Human Resources Legislative Update
Amendments Made to Notice and Reporting Requirements under OHSA
Date: June 9, 2021
On June 7, 2021, the Ontario government filed amendments to a number of regulations made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Most of the amendments relate to the reporting of workplace accidents, which consolidate the notice of death or critical injury reporting requirements found in several regulations under the OHSA into one regulation—Ontario Regulation 420/21: Notices and Reports under Sections 51 to 53.1 of the Act – Fatalities, Critical Injuries, Occupational Illnesses and Other Incidents.
Specifically, the sections 51-53 notice and/or reporting requirements under the OHSA, as may be applicable, have been revoked in the following regulations:
- Regulation 851 Industrial Establishments (amended by O. Reg 421/21)
- Regulation 854 Mines & Mining Plants (O. Reg 422/21)
- Regulation 855 Oil & Gas – Offshore (O. Reg 423/21)
- Regulation 859 Window Cleaning (O. Reg 424/21)
- Regulation 861 X-Ray Safety (O. Reg 425/21)
- O. Reg 213/91 Construction Projects (O. Reg 426/21)
- O. Reg 67/93 Health Care and Residential Facilities (O. Reg 427/21)
- O. Reg 629/94 Diving Operations (O. Reg 428/21)
- O. Reg 414/05: Farming Operations (O. Reg 429/21).
O. Reg 420/21 applies to all workplaces to which the OHSA applies (with an exception relating to where a worker is killed, critically injured, disabled from performing their usual work or requires medical attention as a result of collisions on highways as defined under the Highway Traffic Act or Highway 407). It revokes Regulation 834 (Critical Injury — Defined) made under the OHSA.
Among other things, O. Reg 420/21 defines “critically injured,” specifies the information that an employer must provide in a written report or written notice under sections 51 to 53 of the OHSA, requires retention of a written notice or report for three years after the date the report or notice is made, and prescribes that reports and notices may be sent electronically. It also prescribes certain incidents under the regulations relating to Diving Operations, Construction Projects, Mines and Mining Plants and X-ray Safety where notice under section 53(1) of the OSHA must be provided.
Other regulatory amendments filed on June 7, 2021 amend the OHSA Regulation 851 Industrial Establishment:
- O. Reg. 421/21, which adds a new record-keeping requirement to workplaces that use lifting devices
- O. Reg. 434/21 revokes and replaces the pre-start health and safety review provisions, including the section 7 table (in force January 1, 2022).
Except for O. Reg. 434/21, these amendments come into force on July 1, 2021.
