The Importance of WHIMS Training To Ensure Workplace Safety

If you work in hazardous industries and require dealing with a lot of chemicals and other materials that are harmful to your health then you and your employer should know about how to maintain a safe environment at the workplace. Avoiding this would create more complications for the owner especially if any workplace accident happens.

What is WHIMS?

Now legislation has come to protect the life of the employee in the workplace and this is called WHIMS, or the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. This law has set the standard of workplace hazard and there is a mandatory training program for this. Now it has made compulsory for employers across Canada to conduct a safety training program for their employees in order to protect them from the chemical hazard. You can receive WHIMS trainingin Ottawa and any other place.

This law was created in the year 1988 to prevent workplace injury and loss of life and make workers aware of dangerous chemicals they will be exposed to while working and how to operate them to avoid injury. It is applicable for all kinds of workplace except farms.

How WHIMS Helps Workers And Employers?

You can join this program in various training centers in Canada, Ontario and other places and earn certification. Apart from educating workers about the hazardous materials this WHIMS training also makes workers aware about improper labeling at the time of packaging of substances, creating safety data sheets that contain information on how to handle such harmful chemicals etc.

The act was amended in 2015 and the changes came into force in 2018. It talks about 

Labeling

It is the responsibility of the employers that all such products listed in the category of WHMIS should be stored or received or used by their companies with proper labeling. The employees will be educated to read the labeling. The suppliers also come under obligation and they have to label it either in English or French language.

SDS

The manufacturers and suppliers must arrange such safety data sheets that include information about any possible health, fire, environmental and other reactions involved with the use of such chemicals. It should also include the procedures that how to use them safely. 

Classroom Training

Employers are legally bound to provide training and education to all their employees who are exposed to such risky materials at the workplace.

They must receive classroom education about such materials and labels and their inherent meaning. Training should include the ability to read and understand information in SDS s and implement them while on duty.

WHMIS Training should train you on the safe handling, storage, and disposal of risky chemicals and other substances whether it is present in the piping system or as a conveyance. You will be taught what to do in emergency situations. 

Forklift Training Also Forms a Part of WHMIS Training

The heavy industries also come under this WHMIS regulation of 2015. The employers in heavy industries are also liable to provide training to their employees on the safe operation of heavy vehicles such as forklift truck or other vehicles. If you are looking for forklift trainingin Ottawa, then you should join a quality training institute or you can request your employer for this if you are already employed somewhere.

Concluding Remarks

These WHIMS training courses are of short duration and once you complete them you will be able to handle everything very safely in the work place and it will also increase your chances of employment as now a day’s industries look for candidates which are trained and experienced. This helps to bring efficiency into their system together to prevent the occurrence of accidents in the workplace.