MISAFETY is the leading provider of WHMIS Training in Alberta. Visit us today at http://www.misafety.ca/ to learn more about how to keep your workplace safe with first aid training, CPR training & WHMIS certification.

1. WHMIS Certification: An
Overview

2. What Is WHMIS Certification?
• Canadian policy requires Workplace
Hazardous Materials Information
System certification for workers who
may be exposed to hazardous
chemicals and situations. However,
many individuals who seek
employment in construction, electrical
wiring or maintenance are often
unaware of the WHMIS certification
process.

3. What Is WHMIS Certification?
• Prospective workers should utilize this guide in order to familiarize
themselves with the rules, regulations and policies surrounding
WHMIS certification.

4. Training Information
• Two individual areas are
covered under most WHMIS
training courses. Classes
consist of an education, or
class work, component and an
on-the-job training section.
Education is centered around
chemical identification,
hazardous product handling
and the importance of
certification.

5. Training Information
• The workplace-training portion is
meant to serve as a connection
between classroom learning and
the actual implementation of policy.
A fully certified worker will exit
training with the skills necessary to
ensure their safety and the safety of
their fellow workers.

6. Why is Certification Necessary?
• Canadian law requires each
employer to provide certification,
employee information and
accurate, Workplace Hazardous
Materials Information System
approved labeling for any
chemicals or tools. Regular
training for incoming employees
will typically assuage each of the
aforementioned policy
recommendations without creating
any drastic work interruptions.

7. Why is Certification Necessary?
• An employer who does not conform to policy standards can expect
serious fines and even criminal charges. Each policy
recommendation was created by safety and health offices specific
to their area of expertise. Any suspected infringement of safety
policy, such as inaccurate labeling of chemicals, should be
reported to the Labour Branch of Human Resources.

8. How does Training Improve
Worker Safety?
• Each particular job will provide
training as applicable to their
safety requirements. This
coursework is intended to limit
the possibility of unsafe
conditions for the entirety of the
workforce. Certification courses
must both inform workers of
possibly-unsafe situations and
provide best practices
concerning the resolution of said
safety issues.

9. How does Training Improve
Worker Safety?
• A common example of the previous mentioned policy can be framed
around gas exposure. A Materials Safety Data Sheet must be
provided to all workers who may be exposed to certain airborne
chemicals. Certification courses are not complete unless a
knowledge of chemicals is bundled with a proper plan of action. Gas
mask inventory locations, proper cleaning techniques and poison
control directories are necessary in this particular training situation.

10. What Should be Expected from
Training?
• The education section of training must cover the names, types and
identifying factors of common workplace chemicals. This portion
covers Materials Safety Data Sheets and proper labeling procedures.
Workers will leave this area of training with commonsense definitions
of basic, corrosive and hazardous chemicals.

11. What Should be Expected from
Training?
• Hands-on training will review the
proper storage of chemicals and
provide examples. Workers
should also be training in
emergency policies and
workforce-specific safety.

12. What Qualifies as Excellent
Training?
• Engaging in Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
training must leave the worker with the ability to solve four common
problems.
-Where is chemical and safety information located?
-What kind of hazards and I being exposed to?
-What safety procedures are necessary to limit hazardous
exposure?
-What practices should I follow when an emergency occurs?

13. What Qualifies as Excellent
Training?
• A worker who does not have
these skills following
coursework should not be
certified.

14. Further Reading…
• MISAFETY is the leading provider of
WHMIS Training in Alberta. Visit us today
at http://www.misafety.ca/ to learn more
about how to keep your workplace safe
with first aid training, CPR training &
WHMIS certification.