Submitted by: Submitted by yaremka101
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Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 11/06/2012 09:12 AM
5.3
Hazardous Products and Workplace Safety
While going about her normal cleaning duties one day, a school custodian
unintentionally mixed two cleaning solvents. Soon, irritating fumes of toxic
chlorine gas filled the room, making it difficult for her to breathe. She was
rushed to hospital, where she died later that evening.
This tragic accident prompted an investigation. School board officials
asked whether any other products used in schools were hazardous. One
of the first places they looked for this information was the WHMIS
information for each product.
What Is WHMIS?
Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) provides
Canadian workers with information on the safe use of hazardous products
in their workplace. Employers must, by law, provide this information. The
information is conveyed in three ways: WHMIS product labels, materials
safety data sheets (MSDS), and worker training.
WHMIS Product Labels
WRITING T IP
Writing a Summary
Use the topic sentence to restate the
main idea of the text in your own words.
For example, if the text says “A WHMIS
product label is your first alert that the
product may be hazardous.”, you might
paraphrase this main idea by saying
“WHMIS labels are warnings about
dangerous products.”
A WHMIS product label is your first alert that the product may be hazardous.
There are two common types of product labels in most workplaces: supplier
labels and workplace labels. A supplier label is required on any hazardous
material that is sold or imported to a workplace in Canada (Figure 1). A
supplier label must always have a hatched border and must be written in both
English and French. It must also include the name of the product, any relevant
hazard symbol, the supplier’s contact information, and a reference to the
MSDS. A workplace label must appear on all hazardous materials produced
in a workplace or transferred to other containers within a workplace
(Figure 2). Workplace labels do not have...