Practical WHMIS … an e-learning Tool

JUDITH BOND AND MARNI JOHNSON

WORKPLACE TRAINING AND SERVICES INC. (WTS) has worked in a variety of sectors (aerospace, hospitality, food, manufacturing, and information technology) in the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario. Our niche is working with employees who have communication issues because of literacy or second language interference.

One of the critical areas that management, union and employees identify as a training need (because of language) is health and safety; in particular, WHMIS or Workplace Hazardous Material Information System.

Much of the current health and safety training is done in-house by supervisors or training staff. These individuals generally have little or no experience adapting training for employees with literacy or second language issues. We have found that the training often doesn’t “take.”

Nine support employees in a medical centre who regularly handle and dispose of needles did not recognize the biohazardous WHMIS symbol.

A worker ate his lunch at his work station. Clearly marked pipes (WHMIS corrosive symbol) ran over his head. Chemicals used to produce the bricks of foam sat at his feet.

A worker washed toxic chemical dyes from screens. He was not wearing the gloves, apron, mask and rubber boots needed for protection.

WHMIS Online

In 2000, OWLware, a Toronto based software developer and web host, approached WTS. They were looking for a partner who could identify a potential training opportunity and who could also be the subject matter expert.

When we thought about training opportunities, we recommended WHMIS because of our concerns. Often, our learners find in-house training challenging and they may not always realize the critical impact that their lack of understanding could have on the quality of their lives.

WHMIS is a federally legislated program developed to protect Canadian workers. There are compliance issues for companies, including employee training as well as clearly written statements about “the right to refuse unsafe work” for workers.

Developing www.practicalwhmis.com took the better part of two years with both partners working part-time on the project. Although we had lots of experience writing for workplace learners (PaperWork Plus series, CanadaWorks, Through the Looking Glass) we were new to e-learning except as learners. We used our experience, our knowledge of content, language and common sense to develop the content at www.practicalwhmis.com.