# WHMIS Training for Clinical Placements and Care Settings > Understand current WHMIS education, workplace-specific training, labels, safety data sheets, and the evidence a program or employer may require. Author: CareCard Published: 2025-07-08 Updated: 2026-08-27 Canonical: https://carecard.ca/articles/whmis-for-healthcare-students ![Healthcare worker reviewing WHMIS hazard labels with a safety instructor](https://carecard.ca/articles/assets/safety/whmis-for-healthcare-students.png) ## Confirm the requirement for your setting The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, or WHMIS, is Canada’s hazard communication standard for hazardous products used, handled, or stored at work. In Ontario, an employer must provide information and instruction to a worker who works with or may be exposed to a hazardous product. The Occupational Health and Safety Act definition of worker includes a person performing unpaid work or services through a program approved by a college, university, private career college, or other post-secondary institution, which can include a clinical-placement student. A school may require proof of general WHMIS education before placement, but the legal training obligation depends on the products and possible exposure at the workplace. Hospitals, laboratories, long-term care homes, clinics, pharmacies, and home or community care can contain hazardous products. Child care and private caregiving may also involve cleaning, maintenance, or other products that require instruction. Obtain the program and site requirements before selecting a course because a job title alone does not define the necessary training. ## Complete both parts of WHMIS learning General WHMIS education explains the system that can transfer between workplaces. It should cover physical and health hazard classes, pictograms, supplier and workplace labels, safety data sheets, routes of exposure, and the roles of suppliers, employers, and workers. This foundation helps a learner recognize hazard information and locate the precautions needed before using a product. Workplace-specific training explains how that information applies to the products, equipment, and procedures at one site. It includes safe use, handling, storage, and disposal; exposure controls and personal protective equipment; access to safety data sheets; spill and emergency response; and any local identification system. A generic online certificate cannot replace this orientation. The employer remains responsible for ensuring that the training fits the work and that the worker can apply it safely. ## Use material aligned with amended WHMIS Canada amended the federal Hazardous Products Regulations in December 2022, and the three-year transition period ended on December 14, 2025. Hazardous products must now use classifications, labels, and safety data sheets that comply with the amended requirements. Important changes include the Chemicals Under Pressure hazard class, a category for non-flammable aerosols, new flammable-gas subcategories, and additional safety data sheet information. Current guidance refers to the system simply as WHMIS and distinguishes between the former and amended regulations. A course advertised only as “WHMIS 2015” may not show that its content has been updated. Before enrolling, confirm that the requesting organization accepts the provider and that the course reflects the December 2022 amendments. WHMIS legislation does not designate a single commercial provider; an employer may use its own qualified instructor or select a competent external provider and remains responsible for the outcome. ## Read the label before handling a product A supplier label is the first source of hazard information. It identifies the product and supplier and, when required by the classification, shows pictograms, a signal word, hazard statements, precautionary statements, and supplemental information. Canadian supplier labels must provide the required information in English and French. Read the entire label because a pictogram alone does not explain the severity, exposure route, protective measures, or emergency response. A workplace label is generally required when a hazardous product is produced at the workplace, transferred to another container, or has a missing or unreadable supplier label. It identifies the product, provides safe-handling information, and refers to the safety data sheet when one is available. Follow the site’s rules for temporary containers and never use a product with an unknown identity or illegible label. Report the issue so the container can be identified and labelled correctly. ## Use the safety data sheet for detailed decisions A safety data sheet, or SDS, provides more detail than the label in a standardized 16-heading format. Before using an unfamiliar product, review its hazards in Section 2, first-aid measures in Section 4, spill response in Section 6, handling and storage in Section 7, exposure controls and personal protective equipment in Section 8, and stability and reactivity in Section 10. The product identifier on the container should match the SDS being consulted. Ontario employers must make current SDSs readily available to workers who may be exposed. They may be provided on paper or electronically, but workers need practical access during each shift and must know how to find them. An SDS describes product hazards and precautions; it does not replace the site’s risk assessment, equipment instructions, exposure controls, or emergency procedures. Ask a