AGR3000: Agriculture Safety

Training Room 2: Keeping Safe and Healthy—Standards and Practices in an Agricultural Environment

Session 5: Workplace Chemical Health and Safety—WHMIS Introduction (Part A)

WHMIS—Getting to Know Hazardous Materials

Understanding agricultural chemicals, storing them, and using them carefully helps to prevent incidents that could cause harm to workers. To help workers understand the materials they are using, there is a national communication system that is regulated by law called WHMIS, which stands for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System.

This system ensures that manufacturers and distributers of chemicals, worksite employers, and workers all have common information about potentially harmful chemicals and biological hazards that could be found in the workplace. This information can then be used to inform a worker's decisions about work procedures and keep him or her safe.

Learning Target

In this session you will learn how the WHMIS system is used on a farm to ensure that chemicals are handled safety and that appropriate caution is taken around biological hazards. You will be able to answer this question:

• How do the WHMIS standards and practices help to keep workers safe when working with hazardous materials in the workplace?

Why WHIMS?

Hazardous materials in the workplace can cause acute injuries, such as burns and eye irritations, or long-term health issues and illness, such as organ damage or cancer. Accidents involving fire and explosion can result from unsafe handling or storage of hazardous materials.

Understanding WHMIS allows you to protect yourself and your co-workers from harm when you know

• the hazards associated with controlled products
• the safety precautions needed to protect yourself when handling the products
• what to do if an emergency occurs
• where to get more information

WHMIS Classification and Symbols

© Copyright material used courtesy of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

WHMIS classifies hazardous materials into six classes.

Each class has warning symbol used on labels and data sheets to help people easily identify the potential risks involved with the material.

To Do

Scroll through the following interactive charts to familiarize yourself with the WHMIS classes and symbols and descriptions of hazardous materials.

WHMIS CLASSES—SYMBOLS Class A: Compressed Gases Compressed Gas Products under pressure Examples: butane, propane, acetylene, and fire extinguishers Class B: Flammable and Combustible Materials Flammable and Combustible Materials Substances capable of catching fire Examples: acetone, isopropyl alcohol, stoddart solvent Class C: Oxidizing Material Oxidizing Materials Products causing the combustion of other materials Examples: hydrogen peroxide, potassium nitrate, sodium chlorate

WHMIS CLASSES—SYMBOLS Class D: Poisonous and Infectious Materials D1 Materials Causing Immediate and Toxic Effect Materials causing immediate and serious toxic effect Examples: arsenic, methylene chloride, formaldehyde D2 Other Toxic Effects Materials causing other toxic effect - immediate skin or eye irritation - chronic health effects on body organs, cardiovascular or nervous system Examples: carcinogens (asbestos, crystalline silica, benzene) (xylene) D3 Biohazardous Infectious Materials Biohazardous infectious materials - harmful microorganisms Class E: Corrosive Materials Corrosive Materials Materials such as acids causing burns to skin or eyes Examples; sodium hydroxide, bleach, hydrochloric acid Class F: Dangerously Reactive Materials Dangerously Reactive Materials Products that can undergo dangerous reaction if subject to heat, light, pressure, shock, water, air Examples: hydrogen cyanide, benzoyl peroxide

Time to Practise

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