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WHMIS: Ontario WHMIS rules (Regulation 860)

How Ontario applies WHMIS through the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulation 860: who is covered, decanted containers, SDS access, annual review of training, exemptions and hazardous waste.

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Ontario WHMIS rules (Regulation 860) · Question 1Score 0/0

Which topic must an Ontario WHMIS education program include?

Study reference: Ontario WHMIS – A guide to the legislation (updated 2026), Ch. 1-3 The WHMIS legislation, WHMIS and the employer, WHMIS and the worker — Scope, labels, SDSs, worker education, exemptions

All 22 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. Which topic must an Ontario WHMIS education program include?

    1. Procedures when fugitive emissions are present
    2. How to order new uniforms
    3. How to file a supplier invoice and track deliveries
    4. How to set product prices

  2. An Ontario employer receives a product without a label or SDS. What may it do while actively trying to get them?

    1. Store it, but not use it
    2. Sell it to another company
    3. Use it with extra caution
    4. Pour it into unlabelled jugs

  3. Which three items must an Ontario workplace label contain?

    1. Signal word, barcode, batch number, expiry date
    2. Price, supplier, purchase date
    3. Worker's name, shift, supervisor
    4. Product name, safe handling info, SDS note

  4. An Ontario employer that makes its own hazardous product learns significant new data about it. What is the latest it can update its SDS?

    1. At the next yearly review
    2. Within 180 days
    3. Within 30 days
    4. Within 90 days

  5. Which Ontario regulation sets out employers' detailed WHMIS duties?

    1. The Highway Traffic Act
    2. Regulation 347 under the Environmental Protection Act
    3. Regulation 860 under the OHSA
    4. The Employment Standards Act

  6. How must an Ontario employer check that workers understood their WHMIS training?

    1. No check is ever required
    2. Health Canada issues a test
    3. Workers must pass a provincial exam
    4. Its own choice, such as a test or demo

  7. Under Ontario law, may anyone remove or deface the identification on a hazardous product?

    1. Yes, if the product is almost empty
    2. Yes, after one year in storage
    3. No, the OHSA prohibits it
    4. Yes, if a supervisor agrees

  8. You work at a bank branch in Toronto. Which law implements WHMIS for your workplace?

    1. The Canada Labour Code
    2. Ontario Regulation 860
    3. The Ontario Building Code
    4. The Ontario Fire Code

  9. What is the Ontario labour ministry's position on time spent in WHMIS training?

    1. Workers must pay for the course
    2. It counts as vacation time
    3. It is unpaid personal time
    4. It is work time and should be paid

  10. How must hazardous waste containers be handled in an Ontario workplace?

    1. Clear identification plus worker education
    2. With a full supplier label and SDS
    3. With no identification at all
    4. Only with the original product label

  11. In an Ontario factory, who enforces both the federal supplier rules and the provincial WHMIS rules?

    1. Inspectors from Ontario's labour ministry
    2. The federal Labour Program's regional inspectors
    3. The local fire department
    4. Health Canada inspectors only

  12. In Ontario, when may a supplier label be removed from a very small container?

    1. When the container is made of glass
    2. When it holds 3 mL or less and the label interferes with use
    3. When the product is used daily
    4. When it holds 1 litre or less and is used within the same shift

  13. In Ontario, a portable container filled from a labelled drum needs no workplace label if the filler is the only user, uses it only that shift, and what else?

    1. The contents are clearly identified
    2. The container is smaller than 1 litre
    3. The product is not flammable
    4. The supervisor signs off on it

  14. Can an Ontario employer change the wording on a supplier label while product is still in the supplier's container?

    1. Yes, to make it shorter
    2. No, it may not alter it
    3. Yes, after the first use
    4. Yes, to add its own logo

  15. Must an Ontario employer keep paper copies of SDSs?

    1. Only for products made in Ontario
    2. No, electronic SDSs comply
    3. Yes, paper copies are always required
    4. Yes, both paper and electronic are required

  16. Which way of keeping SDSs would NOT meet Ontario's "readily available" standard?

    1. On a tablet in the work area
    2. In a binder at the workstation
    3. In an office that is locked during the night shift
    4. On a computer near the shop floor that all workers can use

  17. A new product arrives in an Ontario workplace without an SDS. What should a worker do?

    1. Report it to the employer or supervisor
    2. Make up a label from memory
    3. Throw the product away
    4. Use it and look for an SDS online later

  18. Under Ontario's OHSA, WHMIS helps fulfil which basic worker right?

    1. The right to pick suppliers
    2. The right to know about hazards
    3. The right to choose shift times
    4. The right to free parking

