A snapshot of occupational health and safety in Ontario

Employment

• 7.13 million workers employed in Ontario
• 6.55 million workers employed in workplaces under provincial jurisdiction ^{footnote 1[1]}
• percentage of workers employed under provincial jurisdiction by sector:
  • agriculture, mining, utilities and other primary industries—2%
  • construction—8%
  • manufacturing—12%
  • trade—16%
  • financial services—5%
  • professional services—10%
  • education—8%
  • health care and social assistance—13%
  • other service industries—23%
  • public administration—3%

Fatalities

• 81—traumatic fatalities
• 146—occupational disease fatalities (by year of death)
• 1.24—traumatic fatality rate (per 100,000 workers)
• 2.23—occupational disease fatality rate (per 100,000 workers)

See data on traumatic and occupational disease fatalities in Appendix A.

Injuries

• 56,529—lost-time injury claims
• 0.95—lost-time injury rate—Schedule 1 (per 100 workers)
• 2.04—lost-time injury rate—Schedule 2 (per 100 workers)
• 126,251—no lost-time injury claims
• 2.36—no lost-time injury rate (schedule 1 employers, per 100 workers)
• 2.03—no lost-time injury rate (schedule 2 employers, per 100 workers)
• 1,898—critical injury events reported to the ministry
• 28.97—critical injury rate (per 100,000 workers)

See data on injuries in Appendix A.

To see the definitions of the terms related to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board statistical records, please visit the WSIB’s website.

Training and clinical services

To make workplaces healthier and safer, the occupational health and safety system partners are training workers, supervisors and employers, and providing clinical services for injured or sick workers.

Prosecution, enforcement and advisory services

The Office of the Worker Adviser provides expert, free and confidential services on workplace insurance matters and occupational health and safety reprisal issues.

The Office of the Employer Adviser provides Ontario employers with expert, free and confidential advice, representation and education on all workers’ compensation issues under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and on unjust reprisal issues under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

Total inspections

In 2017-18, ministry inspectors made a total of 82,329 visits to 35,985 workplaces and issued 125,308 orders.

Inspector field visits and orders issued in 2017-18:

• total field visits—82,329
• total workplaces visited—35,985
• total orders issued—125,308
• total stop use or stop work orders issued—7,252

Proactive inspections

About half (52%) of the field visits were proactive visits: inspectors going to workplaces in sectors with high hazards and/or vulnerable workers to provide information and education, and to support compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Proactive visits, which accounted for 67% of all orders issued, are an important way to improve safety and prevent injuries or fatalities.

Proactive inspector field visit activities and orders issued in 2017-18:

• proactive field visits—42,936
• orders issued—83,585

Reactive inspections

Reactive visits are a critical part of inspectors’ work. The ministry responds to safety issues in the workplace and investigates complaints about violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, work refusals and reports of critical injuries and fatalities. In 2017-18, reactive visits accounted for 48% of all field visits.

Reactive inspector field visits and orders issued in 2017-18:

• reactive field visits—39,393
• orders issued—41,723

Reactive visits identify and address health and safety issues in response to complaints, critical injuries, fatalities and work refusals. Over the past 10 years, the number of these investigations has increased.

Key system partners

Ontario’s employers and workers need a strong system to help them create healthy and safe workplaces. Ontario’s occupational health and safety system is a network of key partners, each with a unique role. The partners work together to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities with support from other important players in the health and safety system.

The Ministry of Labour (MOL): Develops, communicates and enforces workplace health and safety legislation and regulations and develops, coordinates and implements strategies to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB): An independent trust agency that administers compensation and no-fault insurance for Ontario workplaces.

Four designated sector-focused safe workplace associations (SWAs):

• Infrastructure Health & Safety Association (IHSA): Serves the construction, electrical, utilities, aggregates, natural gas, ready-mix concrete and transportation sectors.
• Public Services Health & Safety Association (PSHSA): Serves the education, culture, community, health care, municipal and provincial government, and emergency services sectors.
• Workplace Safety North (WSN): Provides workplace health and safety training and services for the mining and forest products industries, as well as businesses across northern Ontario.
• Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS): Serves the agriculture, industrial, manufacturing and service sectors.

Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW): Designated medical clinics that provide interdisciplinary clinical and prevention services, auditing and consulting services, prevention research and tool development, knowledge transfer and exchange as well as health and safety resources to employers and workers in Ontario.

Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC): A designated training centre that provides occupational health and safety training for joint health and safety committees, smaller workplace health and safety representatives, workers and supervisors.

Specialized Research Centres:

• The Institute for Work and Health (IWH)
• Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease (CREOD)
• Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC)
• The Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)

Other partners:

• Committees appointed by the Minister under section 21 of the OHSA (“Section 21 Committees”) that advise the Minister on occupational health and safety matters
• Private health and safety trainers and consultants
• The Office of the Worker Adviser (OWA) and the Office of the Employer Adviser (OEA)
• Health and safety representatives and joint health and safety committees in workplaces
• Unions, employer and worker organizations and associations

In addition, a multi-stakeholder Prevention Council advises the Minister of Labour and the Chief Prevention Officer on system planning and initiatives. The members of the Prevention Council are:

• Patrick Dillon, Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario (labour representative)
• Derek Johnstone, United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (labour representative)
• Daniel Bonnar, Ontario Professional Firefighters Association (labour representative)
• Andréane Chénier, Canadian Union of Public Employees (labour representative)
• Linda Vannucci, Workers’ Health and Safety Legal Clinic (non-union worker representative)
• Michael Dauncey, Mattamy Homes (employer representative)
• Frank Saunders, Bruce Power (employer representative)
• Dawn Tattle, Dawn Tattle Enterprises Ltd. (employer representative)
• Camille Quenneville, Canadian Mental Health Association—Ontario Division (employer representative)
• Erin Oliver, Modern Niagara Group Inc. (employer representative)
• Susanna Zagar, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board representative)
• Graeme Norval, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto (occupational health and safety expert)