The Government of Ontario has introduced a regulatory requirement to ensure that workers in the province receive adequate basic occupational health and safety training. With a few limited exceptions, all workers and supervisors in Ontario must have completed basic occupational health and safety awareness training programs by July 1, 2014, or as soon as practical thereafter. The mandatory training applies to most charities in Ontario. 

Who must complete the training?

As of July 1, 2014, the Ontario Ministry of Labour requires health and safety awareness training for all workers and supervisors covered under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The OHSA covers most Ontario workers, supervisors, employers and workplaces, but not volunteers. The training is intended to enhance workers’ and supervisors’ understanding about workplace health and safety issues and about their rights and responsibilities under the OHSA. The OHSA’s Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training regulation (Regulation) sets out training requirements.

There are two types of training—one for workers and the other for supervisors.  Section 1(1) of the OHSA defines a “worker” as “a person who performs work or supplies services for monetary compensation but does not include an inmate of a correctional institution or like institution or facility who participates inside the institution or facility in a work project or rehabilitation program;” and a “supervisor” as “a person who has charge of a workplace or authority over a worker.” Additional training under the Regulation is not required where workers and supervisors can provide their employer with proof that they have completed a basic occupational health and safety training program in the past and where the employer can verify that the previous training covers the required topics under the Regulation. Employers wanting to rely on this exemption must carefully assess the previous training received by their workers and supervisors to determine if that training is sufficient. Non-exempt workers and supervisors must complete the training programs, as discussed below.

Training program requirements

The training program for workers must include training about the following topics:

1. The duties and rights of workers under the OHSA.
2. The duties of employers and supervisors under the OHSA.
3. The roles of health and safety representatives and joint health and safety committees under the OHSA.
4. The roles of the Ministry of Labour, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and the other entities discussed in section 22.5 of the OHSA which address occupational health and safety.
5. Workplace hazards.
6. OHSA Regulation 860 requirements—the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System—concerning information and instruction on controlled products.
7. Occupational illness, defined in the OHSA as “a condition that results from exposure in a workplace to a physical, chemical or biological agent to the extent that the normal physiological mechanisms are affected and the health of the worker is impaired thereby and includes an occupational disease for which a worker is entitled to benefits under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.”

The training program for supervisors must include training about the following topics:

1. The duties and rights of workers under the OHSA.
2. The duties of employers and supervisors under the OHSA.
3. The roles of health and safety representatives and joint health and safety committees under the OHSA.
4. The roles of the Ministry of Labour, the WSIB and the other entities discussed in section 22.5 of the OHSA which address occupational health and safety.
5. The ways to recognize, assess and control workplace hazards, and to evaluate those controls.
6. Sources of information on occupational health and safety.

For training purposes, the Ontario Ministry of Labour has made training products accessible on its website that employers may, but are not obligated, to use. These resources include free workbooks accompanied by employer guides and free electronic online training tools to help employers comply with the new regulatory requirements. Employers choosing to use their own training resources must ensure that their training resources cover the topics required in the Regulation.

Training time limits

The training programs became mandatory for all non-exempt workers and supervisors on July 1, 2014.  Employers of workers and supervisors who have not yet completed the training programs must ensure that training programs for workers are completed “as soon as practical” and that the training programs for supervisors are completed “within one week of performing work as a supervisor.” The “work as a supervisor” would commence when an individual’s work in the workplace meets the definition of “supervisor” under the OHSA. Individuals who work as supervisors temporarily or infrequently (e.g. when a manager is absent from the office), and owners who also take on the role of supervising the organization’s workers must also receive mandatory training.  Therefore, this training should be considered as a priority matter for both new and existing workers and supervisors.

Proof of training

The Regulation requires employers to keep records of completed occupational health and safety awareness training, and records of employees exempt from training. Employers do not submit the records to the Ministry of Labour, but must retain the records in case the Ministry of Labour requests them during an investigation or inspection. The Ministry of Labour recommends that employers keep the records for at least six months after the end of employment, as workers and supervisors can request from the employer written proof of their completion or exemption of the training within those six months.

As July 1, 2014 has already passed, charities that have not yet provided mandatory basic occupational health and safety awareness training to their workers and supervisors should ensure that all workers and supervisors complete the training as soon as possible. Charities will also need to develop and implement a process for documenting compliance with the Regulation in the event of a Ministry of Labour inspection.

Employers should allocate a time for the completion of the training programs. The Ministry of Labour estimates that the training modules should take approximately one hour to complete. Therefore, while the obligations imposed by the Regulation may appear to be onerous, charities may comply through relatively minimal effort and planning.  Finally, as this training is mandatory, failure to implement an appropriate training program will expose the organization, and possibly its directors, officers and managers, to the potentially significant fines and penalties under Part IX (Offences and Penalties) of the OHSA.

Barry W. Kwasniewski, B.B.A., LL.B., practices employment and risk management law with Carters Professional Corporation’s Ottawa office.  He can be contacted by phone at (613) 235-4774 or by email at bwk@carters.ca.