WHMIS & HHPS: Symbols and Safety

WHMIS & HHPS: Symbols and Safety

What is it?

PEACE

Throughout Canada standard symbols are used to identify dangerous materials.

- WHMIS stands for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. It has produced symbols for workplaces such as laboratories. These symbols are known as WHMIS symbols.

- The Hazardous Household Product Symbols (HHPS) were developed for people buying and using materials for their home.

Both of these sets of symbols provide warnings about the possible hazards of using a product, and the necessary precautions to take when using it.

WHMIS

WHMIS:

Class A: Compressed Gas

- Compressed gases, dissolved gases, and liquified gases

Class B: Flammable & Combustible Material

- solids, liquids and gases capable of catching fire under normal working conditions.

Class C: Oxidizing Material

- increase risk of fire

Class D: Poisonous and Infectious material (Division 1)

- cause death or immediate injury

Class D: Poisonous and Infectious Material (Division 2)

- cause life-threatening and serious long-term health problems

Class D: Poisonous and Infectious Materials (Division 3)

- cause disease in people or animals.

Class E: Corrosive Material

- caustic and acid materials that can destroy the skin or eat through metals.

Class F: Dangerously Reactive Material

- may self-react dangerously when exposed to physical shock or to increased pressure or temperature,

Why is WHMIS important?

Why is HHPS important?

An astounding array of hazardous products can be found in and around our homes. They are in common, everyday household products as well as in pesticides.While we cannot eliminate all contact with toxic materials we can minimize contact:

- Make informed decisions about the selection, use, and storage

- Remember hazardous products may be: flammable, explosive/reactive, corrosive/ caustic, toxic/poisonous, or reactive

- Learn to read labels. Look for the signal words: POISON, DANGER and WARNING or CAUTION

-Lastly, use common sense when using and storing hazardous products to decrease the potential health hazards and pollution

WHMIS is the most important and vital information system to workplace safety because people need to know the rights on the potentially hazardous products they are working on to know the proper measures to take in case of a potentially dangerous incident and the availability of MSDSs (Material Safety Data Sheets) that workers must read before handling any hazardous products.

MSDS must be updated every 3 years. Employers must be responsible in obtaining up-to-date MSDS sheets provided by the manufacturer.

Ideas

Notes

HHPS

Ideas

Poisonous

- One that can cause immediate damage to an organism (anything living)

- the symbol for a poisonous substance is the skull and crossbones

Flammable

- One that can catch fire very easily

- The symbol for a flammable substance is a burning fire

Explosive

- Can explode very easily if heated or dropped

- The symbol for an explosive substance is an exploding firecracker

Corrosive

- One that can easily "eat" through other pieces of matter

- The symbol for a corrosive substance is a hand turning into a skeleton when dipped into a liquid

Ideas

HHPS not only uses these four symbols, but it also describes to us how severe the danger is:

Yellow upside-down Triangle = "Caution"

Orange Diamond = "Warning"

Red Octagon = "Danger"