Robert's Rants
Robert's Rants
A personal blog on the Canadian pesticide industry and other pet peeves and interests

WHMIS AND PROFESSIONAL PEST CONTROL. Do you really need an SDS for that? Don’t be stupid.

We had a call from a customer needing the MSDS for the Catchmaster Glue Boards.

Please note that as of June with the new WHIMIS 2015 they are now called SDS to align with the Global Harmonization. (but what if we don’t like the rest of the countries?)

We had the C/M glue board SDS.  But probably shouldn’t.

Here’s why:

They don’t qualify as a Hazardous Material, so they don’t require an SDS.

But is it good to have one just for your customer?  Not really.

Let me give you a brief review:

WHMIS (you know what it stands for…or else leave the planet) is designed to provide workers an understanding on the health and environmental risks for the products they are dealing with in their workplace.

IF they are considered Hazardous or Controlled substances.

That’s the kicker.

So the question is, what qualifies as a Hazardous Material and what is the requirement if it is. (there’s much more than just an SDS)

Here’s the list: (direct from CCOHS)

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/whmis_ghs/hazard_classes.html

List of Hazard Classes

Physical Hazards

  • Flammable gases
  • Flammable aerosols
  • Oxidizing gases
  • Gases under pressure
  • Flammable liquids
  • Flammable solids
  • Self-reactive substances and mixtures
  • Pyrophoric liquids
  • Pyrophoric solids
  • Self-heating substances and mixtures
  • Substances and mixtures which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases
  • Oxidizing liquids
  • Oxidizing solids
  • Organic peroxides
  • Corrosive to metals
  • Combustible dusts
  • Simple asphyxiants
  • Pyrophoric gases
  • Physical hazards not otherwise classified

Health Hazards

  • Acute toxicity
  • Skin corrosion/irritation
  • Serious eye damage/eye irritation
  • Respiratory or skin sensitization
  • Germ cell mutagenicity
  • Carcinogenicity
  • Reproductive toxicity
  • Specific target organ toxicity – single exposure
  • Specific target organ toxicity – repeated exposure
  • Aspiration hazard
  • Biohazardous infectious materials
  • Health hazards not otherwise classified

So of all that, where would you classify Glue Boards?  The last point?  “Not otherwise classified”.  That is political mumbo jumbo to open the door to everything….everything.

If you can essentially kill someone with a paper clip, then prepare that SDS!  Poppycock.

If your product falls on that list, you need to follow the guidelines. But it means having the box labelled properly with the regulated Hazardous Material checkered box, a statement of the hazard, a pictogram of the hazard for the illiterate, etc. etc.

No where on any product in the warehouse can I found a product with the label that would indicate it being hazardous goods….except phostoxin.

So if the product doesn’t meet the categories, doesn’t have the WHMIS packaging label, should there be an SDS?

My answer is no.

It’s misleading to have an SDS because then you assume it is a Hazardous Material.

Here’s an excerpt from the C/M Glueboard SDS:

So can anyone explain why we allow customers to demand an SDS for products that are not Hazardous?

Calling a non-hazardous product “harzardous” and generating a bogus SDS may be as harmful as beneficial.

I certainly wouldn’t want the fire department to be sitting there reading through a bunch of garbage SDS’s while the building burns down.

Have we lost a grip on reality here?

Or is it related to government overkill…or inspectors being short minded?

Or are your customers being unreasonable.

Read the law, understand the law, explain the law.