WHMIS Training: Understand Hazardous Products Before You Work With Them

Learn the essentials of WHMIS so you can recognize hazardous products, understand labels and safety data sheets, and support safer handling, storage, and use of workplace chemicals.

Many workplaces use hazardous products every day: cleaners, disinfectants, solvents, fuels, laboratory chemicals, compressed gases, corrosives, flammables, and other materials that can harm workers if they are not properly identified and controlled.

WHMIS, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, is Canada’s hazard communication system for hazardous products used, handled, or stored in workplaces. It helps workers understand product hazards and the precautions needed to reduce risk.

This page explains why WHMIS training matters and how our online WHMIS course can help workers and employers build a stronger foundation in workplace chemical safety.

Course fee: $32.79 CAD Register for WHMIS Training

Why WHMIS Training Matters

Hazardous products can cause harm through inhalation, skin contact, eye contact, ingestion, fire, explosion, reactivity, corrosion, or long-term health effects. A worker who understands WHMIS is better prepared to recognize warning information before using a product.

WHMIS training is not just about memorizing symbols. It is about learning how to use hazard information in real workplace situations. Workers need to know where to find information, how to read labels, how to use Safety Data Sheets, and when to ask questions before handling a product.

Good WHMIS training supports safer decision-making by helping workers understand:

  • What hazardous products are present in the workplace
  • What hazards the products may present
  • How to read supplier and workplace labels
  • How to use Safety Data Sheets, also known as SDSs
  • What precautions may be needed before use
  • What to do if a label is missing, damaged, or unclear
  • Why safe storage, handling, and disposal procedures matter

What Is WHMIS?

WHMIS stands for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. It is a Canadian system designed to communicate important health and safety information about hazardous products used in the workplace.

The main parts of WHMIS include:

  • Hazard classification — identifying the type and severity of hazards associated with a product
  • Labels — providing immediate hazard and precautionary information on containers
  • Safety Data Sheets — providing detailed information about hazards, controls, emergency measures, storage, handling, and disposal
  • Worker education and training — helping workers understand and apply WHMIS information in their workplace

WHMIS has been aligned with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, commonly known as GHS. This alignment helps make hazard communication more consistent through standardized pictograms, signal words, hazard statements, precautionary statements, and SDS formatting.

Who Should Take WHMIS Training?

WHMIS training may be useful for workers, supervisors, students, contractors, laboratory staff, cleaners, maintenance personnel, warehouse workers, healthcare workers, manufacturing staff, and anyone who may use, handle, store, or be exposed to hazardous workplace products.

This course may be especially useful for:

  • New employees who require WHMIS orientation
  • Workers who handle cleaning products, disinfectants, solvents, paints, fuels, compressed gases, or laboratory chemicals
  • Supervisors who need to reinforce chemical safety expectations
  • Small businesses looking for accessible online WHMIS training
  • Contractors who need proof of WHMIS awareness before working on a site
  • Workers who need a refresher on labels, SDSs, pictograms, and hazard classes

Employers should also ensure that workers receive any workplace-specific training required for the actual hazardous products, procedures, and controls used at their job site.

What You Will Learn

Our online WHMIS training course is designed to provide a practical introduction to hazard communication and chemical safety awareness.

Participants will learn about:

  • The purpose of WHMIS in Canadian workplaces
  • The roles of suppliers, employers, and workers
  • How hazardous products are classified
  • The difference between physical hazards and health hazards
  • WHMIS pictograms and what they communicate
  • Supplier labels and workplace labels
  • Safety Data Sheets and how to use them
  • Basic precautions for handling, storing, and using hazardous products
  • What to do when information is missing, outdated, or unclear
  • Why WHMIS training should be connected to real workplace procedures

Ready to begin? Register for WHMIS Training

Labels: The First Warning

Labels are often the first source of hazard information a worker sees. A WHMIS label helps identify the product, communicate the hazards, and provide basic precautionary information before the product is used.

