WHMIS Certification Online

The vast majority of Canadian workers will need to take WHMIS training at some point throughout their careers. For those in low-risk industries, it may just be once. For others, who are frequently exposed to hazardous products, it could be an annual endeavor. Considering the fact that WHMIS has been around since 1988, there are plenty of ways that workers can get their WHMIS certification training completed. Solutions ranging from traditional instructor-led training to WHMIS online certification are abundant and readily available.

The best option for WHMIS certification will depend on a lot of factors. This includes whether the training is for yourself or your employees, how much time you have available, how quickly, you need the training, and what your budget is, just to name a few.

Before we look at some of the available options, it’s helpful to review some of the basics about WHMIS.

What is WHMIS?

WHMIS stands for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System and is Canada’s national hazard communication standard. It originally came into effect in 1988 but was updated in 2015 to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The new GHS-aligned system is referred to as WHMIS 2015. This is very important when considering training, and specifically WHMIS online certification, because training on the old WHMIS 1988 is no longer sufficient. Canadian Workers must have training on the updated WHMIS 2015. More on that later.

Get WHMIS Certified

WHMIS is made up of several components. Its main purpose is to protect workers from the dangers associated with hazardous products. It accomplishes this primarily through communicating hazards as well as the precautions that must be taken in order to reduce the risk of illness and injury that can result from those hazards.

Who Needs Certification?

Who needs WHMIS certification? This is an incredibly common question that’s asked very often. The answer is sometimes unclear, but asking just a few more questions can help us get to the bottom of this.

Are you a worker in Canada?

Is there a possibility that you’ll work with or around hazard products at work?

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then you need WHMIS training.

Hazardous products are abundant throughout Canadian workplaces and are not only accessible in heavy industries, as many people might suspect. They can even be a few feet away from you in an office hallway in the form of cleaning products. These are the reasons that an extremely large portion of the workforce requires WHMIS training. Some of the jobs that require WHMIS certification include workers in factory environments, retail and food industry, office staff, dental and healthcare centers, contractors, and cleaners, just to name a few.

WHMIS Online Certification

If you’re a company and you’re uncertain whether your workers need WHMIS training, it’s best to conduct a comprehensive assessment in your workplace. The assessment should focus on whether hazards products are present and if your employees will be working with or around them. If the answer is yes, then you need to provide them with WHMIS training. WHMIS online certification is incredibly convenient. It gives you the flexibility to train your workers in WHMIS without the disruptions and challenges that traditional instructor-led methods result in. More on taking advantage of online certification below.

How Often Do Workers Need WHMIS Certification?

Contrary to some popular assumptions, there is nothing in the legislation that specifies, with certainty, how often WHMIS training is required. This is left up to the employer to determine. The frequency in which workers must receive WHMIS certification will be dependent on many factors. These include the industry they are employed in, the types of products they use, and the extent of risk when exposed to those products.

Every worker must always be able to answer the following questions:

  1. Where can I find hazard information about the chemicals I work with or around?
  2. What are the hazards that I’m exposed to?
  3. How do I protect mine and my coworkers’ safety and health?
  4. What do I do if there’s an emergency?

If you’re unable to answer these questions, you need to speak to your supervisor and get WHMIS training immediately. If you’re an employer, you need to make sure that your workers can always answer these questions. Many Canadian employers ensure their workers receive WHMIS annually to meet this requirement.

WHMIS Online Certification Benefits

WHMIS online certification is one of the most popular ways that you can use to get your updated WHMIS certificate. It’s also a proven time-saving method that many employers use to train their entire workforce. The elimination of operational delays and ease of implementation make it a top choice to get workers trained fast.

So what is one of the main benefits of WHMIS online certification?

Convenience

One of the main benefits of online certification is the convenience and flexibility it offers. Traditional training methods require lengthy classroom sessions that you need to travel to and force you to move with the pace of the class. Online training allows you to learn at your own pace and the location of your choice. You even have the ability to start and stop as required. There are no travel costs and no waiting for a class to come up. If it’s 10 PM on Sunday night and you need your WHMIS certificate for Monday morning, you can easily make this happen without any effort.

The benefit of convenience might even be greater for companies who need to train their employees. Traditional classroom based-training is very disruptive. It’s very difficult to schedule a trainer and pull all of your employees who need the training away from their jobs. This results in either a very large disruption to your operation or worse, your employees not getting the training they need. It’s very easy to have training gaps while using traditional methods.

With online training, there are no scheduling issues. Your workers can take the training when it’s most convenient, meaning that you won’t have the operational delays that classroom training results in. This is just one of the many benefits for employers.

The benefits of WHMIS online certification don’t end there.

Save Time

Online training is much more efficient. This means it takes much less time to complete than traditional training. What used to take four or more hours in a classroom can take as little as one to one and a half hours online. People learn at different paces. With online training, you can take longer if you need to finish much quicker if you already have a good understanding of the content. This is not possible with classroom training.

Same Money

Traditional training methods, such as instructor-led classroom sessions, are much more expensive than online certification. In addition to expensive third-party instructors and costly training materials, indirect costs can skyrocket. The most significant indirect costs are the ones that result from lost productivity. WHMIS online certification eliminates much of these costs without sacrificing effectiveness.

What we’ve discussed is just the tip of the iceberg. The benefits of online training are substantial and continue to increase as technology improves.

The Right WHMIS Online Certification Provider

When deciding to use WHMIS online certification, it’s important that you choose the right provider. Not all training online is the same.

Always ensure that the training you or your workers are completing is compliant and up-to-date with current standards. In the case of WHMIS, this means you need to ensure the training is WHMIS 2015 compliant. WHMIS 1988 training no longer is sufficient.

Make sure you choose a reputable WHMIS training provider who is experienced, has high-quality courses, offers tremendous value, offers superior customer support, and is simple to use.

In closing, getting your WHMIS certificate or training your workers in WHMIS doesn’t have to be difficult like it used to be. With WHMIS online certification you can get started right away and have an affordable, quick, and convenient experience getting your certificate or training your staff.