ensure that employees meet
the standard. To be safe, we recommend that WHMIS
training be done at least annually. If work
conditions change drastically (new procedures are
implemented, new controlled products are being used),
you should consider some training throughout the year to
ensure that your staff have the most up-to-date
information on WHMIS and how it applies to the products
they use in the workplace.
If nothing in your workplace has changed over the year,
you should still be implementing annual refresher
training to keep employees knowledgeable (we all know
how memory slips over the year!). Of course, new employees should
always receive WHMIS training before they start working
with any controlled products.
Is
site-specific training required?
Yes. You must include a site-specific
component to your general WHMIS training. This ensures that employees
understand how WHMIS applies to their particular workplace and to
the controlled products they deal with on a daily basis.
A work-site-specific program is considered effective
when workers can apply the information they were taught
to protect their own health and safety on the job.
What happens if an employer doesn’t comply with the
WHMIS laws?
An employer found violating the WHMIS
laws is subject to legal procedures. The outcome of the
procedures depends on factors such as the seriousness of
the violation and the employer’s compliance history.
Violation of the federal WHMIS law may
result in seizure of products and/or prosecution.
Successful prosecution may result in a fine of up to
$1,000,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years.
Violations of the provincial WHMIS law may result in
orders to make changes to the work site, shut down of
work-site operations or prosecution.
The last thing you want is
for an accident to occur and your employees haven't had
adequate WHMIS training. That's what happened to this
Alberta-based company who was issued a hefty fine:
| |
August,
2005: In Calgary, Alberta, a mining equipment
manufacturer was fined $45,350 after a worker was
engulfed in flames while he was spray painting the
inside of a van. The fine dates back to the incident
which occurred on August 23, 2002 at Clemro Western
Limited.
The employee
was spray painting the inside of a van outside the
company's welding shop. The paint vapours suddenly
ignited and the worker was seriously burned. The source
of the ignition is still undetermined, but improper
ventilation is suspected.
The injured
employee had missed his WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous
Materials Information System) training due to scheduling
conflicts. |
For more
information on WHMIS and the government regulations,
visit
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/occup-travail/whmis-simdut/index_e.html.
Provincial Contacts
WHMIS is a
national program and the basic requirements are the same
across the country. However, individual provinces and
territories may have introduced minor changes while
integrating WHMIS with their occupational health and
safety regulatory regime. Here are provincial contacts
for any special WHMIS requirements:
Government of Alberta
Alberta Human Resources and Employment
(866) 415-8690
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/whs/worksafely/index.asp
Government of British Columbia
Workers’ Compensation Board
(604) 276-3100
http://www.worksafebc.com/
Government of Manitoba
Manitoba Labour and Immigration
(204) 945-3450
http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/
Government of New Brunswick
Workplace Health Safety and Compensation Commission
(506) 453-2467
http://www.whscc.nb.ca/
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Department of Government Services
(709) 729-5548
http://www.gov.nl.ca/gs/ohs
Governments of the Northwest Territories and
Nunavut
Workers' compensation Board
(800) 661-0782 or (867) 669-4407
http://www.wcb.nt.ca/
Government of Nova Scotia
Department of Environment and Labour
(902) 424-5400
http://www.gov.ns.ca/enla/healthandsafety/
Government of Ontario
Ministry of Labour
(800) 268-8013
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/index.html
Government of Prince Edward Island
Workers’ Compensation Board
(902) 368-5562
http://www.wcb.pe.ca/
Government of Québec
Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail
(514) 906-3080
http://www.csst.qc.ca/
Government of Saskatchewan
Department of Labour
(306) 787-4539
http://www.labour.gov.sk.ca/
Government of the Yukon Territories
Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board
(867) 667-5450
http://www.wcb.yk.ca/
If you
export WHMIS controlled products to Canada and do not
have a
Canadian representative, you may contact Health Canada:
Government of Canada
National WHMIS Office, Health Canada
Tel: (613) 957-2342
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/occup-travail/whmis-simdut/index_e.html.
If your
query relates to WHMIS controlled products used,
handled, stored or
disposed of in a federally-regulated workplace, please
contact:
Government of Canada
Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development
Canada
Tel.: (819) 953-0215
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/gateways/topics/oxs-gxr.shtml
|
