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Small Business

Small BusinessWhat is a small business?
Small businesses are those that have less than 50 employees.

What the law says
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) does not differentiate between small businesses and larger ones. The law requires workplaces with 20 or more regularly employed workers to have a Joint Health & Safety Committee (JHSC) and at least one worker member and one management worker of the JHSC must be certified. Certification involves training in health and safety law as well as the identification, assessment and control of workplace hazards. Workplaces with more than five workers must have a designated health and safety representative.

How the OHSA affects your small business
Some small business owners incorrectly believe health and safety legislation does not apply to them; for example, owners that opt out of WSIB coverage make an assumption that they can also opt out of the OHSA. However, these are two separate pieces of legislation.

Other owners may have read in the Act that a workplace with five or fewer regular employees does not need to prepare a written health and safety policy. However, the Act indicates that if there’s a critical injury or fatality, or even a visit from a Ministry of Labour (MOL) inspector, the business owner would still be required to demonstrate and document that people are working safely, and that a disciplinary process is ready to implement. See S.6 of the Act: “Duties of Employers and Other Persons.”

What you can do
As a small business, you need to keep your health and safety processes simple and informal through management walkabouts, quick staff meetings, a handwritten memo to file, notes in a log book—all viable strategies if inspectors ask if you’ve been meeting your legal obligations. You can implement other effective, yet uncomplicated ways to communicate with staff and keep your business safe and healthy:

  • Conduct regular “quick talks” on health and safety with staff, using your safe operating procedures, checklists or MSDS sheets as topic guides
  • Make health and safety part of your everyday operations
  • Perform regular “safety observation checks” by watching an employee work for two minutes, reinforcing what was done well, and coaching on improvements
  • Ask staff, who often see what managers don’t, to identify hazards
  • Ask a staff member to volunteer as a health and safety champion

Quick Links

Training E-Courses Webinars Products Downloads (paid) Downloads (free) Articles Videos Reasearch Articles Legislation Resource Links

Sector Specific Information

Workplace Safety & Prevention Services

Small business owners from the agricultural, manufacturing or services sector will benefit from a wide range of products and programs designed with your business needs in mind. We can help you find solutions that will work for you and your growing business.

Training

Effective Health and Safety Representative Training
Effective Health and Safety Representative Training
Three hour training program for health and safety representatives. Public classroom dates and on-site training currently available.
Price:$119.00

E-Courses

Health and Safety for Small Business (English) (1 hour)
Health and Safety for Small Business (English) (1 hour)
This course introduces owners and managers to the types of health and safety problems that can occur in small businesses.
Price:$80.00
Health and Safety for Small Business (French) (1 hour)
Health and Safety for Small Business (French) (1 hour)
This course introduces owners and managers to the types of health and safety problems that can occur in small businesses.
Price:$80.00

Products

Health and Safety Starter Kit
Health and Safety Starter Kit
This kit sets the foundation for a small business' health and safety program.
Price:$49.00
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Generic)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Generic)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business is a practical solution intended to guide small business owners through the requirements of a health and safety program.
Price:$20.00
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Landscaping & Growers)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Landscaping & Growers)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business is a practical solution intended to guide small business owners through the requirements of a health and safety program.
Price:$20.00
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Manufacturing)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Manufacturing)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business is a practical solution intended to guide small business owners through the requirements of a health and safety program.
Price:$20.00
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Retail)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Retail)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business is a practical solution intended to guide small business owners through the requirements of a health and safety program.
Price:$20.00
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Tourism & Hospitality)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Tourism & Hospitality)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business is a practical solution intended to guide small business owners through the requirements of a health and safety program.
Price:$20.00
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Vehicle Sales & Service)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Vehicle Sales & Service)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business is a practical solution intended to guide small business owners through the requirements of a health and safety program.
Price:$20.00

Downloads

Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Retail)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Retail)
Developed in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada, this guide helps you navigate through the rules and regulations that govern workplace health and safety.  Includes a self-assessment tool to help you get started.

To purchase a copy of this guide, please visit the online catalogue.

1820 KB pdf
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Vehicle Sales & Service)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Vehicle Sales & Service)
This guide helps you navigate through the rules and regulations that govern workplace health and safety.  Includes a self-assessment tool to help you get started.

To purchase a copy of this guide, please visit the online catalogue.
 
907 KB PDF
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Landscaping & Growers)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Landscaping & Growers)
Developed in partnership with Landscape Ontario, this guide helps you navigate through the rules and regulations that govern workplace health and safety.  Includes a self-assessment tool to help you get started.

To purchase a copy of the guide, please visit the online catalogue.


2213 KB pdf
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in your Small Business (Manufacturing)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in your Small Business (Manufacturing)
Developed in partnership with the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), this guide helps you navigate through the rules and regulations that govern workplace health and safety.  Includes a self-assessment tool to help you get started.

To purchase a copy of the guide, please visit the online catalogue.

1963 KB pdf
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in your Small Business (Generic)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in your Small Business (Generic)
This guide helps you navigate through the rules and regulations that govern workplace health and safety.  Includes a self-assessment tool to help you get started.

To purchase a copy of this guide, please visit the online catalogue.
 
1934 KB pdf
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Tourism & Hospitality)
Closing the Loop: Setting Up a Health & Safety System in Your Small Business (Tourism & Hospitality)
Developed in partnership with the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, this guide helps you navigate through the rules and regulations that govern workplace health and safety.  Includes a self-assessment tool to help you get started.

To purchase a copy of this guide, please visit the online catalogue.

1998 KB pdf
Starting Your Health and Safety Program
Starting Your Health and Safety Program
Employee health and safety are integral to productivity.  A management system that integrates health and safety activities into all aspects of the operations will help achieve positive results in productivity, quality, and the health and safety of employees.  This guideline highlights some critical health and safety program activities.
253 KB pdf
Health and Safety Representatives
Health and Safety Representatives
Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (the Act) is built on the principle that workers and employers must work together to identify and resolve health and safety problems in the workplace. To meet this goal, health and safety representatives are required by law in a large number of Ontario workplaces [section 8(1)]. This document provides answers to commonly asked questions about health and safey representatives.
223 KB pdf

Articles

Have your say on a new provincial OHS strategy
Have your say on a new provincial OHS strategy
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour is inviting public input as it formulates the province’s first system-wide integrated occupational health and safety strategy. Deadline for input: May 17.
Apr 22, 2013
Small business guides — 6 steps to a safer future
Small business guides — 6 steps to a safer future
An about-to-be-released series of small business guides developed by Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) and key industry partners promises to simplify the process of developing or enhancing a workplace health and safety system. “Allocating time and resources to any priority is an ongoing challenge for most small and medium-sized businesses,” says Linda Sukk, a senior industrial designer with WSPS. “With these guides, we’ve created a manageable step-by-step process businesses can take on without feeling overwhelmed.”
Apr 17, 2012
Small businesses: incentive program earns you a WSIB premium rebate
Small businesses: incentive program earns you a WSIB premium rebate
If you’re an owner or senior manager of a small business registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) for 12 months or less, you can earn your business a 10% premium rebate by successfully completing the WSIB’s two-part Safe Communities Incentive Program (SCIP). Been in business for longer than 12 months? Earn a 5% rebate by participating in the program’s second part.
Apr 07, 2011
Resources
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