WHMIS Training for Alberta Work Sites

Section 397 (1) of the OHS Code says an employer must make sure a worker who works with or near a hazardous product, or works on manufacturing one, is trained in:

• the content required on a supplier label and a work site label, and the purpose and significance of that information;
• the content required on a safety data sheet, and the purpose and significance of that information;
• procedures for safely storing, using and handling the hazardous product, and, where they apply, for manufacturing it and for the identification methods used when products are transferred (section 402);
• procedures to follow if there are fugitive emissions, and in an emergency involving the product.

Section 397 (2) adds that the employer must develop and implement those procedures in consultation with the joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative, if there is one.

Alberta’s own WHMIS guidance for workers describes this as training that includes both WHMIS and work site-specific information. A general online course covers the first part well. It cannot know your site’s products or emergency plan, so your employer must cover that.

The online course gives every worker the same solid base and a certificate for your records. The site-specific items can only come from the employer, because they depend on the actual products, equipment and emergency plan at your workplace.

Alberta’s wording is broad: workers who work with or near a hazardous product. That brings in more than the person pouring the chemical. It also covers people nearby on the same work site, which is why WHMIS is asked for so often in oil and gas, construction, agriculture and grain handling, manufacturing, warehousing, auto and heavy-duty repair, cleaning and healthcare.

Contractors moving between Alberta sites usually carry a general WHMIS certificate and then receive each site’s orientation. The certificate shows the general part is done; the orientation covers the site-specific part of section 397.

Part 29 of the Code does not set a fixed expiry or retraining interval for WHMIS. What it does require is that workers are trained in the products and procedures they actually work with, so training has to be updated when new hazardous products, new label or SDS information, or new procedures arrive on site.

Many Alberta employers and prime contractors set their own refresher cycle, often every one to three years, and ask for a recent certificate at site orientation. Check what your employer or site requires.