A CNESST inspector shows up at the plant on a Tuesday morning. After walking the floor, he asks the supervisor a very simple question: “Have your people had their WHMIS training, and can you prove it?” That is usually when the silence sets in. WHMIS training is mandatory for every Quebec employer whose workers are exposed, or may be exposed, to hazardous products. The obligation is clear. Applying it, however, raises very concrete questions: who has to be trained, how often, and what happens when the file is not in order? Here is what the regulation actually requires, with no creative interpretation.
Key takeaways
- WHMIS training covers every worker who is or may be exposed, and must be adapted to your products.
- There is no “WHMIS card” to renew on a fixed date: the frequency is set by your own program, often yearly or every two years.
- The inspector checks labelling, safety data sheets, the written program and training records, and talks to workers.
In this article
- WHMIS in a nutshell, and where the obligation comes from
- Exactly who does mandatory WHMIS training apply to?
- How often does WHMIS training have to be redone?
- What the CNESST inspector checks on site
- Fines and consequences: what the law provides for
- Getting compliant without shutting down the plant for a week
WHMIS in a nutshell, and where the obligation comes from
WHMIS stands for the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. Its current version, known as WHMIS 2015, aligns pictograms, labels and safety data sheets with an internationally recognized system (GHS). As soon as a hazardous product enters your facility (solvents, degreasers, paints, industrial adhesives, compressed gases, concentrated cleaning products), obligations kick in for the employer.
La CNESST sums them up this way: making sure that products used, transferred, stored or disposed of are properly labelled, obtaining the safety data sheets and making them available to workers, then providing training and information to anyone exposed, or likely to be exposed, to a hazardous product. These obligations flow from the Act respecting occupational health and safety and the Regulation respecting information on controlled products. This is therefore not a recommendation or an optional best practice. It is a legal requirement, checked in the field.
Exactly who does mandatory WHMIS training apply to?
The common reflex is to train the operators who handle products every day, then stop there. That is not enough. The rule refers to workers who are exposed or likely to be exposed. The maintenance worker who opens a line during the evening shift is covered. So is the warehouse clerk who receives the drums. The summer student, the agency worker filling in for two weeks, the new hire who starts Monday: all of them must be trained before they are exposed, not three months later when the trainer happens to swing by again.
Another nuance that escapes many management teams: mandatory WHMIS training is not limited to a general awareness of pictograms. The program has to be tailored to your workplace and to the products actually present in your operation. A solid foundational course covers the common core: reading a label, understanding hazard statements, consulting a safety data sheet. The employer then rounds it out with instructions specific to its facilities, such as where the data sheets are kept, what to do in the event of a spill, and the protective equipment required at each workstation.
How often does WHMIS training have to be redone?
This is the question that comes up most often, and the answer surprises many people. There is no “WHMIS card” valid for three years that you would renew on a set date. The regulation works differently. According to the CNESST, the training and information program must be updated annually, or as soon as an event warrants it: a new hazardous product enters the plant, important new data becomes known to the employer, or a change alters work methods, exposure risks or emergency measures.
How often each worker has to retake the training is up to your own program. Many employers opt for a refresher every year or every two years, precisely because an inspector does not settle for dates in a register: he checks that the knowledge is still alive. An employee trained six years ago who no longer recognizes the toxicity pictogram is a sign that the program is sitting in a filing cabinet. And WHMIS training remains mandatory for as long as hazardous products circulate in the facility, no matter how long the people on hand have been there.
What the CNESST inspector checks on site
An inspection is not decided by paperwork alone, but that is where it starts. When the hazardous products component comes up, here is what is asked for most often:
- properly labelled containers, including products transferred into in-house containers;
- up-to-date safety data sheets that are accessible and that workers know where to find;
- a written training and information program, tailored to the facility and kept current;
- proof of training: who was trained, when, on what content, and with what certificate to back it up.
Then comes the part no register can gloss over: the inspector talks to the workers. He can stop someone on the floor, point to a label and ask what the pictogram means, or where the product’s data sheet is kept. If the answer is a shrug, the finest stack of certificates will not protect you. The law calls for training that gives the worker the skills needed to do the job safely, not a signature in a binder.
Fines and consequences: what the law provides for
The penal regime of the Act respecting occupational health and safety applies here as it does elsewhere in prevention. For a breach of the Act or its regulations, section 236 sets base fines ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 for a legal person on a first offence, and from $600 to $1,500 for a natural person. These amounts double with each repeat offence. When the failure directly compromises a worker’s health, safety or physical well-being, section 237 raises the bar: from $15,000 to $60,000 for a first offence by a legal person, and up to $300,000 for a further repeat offence. These base amounts are indexed every year.
Two consequences often weigh heavier than the notice itself. First, the inspector can order corrective measures, or even have work suspended until the situation is fixed. Second, in the event of an accident, proof of training becomes a cornerstone of the due diligence defence of the company and its officers. Without a solid training record, that defence collapses before it even begins.
Getting compliant without shutting down the plant for a week
The good news is that the training component is probably the fastest obligation to settle. Online WHMIS training covers the required common core and gives the employer a dated certificate for its records. No need to gather all three shifts on a Saturday morning, or bring in a trainer for four employees. Each worker takes it whenever it suits them, including the night-shift worker and the new hire starting next week.
Witeach offers online WHMIS 2015 training at $24.95 per worker, certificate included. The cost is marginal compared with a single offence notice, and the expense counts toward your eligible investments if your payroll makes you subject to Quebec’s 1% training law. While you are at it, take a look at the training catalogue : you will find, among others, a lockout-tagout course offered free of charge, another must-have in an industrial setting.
It then remains to round everything out with your local instructions and to record who was trained, when, and on what. It is that file, far more than any speech, that will make the difference the day the inspector shows up at the front desk.
Are your teams out of date, or do you have no written proof on hand? Enrol your workers in Witeach’s online WHMIS training today. At $24.95 per person, your compliance file starts taking shape this very week.
