7.2 WHMIS 2015/GHS Hazard Symbols, Classes & Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

WHMIS 2015/GHS Hazard Symbols, Classes & Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

Core Principle: The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is Canada's comprehensive hazard communication standard. Aligned with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), WHMIS ensures that individuals handling, storing, or working near chemical agents understand the dangers and emergency procedures. Security guards patrolling commercial properties, distribution centres, industrial plants, and hospitals must be fully qualified to recognize WHMIS pictograms, interpret Safety Data Sheets, and execute containment protocols during chemical emergencies.

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Purpose and Legal Mandate of WHMIS 2015

Originally established in 1988, WHMIS underwent a comprehensive legislative overhaul in 2015 to synchronize Canada's chemical classification and labelling systems with the international standard known as the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), developed by the United Nations.

WHMIS 2015 is governed through interlocking federal and provincial legislation:

• Federal Legislation: The Hazardous Products Act (HPA, R.S.C. 1985, c. H-3) and the Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) govern the classification, importation, and supplier sale of hazardous chemicals across Canada.
• Ontario Provincial Legislation: The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and Ontario Regulation 860 (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System - WHMIS) govern employer obligations, workplace container labelling, worker training, and workplace Safety Data Sheet (SDS) availability.

The Three Core Elements of WHMIS

WHMIS achieves worker protection through three interdependent communication channels:

1. Labels: Warning identifiers affixed to containers alerting users to product hazards and immediate precautions.
2. Safety Data Sheets (SDS): Detailed technical documents outlining physical, health, fire, and reactivity hazards, safe handling, and emergency response procedures.
3. Worker Education and Training: General education explaining WHMIS symbols and terminology, combined with site-specific operational training addressing chemical hazards present on the property.

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Hazard Groups and Pictograms

Under WHMIS 2015, hazardous products are divided into two primary hazard groups based on the nature of the risk:

• Physical Hazards: Products classified according to physical characteristics that can cause fires, explosions, or mechanical destruction (e.g., flammable gases, combustible dusts, oxidizing liquids, corrosive to metals, gases under pressure).
• Health Hazards: Products classified according to their biological effects on human tissue and physiological systems (e.g., acute toxicity, skin irritation, respiratory sensitization, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, biohazardous infectious materials).

Standard Pictogram Design

Almost all WHMIS 2015 pictograms feature a black symbol positioned on a white background within a square set on a point (diamond) with a vivid red border.

The single exception in Canadian law is the Biohazardous Infectious Materials pictogram, which retains a black symbol inside a round black border, preserving the traditional Canadian biohazard designation.

WHMIS 2015 PICTOGRAM DESIGNS:
• Standard GHS Hazard Pictograms: Red diamond border, white background, black symbol
• Canadian Biohazard Pictogram: Black circular border, white background, black trefoil symbol

The WHMIS 2015 Pictogram Guide

(Note: WHMIS 2015 also recognizes the GHS Environmental hazard pictogram showing a dead tree and fish, but environmental hazard classification is non-mandatory under current Canadian occupational health and safety regulations).

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WHMIS 2015 Labelling Systems: Supplier vs. Workplace Labels

Labels provide the first line of defense in chemical safety. Under Ontario law, two distinct types of labels exist:

1. Supplier Labels

A supplier label must appear on every hazardous product delivered by a Canadian manufacturer, distributor, or importer. It must be printed in both English and French and contain six mandatory elements:

1. Product Identifier: The brand name, chemical name, or trade name matching the SDS;
2. Initial Supplier Identifier: The corporate name, address, and contact number of the manufacturer or Canadian importer;
3. Hazard Pictograms: The red diamond symbols communicating the product's hazard classes;
4. Signal Word: A standardized word alerting the reader to the severity of the hazard:
   • "Danger": Used for high-severity hazards (e.g., highly flammable liquid, lethal toxin);
   • "Warning": Used for moderate-severity hazards (e.g., skin irritant, combustible liquid);
5. Hazard Statements: Standardized statutory phrases describing the nature and degree of the hazard (e.g., "Fatal if swallowed", "Causes severe skin burns and eye damage");
6. Precautionary Statements: Standardized advice covering prevention, emergency response, safe storage, and waste disposal (e.g., "Keep away from heat, sparks, open flames. Wear protective gloves and eye protection. IF ON SKIN: Wash with plenty of water").