supervisor before proceeding when the label, SDS, and local direction do not provide a clear safe method. ## Apply WHMIS correctly in care environments Care settings can contain WHMIS-covered laboratory reagents, compressed gases, cleaning concentrates, and maintenance products. The applicable controls depend on the product and task and may include ventilation, closed systems, compatible storage, protective clothing, gloves, eye or face protection, or respiratory protection. Training must address the actual product rather than treating every chemical with the same precautions. Do not combine products unless an approved procedure explicitly requires it, and use only compatible, properly labelled containers for transfers. Not every hazardous item in a care setting follows the standard WHMIS supplier label and SDS rules. Federal exclusions include sectors such as drugs, medical devices, consumer products, pest control products, and hazardous waste. These exclusions do not mean the products are harmless. Ontario still requires appropriate identification, education, or safe-work instruction in several of these situations, and other legislation or workplace procedures may apply. WHMIS is one part of the safety program and does not replace infection prevention, hazardous-drug handling, or other task-specific training required for the role. ## Demonstrate competency and keep training current Ontario requirements focus on whether workers can use the information to protect themselves rather than on course completion alone. A worker should be able to identify each product’s hazards, explain the required protection, respond appropriately to an emergency, and locate further information. A provider or employer may assess this through a quiz, discussion, practical demonstration, or supervised task. Ask questions when instructions are unclear and report a new hazard, damaged label, spill, or unsafe condition through the site procedure. An employer must review WHMIS training and instruction at least annually and sooner when circumstances change, but an annual review does not automatically require every worker to repeat a generic course. Updated education or retraining may be needed when new products, classifications, hazard information, processes, controls, or procedures are introduced, or when a worker cannot demonstrate the required understanding. Moving to another placement also requires new site-specific training even when the general certificate is accepted. ## Submit complete and current evidence Ontario does not issue a government WHMIS licence, and its legislation does not prescribe a universal course length or certificate expiry date. A requesting organization may still require a recent certificate as administrative proof of general education. Confirm the accepted provider, course version, completion window, passing requirement, and whether a separate site orientation must be documented before paying for training. The completion record should show your full name, course title, provider, completion date, and completion or result status. Retain the course description or version information showing that the content reflects amended WHMIS in case the requesting organization asks for it. Upload the complete, readable certificate to the matching CareCard requirement and keep the original. CareCard can guide the submission and support document validation, while the organization determines whether the course and evidence meet its requirements. ## Official WHMIS resources Use the current program, employer, placement, and occupational health and safety instructions together with these official references. ### Official resources - [CareCard preparation and upload guide](https://carecard.ca/knowledge/get-started) - [Ontario WHMIS employer guidance](https://www.ontario.ca/document/workplace-hazardous-materials-information-system-guide-legislation/whmis-and-employer) - [Ontario WHMIS Regulation 860](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/900860) - [Ontario compliance results for amended WHMIS training](https://www.ontario.ca/page/compliance-campaign-results-whmis-training-based-amended-hazardous-products-regulations) - [Ontario health and community care workplace hazards](https://www.ontario.ca/page/hazards-and-issues-health-and-community-care-sector) - [Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act definitions](https://www.ontario.ca/document/guide-occupational-health-and-safety-act/about-act) - [Health Canada WHMIS roles and responsibilities](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/occupational-health-safety/workplace-hazardous-materials-information-system/roles-responsibilities-whmis.html) - [Health Canada amended Hazardous Products Regulations](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/occupational-health-safety/workplace-hazardous-materials-information-system/amendments-hazardous-products-regulations.html) - [Health Canada WHMIS label and safety data sheet requirements](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/occupational-health-safety/workplace-hazardous-materials-information-system/supplier-hazard-communication-requirements-whmis.html) - [CCOHS WHMIS education and training guidance](https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/whmis_ghs/education_training.html) - [CCOHS WHMIS label guidance](https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/whmis_ghs/labels.html) - [CCOHS safety data sheet guidance](https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/whmis_ghs/sds.html)