Handling, Storing and Disposing of Materials: WHMIS and Waste

Hook: the mystery jar

In a garage you find an old pickle jar half full of a clear liquid. No label. It might be water, paint thinner, windshield washer fluid or something worse. What should you do?

Don't open it, smell it or pour it out. An unlabelled chemical is one of the most dangerous things in any shop, because nobody can choose the right precautions. This lesson is about handling, storing and getting rid of materials and waste safely.

Two labelling systems you need to know

1. WHMIS at work. The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is Canada's system for hazardous products used at work. It has three parts:

• Labels on containers. A supplier label comes from the manufacturer. If a product is poured into another container at work, it needs a workplace label.
• Safety data sheets (SDS): detailed documents (16 sections) that explain the hazards, safe handling, PPE, storage, first aid, spill clean-up and disposal. Workers must be able to get them easily.
• Education and training so workers understand the labels and the SDS.

WHMIS labels use pictograms (a symbol inside a red diamond-shaped border; only the biohazardous infectious materials pictogram uses a round border) and a signal word: Danger for more severe hazards or Warning for less severe ones.

2. Consumer product symbols at home. Products sold for home use in Canada, like drain cleaner or bleach, use a different set of symbols. The shape of the frame tells you what is dangerous, the picture tells you the type of hazard (poison, corrosive, flammable, explosive), and a signal word tells you how serious it is.

Handling materials safely

• Read before you use. Read the label (and the SDS at work) before opening the container.
• Wear the PPE the label calls for: often safety glasses or goggles and the right gloves.
• Ventilate: work outdoors or with a window open and a fan pushing air out.
• Pour carefully at a low height, use a funnel, and put the lid back on right away.
• Never mix chemicals unless the instructions say to. Mixing bleach with ammonia or with acids (such as some toilet bowl cleaners) makes toxic gases.
• Clean spills right away using the method on the label or SDS, and tell your teacher or supervisor.
• Wash your hands after handling materials, and before eating.

Storing materials safely

• Keep products in their original, labelled containers. Never store chemicals in food or drink containers.
• Store flammables (gasoline, solvents, aerosols) away from heat, sparks and flames; at work they go in an approved flammables cabinet. Gasoline only goes in an approved gas can.
• Keep incompatible products apart (for example, bleach away from ammonia-based cleaners and acids).
• Store heavy items low, and keep chemicals out of reach of children and pets.
• Store sharp tools and blades covered or in racks.

Disposing of materials and waste

• Sort shop waste: wood offcuts that can be reused, clean scrap metal for recycling, sawdust in a covered bin, and regular garbage.
• Household hazardous waste (leftover paint, solvents, motor oil, pesticides, propane cylinders, pool chemicals) goes to your municipality's household hazardous waste depot or a collection event, never down the drain, onto the ground, or in the garbage.
• Batteries and electronics go to drop-off programs. Batteries, especially lithium-ion ones, can start fires in garbage trucks. Covering the terminals of some batteries with tape before drop-off is a common recommendation.
• Rags soaked with oil-based stain or linseed oil can heat up and catch fire on their own. Lay them flat outdoors to dry or store them in a sealed metal container with water, then dispose of them as the label directs.
• Sharps and unused medications: many Ontario pharmacies take back sharps containers and old medications.