Ontario Makes 5 Key Changes to OHS Incident Reporting Rules

All jurisdictions require employers to provide the government OHS agency a written notice and report of certain kinds of workplace deaths, injuries and incidents. But in Ontario, there were different rules for different industries set out in separate OHS regulations. All of that changed on July 1 when a new OHS regulation took effect establishing uniform reporting rules for all sectors. There are 5 key things that the Regulation does, including:

1. Clarifying the information employers must list to report worker deaths and critical injuries;
2. Specifying for the first time what information to include when reporting an injury requiring medical treatment or causing a disability that causes a worker to miss work;
3. Specifying the information required when reporting an occupational illness;
4. Creating a new exemption for reporting certain highway motor vehicle accidents; and
5. Requiring that employers retain copies of the written notices and reports they submit for 3 years.