  19. In Ontario, how often must the employer review the WHMIS training given to workers?

    1. Every three years
    2. Every five years
    3. Only after an incident
    4. At least once a year

  20. Which type of Ontario workplace does Ontario's WHMIS legislation NOT apply to?

    1. Construction sites
    2. Farms
    3. Restaurants
    4. Hospitals

  21. A drum is sitting in a trans-shipment warehouse, unchanged, waiting to be loaded for delivery. Which rules apply?

    1. Consumer product rules
    2. WHMIS workplace label rules
    3. No rules apply while it waits to be loaded
    4. Transportation of dangerous goods rules

  22. Does Ontario's annual review of WHMIS training mean every worker must be retrained each year?

    1. Yes, every worker must repeat the full course every year
    2. No, the review decides whether retraining is needed
    3. Yes, a written exam every year
    4. Yes, but only for new hires

Ontario WHMIS rules (Regulation 860): key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Ontario's WHMIS legislation

  • Ontario WHMIS rules are in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and the WHMIS Regulation (R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 860).
  • Applies to all workplaces covered by the OHSA except farms.
  • Ontario's labour ministry enforces both federal (HPA, HPR) and provincial WHMIS law in Ontario workplaces, so employers are not inspected twice.
  • Federally regulated workplaces in Ontario (banks, post offices, airports) are covered by the Canada Labour Code instead.
  • WHMIS applies inside workplaces; products being transported and handled under TDG law are exempt. A trans-shipment warehouse storing unchanged goods for transport falls under TDG; repackaging/using in a warehouse can bring WHMIS in.

WHMIS and the worker

  • Right to know is one of three basic worker rights under the OHSA.
  • Workers have access to labels, SDSs and training; through the JHSC/HSR they have the right to be consulted on WHMIS training.
  • Ministry supports workers training other workers where appropriate.
  • Worker should: read and follow labels and SDSs; follow procedures incl. PPE; take part in training; ask a supervisor if unsure; report contraventions or hazards (e.g., missing SDS for a new product, unreadable label).

General duties and exception

  • Ensure products are identified; obtain or prepare current SDSs and make them available; ensure exposed workers get instruction and training; assess agents produced for own use.
  • May store (not use) a product without label/SDS/training while actively seeking supplier label and SDS; must notify the ministry in writing if unable to obtain them after reasonable efforts.
  • No one may remove or deface identification on a hazardous product.

Labels

  • Every product from a supplier must have a supplier label; if lost/illegible, replace with new supplier label or workplace label.
  • Employer may not alter a supplier label while product remains in the supplier container.
  • Supplier label may be removed from a container of 3 mL or less if it interferes with normal use.
  • Bulk shipment: e.g., vessel with water capacity of 450 litres or more, freight container, tank, ship hold, pipeline.
  • Workplace label: product identifier identical to SDS; safe handling information (pictures, words, pictograms); statement that an SDS is available (if one exists).
  • Decanted: workplace label needed unless (a) all of it is for immediate use, or (b) used only by the worker who filled it, only during that shift, and contents clearly identified.
  • Piping systems, vessels, tank cars: any clear means of identification understood by workers (colour coding, labels, placards, diagrams) plus education.

SDSs

  • Employer-produced product SDS: update as soon as practicable but no later than 90 days after significant new data.
  • SDSs must be readily available to exposed workers, close to them and accessible every shift — not in a remote office or one locked at night. Electronic copies are acceptable (no paper required).
  • Must also be available to the JHSC/HSR; employer consults them on how to make SDSs available.
  • Public can access SDSs through the local medical officer of health.

Worker education

  • Program must cover: label information; other modes of identification; SDS information; procedures for safe use, storage, handling, disposal; procedures for pipes/vessels; procedures for fugitive emissions; emergency procedures.
  • Developed in consultation with JHSC/HSR. No specific requirement to keep training records (but useful).
  • Employer must review workers' training at least once a year, in consultation with JHSC/HSR; more often if JHSC/HSR advises or circumstances change. Review does not automatically mean retraining.
  • Evaluation method left to the employer (written/oral test, practical demonstration).
  • Ministry position: time spent in training is work time and should be paid.
  • Exposed worker includes one who directly supervises others using the product; "likely to be exposed" includes risk during maintenance or emergencies.

Exemptions

  • Complete exemption: wood/wood products; tobacco; manufactured articles; products being transported/handled under TDG law.
  • Partial exemption (no WHMIS label/SDS, but training still required): explosives, cosmetics/devices/drugs/food, pest control products, radioactive nuclear substances, consumer products.
  • Hazardous waste: safe storage and handling through identification (colour coding, sign "Caution — Hazardous Waste", picture sign) plus education; no label or SDS required.
  • Fugitive emissions and intermediates in a reaction vessel: no label, identification or SDS required.

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