If you have been working in an industry where you come across various types of hazardous chemicals or substances that can cause damage to your health, it makes sense that you get yourself educated about these substances with the help of WHMIS training. The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is a certificate program that is aimed to provide workers with the right type of information about harmful chemicals to ensure safety. WHMIS certificate also helps workers to know the right type of steps to be taken in any kind of emergency situation like a chemical spill.
So when you plan to take your WHMIS training, it is important that you know everything about it. There are three important parts of WHMIS that need to be understood well.
Labels
The first part, and the most important one, about dealing with safely handling hazardous chemicals is labeling them in the appropriate manner. When you and your team know which is the right type of label to be used for a particular type of chemical, it lets you stay safe when handling them. The purpose of WHMIS labels is to help workers stay informed about the potential hazards with the material they are dealing with. These labels also provide required information on how to eliminate or significantly reduce those hazards. There are two types of WHMIS labels:
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Supplier Labels –
They’re provided t all parties who purchase controlled products from them.
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Workplace Labels –
Every employer is required to ensure that all hazardous chemicals and their containers are having labels on them to display information required by the legislation.
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
This is the second important part of WHMIS training, which is a data sheet that includes all the required information about the material in the container. The goal of this data sheet is to ensure providing workers with the relevant information about the product such as its usage, handling, storage, emergency steps, and other useful information that the workers must know about the substance. This is not just the technical information, but a lot more than the label.
WHMIS Training & Education
Last, and a very important part, of the WHMIS certificate, is the education and training for workers handling harmful substances. According to the rule, all workers in Canada are required to be provided with WHMIS training and education. This ensures that the workers can safely handle them at the workplace and that the workers are aware of everything related to the chemicals or harmful substances.
So when you are working in an industry where chemicals or harmful substances are used, make sure to enroll yourself in a WHMIS training program and make sure that the course is provided by a certified platform. You must get a WHMIS certificate after the completion of the training program so that you can stay compliant with the rules. Also, a WHMIS certificate ensures that you are able to stay at the competitive edge when looking for new professional opportunities in the industry.