2. Workplace Labels

A workplace label is created and affixed by workers or employers within the workplace under three circumstances:

• When a hazardous product is poured, pumped, or decanted from its original supplier container into a secondary container (e.g., diluting concentrated floor stripper into a spray bottle);
• When an original supplier label becomes torn, defaced, stained, or illegible;
• When a hazardous chemical is produced on-site for internal workplace use.

THREE MANDATORY ELEMENTS OF A WORKPLACE LABEL:
1. Product Identifier (Must match the exact product name on the SDS)
2. Safe Handling Precautions (Required PPE, ventilation, and handling procedures)
3. Reference to Safety Data Sheet (Explicit statement: "See Safety Data Sheet / Consulter la FDS")

Exam Caution: Pictograms are legally required on supplier labels, but they are not strictly mandatory on workplace labels under Ontario Regulation 860, although many employers include them as a safety best practice. A workplace label MUST contain the product identifier, safe handling information, and reference to the SDS.

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Safety Data Sheets (SDS): The 16-Section Architecture

Under WHMIS 2015, the older 9-section Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) was completely phased out and replaced with the standardized 16-section Safety Data Sheet (SDS). SDS documents must be readily accessible to all workers—including security guards—during all operating shifts, either via physical binders at security control desks or through an active electronic workstation.

The 16 Standardized SDS Sections

(Note: Sections 12, 13, 14, and 15 are non-mandatory under current WHMIS 2015 Canadian workplace regulations to maintain alignment with international GHS frameworks, but all 16 sections must be present in sequence).

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Security Response to Hazardous Material Spills

Security guards are frequently the first personnel notified when a chemical container ruptures, a drum leaks at a loading dock, or toxic fumes spread through an HVAC system. Security guards are NOT hazardous materials (HAZMAT) remediation technicians. Under no circumstances should an uncertified security guard attempt to clean up, dilute, or neutralize a chemical spill.

Standard Hazardous Release Response Protocol

1. Recognize and Retreat:
   • Detect the hazard through sight (colored smoke, puddles, crystals), sound (hissing pressurized valves), or smell (sulfur, bleach, chemical fumes). Never intentionally sniff or taste unknown substances.
   • Maintain a safe distance: Position yourself UPWIND, UPHILL, and UPSTREAM from the release point to avoid toxic vapor plumes and contaminated runoff.
2. Isolate and Evacuate:
   • Immediately clear workers, tenants, and visitors from the danger zone;
   • Close fire doors to compartmentalize airborne vapors if safe to do so from an uncontaminated area;
   • Cordon off the perimeter using caution tape, security barriers, or patrol vehicles to prevent vehicle or pedestrian entry.
3. Notify and Coordinate:
   • Contact 911 immediately to request Municipal Fire and HAZMAT emergency services;
   • Notify the facility property manager, client health and safety coordinator, and security dispatch;
   • Provide the dispatcher with specific factual details: exact building location, container type, volume spilled, and placards or UN numbers visible from binoculars.
4. Consult the SDS:
   • From a safe, uncontaminated location, access the facility's SDS database or emergency binder;
   • Review Section 4 (First Aid), Section 5 (Fire Fighting), and Section 6 (Spill Release) to relay critical data to the responding Fire Incident Commander upon arrival on scene.
5. Handover and Containment Support:
   • Meet responding emergency units at the designated staging post;
   • Hand over the SDS and facility building layouts showing floor drains and HVAC intake fans;
   • Maintain perimeter security until the HAZMAT incident commander declares the site safe for re-entry.