AN EMPLOYEES GUIDE TO THE HMIS, THIRD EDITION

Hazardous Materials Identification System

(Third Edition)
An Employee's Guide to the HMIS

1981, 1996, 2001 by the National Paint and Coatings Association

Published by
J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
3003 W. Breezewood Lane
Neenah, Wisconsin 54957-0368
Phone: (800) 327-6868
Fax: (800) 727-7516
www.jjkeller.com
Third Printing, May 2006

ISBN: 1-57943-987-X
Canadian Goods and Services Tax (GST) Number: R123-317687

All rights reserved. Target organ icons for blood, eye, nervous system, kidney, liver, and respiratory, and physical hazard icons for compressed gas, oxidizers, explosives, and pyrphorics are
copyrighted materials of Electromark Co. and are used with permission. Neither the publication nor any part thereof may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of
the Publisher. United States laws and Federal regulations published as promulgated are in
public domain. However, their compilation and arrangement along with other materials in this
publication are subject to the copyright notice.

Printed in the U. S. A.

AN EMPLOYEES GUIDE TO THE HMIS, THIRD EDITION

Hazardous Materials Identification System

(Third Edition)
An Employee's Guide to the HMIS
Preface
The following materials should be used to train new employees on the basic concepts of the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) and HMIS hazard
communication tools. These materials should be used in conjunction with other
training materials as described in Chapters 3 and 12. The employee's guide concludes with a quiz to help reinforce and document comprehension. Answers to the
quiz are provided for the benefit of the instructors.
Following the employee's guide is a Programmed Review of the HMIS, which
should be used as refresher training for employees who have received the initial
training and work in the facility where HMIS is used.
This guide may be provided to each employee as part of the HMIS training program. The guide may be used by individuals or in a group setting. Use the quiz at
the back of the guide to assess employee understanding and comprehension of the
system. (Answers to the quiz are provided in the section immediately following
the quiz.)
The guide provides easy to comprehend illustrations and text which cover the basic
concepts of hazard communication and the HMIS program.
Any employee training program should include a discussion of the specific hazards
in the employees' workplace, and the training should allow a period for employees
to ask questions. Please refer to Chapters 3 and 12 for additional topics and support materials to develop truly meaningful training programs.
Due to the constantly changing nature of government regulations, it is impossible
to guarantee absolute accuracy of the material contained herein. The Publisher
and Editors, therefore, cannot assume any responsibility for omissions, errors, misprinting or ambiguity contained within this publication and shall not be held liable
in any degree for any loss or injury caused by such omission, error, misprinting or
ambiguity presented in this publication.

AN EMPLOYEES GUIDE TO THE HMIS, THIRD EDITION

Users of the HMIS should ensure that they become aware of any changes in legislation, OSHA regulations or interpretations, or litigation relating to hazard communication and ensure that their use of HMIS hazard communication tools is consistent with and complies with such developments.
This publication is designed to provide reasonably accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered.
It is sold with the understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering
legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a knowledgeable professional person should be
sought.

The Editors
National Paint & Coatings Association

The Publisher
J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

AN EMPLOYEES GUIDE TO THE HMIS, THIRD EDITION

Hazardous Materials Identification System

(Third Edition)
An Employee's Guide to the HMIS
Published & Printed by
J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
3003 W. Breezewood Lane
Neenah, Wisconsin 54957-0368
Phone: (800) 327-6868
Fax: (800) 727-7516
www.jjkeller.com
publisher

JOHN J. KELLER

NATIONAL PAINT & COATINGS ASSOCIATION

director of health and safety
vice president, env., health, & int.
counsel, government affairs
assoc. director, desktop publishing
manager, communications

LANCE "SKIP" EDWARDS, CIH

STEPHEN SIDES, CIH
ALLEN IRISH
CATHY BANKS
DANIELLE CHALOM

J. J. KELLER & ASSOCIATES PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS

president
executive vice president
sr. vice president,publications & products
corporate product development manager
sr. product development manager
sr. product development specialist
director of manufacturing

ROBERT L. KELLER
JAMES J. KELLER
TERENCE J. QUIRK
KEITH D. KELLER
GREGORY W. MICHAEL
PATRICIA A. DEY OLSON
DANIEL J. MCGRAW

J. J. KELLER & ASSOCIATES ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

sr. vice president, finance
director of information systems
controller

RONALD M. PHILLIPS
THOMAS C. HUPF
ROGER E. PORATH

The J. J. Keller publications staff is available to provide information generally associated with this publication
to a normal and reasonable extent, and at the option of, and as a courtesy of, the Publisher.

AN EMPLOYEES GUIDE TO THE HMIS, THIRD EDITION

FRONT

WALLET CARD

POSTER

BACK

AN EMPLOYEES GUIDE TO THE HMIS, THIRD EDITION

Let me tell you about the HMIS or

Hazardous Materials Identification
System.

Tom, this is Bill, our new employee.

Most businesses use a number of different chemical materials, and ours is

no exception!

Bill wants to get acquainted with our operations.

I'm counting on you to show him our safety
programs.

That is why we have the HMIS, which

uses colors and numbers to show you
how to safely handle the materials you
work with.

B
D

C
...and the white part of the label tells you
what kind of protective equipment to
wear when working with this material.
With a quick glance at the label I can get
an idea of how hazardous the material is
and what precautions I need to take while
using it.
Like whether you need gloves or respirators
and things like that?

This color-coded label is the key to the system. You will find an HMIS label on every
container in the building.
Each of the four colors stands for a specific
kind of hazard.
The number in the colored block indicates
how serious the potential hazard is...