Ontario Working Alone and Safety Course: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Ontario's law when you work alone

Ontario's workplace safety law is the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) enforce it.

Some provinces have a special working-alone regulation. Ontario does not. The Workers Health & Safety Centre notes that Ontario lacks a specific law on working alone. Lone workers are protected instead by the employer's general duties and by the workplace violence rules in the OHSA.

Employer duties that protect lone guards (section 25)

• 25(2)(h), the general duty: take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect a worker.
• 25(2)(a): give workers information, instruction and supervision to protect their health and safety.
• 25(2)(d): tell workers about hazards in their work.
• 25(2)(c): appoint a competent supervisor.
• 25(2)(j) and (k): where more than five workers are regularly employed, have a written health and safety policy, review it at least once a year, and run a program to carry it out.
• 25(2)(i): post the Act and the ministry's "Prevention Starts Here" poster.

Under O. Reg. 297/13, workers must also complete basic health and safety awareness training (the four-step worker program), and supervisors complete the five-step supervisor program.

Lesson 2: Workplace violence and harassment

Lone guards face a higher risk of violence. Part III.0.1 of the OHSA sets clear duties for every employer.

For a guard who works alone at night, ways to summon immediate help might include a panic alarm, a radio with a dispatcher, or a check-in schedule with someone ready to respond. The employer must give you the information and instruction you need to use them.

Lesson 3: Your three rights and the work refusal

The OHSA gives every worker three basic rights: the right to know about hazards, the right to participate in fixing safety problems, and the right to refuse unsafe work.

Under section 43(3), you may refuse work if you have reason to believe that equipment, the physical condition of the workplace, or workplace violence is likely to endanger you. The right is limited for some jobs, such as police, firefighters and some health care and correctional workers.

The refusal steps

1. Tell your supervisor or employer right away that you refuse and why.
2. Stay in a safe place near your work station.
3. The employer investigates with you and a worker member of the joint committee, a health and safety representative, or a chosen worker.
4. If it is fixed, you go back to work. If you still have reasonable grounds, the worker or employer calls an MLITSD inspector.
5. Wait in a safe place unless you are given other reasonable work. The inspector gives a written decision.

Section 50 forbids reprisals. Your employer may not fire, discipline, threaten or intimidate you for following the Act or using your rights. A worker can file a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Lesson 4: Committees, representatives and everyone's duties

At least half the committee must be workers who do not do management work. Most committees need at least two certified members, one for workers and one for management. A worker member must inspect the workplace at least once a month. If that is not practical, the whole workplace is inspected at least once a year, with part of it inspected each month.

Your duties as a worker (section 28)

• Work safely and follow the Act and regulations.
• Use or wear the equipment and clothing your employer requires.
• Report missing or defective equipment.
• Report hazards and breaks of the law to your employer or supervisor.

Supervisors (section 27) must make sure you follow the rules, tell you about known dangers and take every reasonable precaution to protect you.

Lesson 5: Reporting injuries and getting help

Ontario's workers' compensation board is the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).

What the WSIB expects

• Workers: tell your employer about an injury or illness as soon as possible. To claim benefits, report to the WSIB within six months.
• Employers: report to the WSIB within three business days of learning about it, if the worker needs health care beyond first aid, misses work, earns less than regular pay, or needs modified work at less pay.
• The employer pays a full day's wages for the day of the injury, gives first aid, and arranges or pays for transport to health care.
• Discouraging a worker from reporting is against the law.

What the OHSA requires

• Critical injury or death (s. 51): the employer must tell an MLITSD inspector, the joint committee or representative, and the union immediately, then send a written report to a Director within 48 hours.
• Injury from an accident, explosion, fire or workplace violence (s. 52): if a worker needs medical attention or cannot do their usual work, the employer gives written notice within four days to the joint committee or representative and the union.

The ministry's Health and Safety Contact Centre at 1-877-202-0008 is how an employer notifies an inspector of a critical injury or death. It takes these reports at any time of day.