Workers should know how to recognize label elements such as:

  • Product identifier
  • Hazard pictograms
  • Signal words
  • Hazard statements
  • Precautionary statements
  • Supplier information, where applicable

If a label is missing, damaged, unreadable, or inconsistent with the product, the product should not simply be used without clarification. Workers should report the issue and follow workplace procedures.

Safety Data Sheets: More Detailed Hazard Information

A Safety Data Sheet, or SDS, provides more detailed information than a label. SDSs help workers and supervisors understand product hazards, first-aid measures, fire-fighting measures, accidental release procedures, handling and storage requirements, exposure controls, personal protective equipment, stability, reactivity, toxicological information, and disposal considerations.

Workers do not need to memorize every SDS, but they should know how to find one, how to read it, and which sections are most important for the work being performed.

An SDS can help answer practical questions such as:

  • What are the main hazards of this product?
  • What personal protective equipment may be needed?
  • What should be done if the product contacts skin or eyes?
  • What should be done if the product is spilled?
  • How should the product be stored?
  • What products or conditions should be avoided?

WHMIS Pictograms and Hazard Classes

WHMIS pictograms are visual warning symbols that help workers quickly recognize the type of hazard associated with a product. They may indicate hazards such as flammability, corrosion, acute toxicity, health hazards, oxidizing materials, compressed gases, environmental hazards, or biohazardous infectious materials.

Pictograms are useful because they provide a quick visual warning, but they should not be used alone. The label and SDS provide the additional information needed to understand the hazard and the precautions required.

A worker should be able to look at a product label and understand that the pictogram is a warning to slow down, read the information, and use the product according to safe procedures.

Common WHMIS Mistakes

WHMIS information is only useful if workers apply it. Some common workplace mistakes include:

  • Using a product without reading the label
  • Assuming a familiar product is harmless
  • Ignoring damaged or missing labels
  • Failing to check the SDS before using an unfamiliar product
  • Mixing products without understanding compatibility or reactivity
  • Using the wrong personal protective equipment
  • Storing incompatible products together
  • Not reporting spills, exposures, or unclear hazard information

Training helps reduce these mistakes by making workers more aware of the information available to them and the questions they should ask before using hazardous products.

Online WHMIS Training for Busy Workers and Employers

Our online WHMIS course is designed for convenience. Participants can complete the course online without travel, classroom scheduling, or time away from work beyond the training time itself.

Online training may be useful for:

  • Individual workers who need WHMIS training
  • Small employers who need a simple way to train staff
  • Organizations with workers in different locations
  • Contractors who need flexible access to training
  • Employees who need a refresher before starting work with hazardous products

Course fee: $32.79 CAD Register for WHMIS Training

Important Note About Workplace-Specific Training

Online WHMIS training can provide a strong foundation in hazard communication, labels, SDSs, pictograms, and general safe-use concepts. However, employers must also ensure that workers understand the specific hazardous products, tasks, controls, emergency procedures, and safe work practices used in their own workplace.

In other words, general WHMIS education should be connected to site-specific training. Workers should know not only what WHMIS means, but how it applies to the actual products and procedures they use.

How to Register for WHMIS Training

1. Click the registration button.
Use the button below to go to the WHMIS registration page.

2. Complete the registration or payment process.
Follow the instructions provided on the registration page.

3. Start learning online.
Once access is provided, you can complete the course online at a convenient time.

Register for WHMIS training for $32.79 CAD Register for WHMIS Training

Build Confidence Around Workplace Hazardous Products

WHMIS is about more than compliance. It gives workers a practical way to recognize hazards, find information, ask better questions, and use hazardous products more safely.

If you or your staff work with hazardous products, online WHMIS training is a practical step toward better hazard awareness and safer workplace practices.

Start WHMIS training today: Register for WHMIS Training

Questions before registering? Contact us by phone or email before purchasing the course.