New This Year - Legislative Changes

  • Set Fines Schedules – effective April 1, 2018, amendments to several schedules increased set fine amounts and two new schedules were added. The new schedules are Schedule 66.2 (Offences under the OH&S Act) and Schedule 67.5 (Offences under the OH&S Awareness and Training Regulation). The amended schedules are Schedules 67 and 67.1 (Offences under the Construction Projects Regulation) and Schedules 67.3 and 67.4 (Offences under the Industrial Establishments Regulation).
  • Bill 148 OH&S-Related Amendments – in late 2017 and early 2018, Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, came into force. The Bill amended the OH&S Act to prohibit employers from requiring workers to wear footwear with an elevated heel (high heels) in most cases. The Bill also amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to provide for up to 10 days of paid leave and up to 15 weeks of unpaid leave for employees who have experienced domestic or sexual violence or the threat of such violence. While Bill 47, the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018, came into force on November 21, 2018, and reversed much of Bill 148, the amendments regarding elevated heels and domestic or sexual violence leave were unchanged and remain in force.
  • WHMIS 2015 – the “transitional periods” for WHMIS 2015 (s. 25.1 of the WHMIS Regulation) — including the final transition date of December 1, 2018 — are now completed. All WHMIS 2015 requirements are now fully in force. However, note that s. 25.1 of the WHMIS Regulation (R.R.O. Reg. 860) was amended in late November by O. Reg. 458/18 to allow an exception for WHMIS 2015 compliant labels for WHMIS 1988 products that continue to be used after November 30, 2018.
  • Guardrails – the Industrial Establishments Regulation (R.R.O. Reg. 851) was amended with respect to guardrail exemptions and certain measures to be taken when no guardrail is required, in force October 26, 2018.
  • Designated Substances – the Designated Substances Regulation (O. Reg. 490/09) was amended to add additional substances to the Isocyanates, organic compounds section, in force January 1, 2018.
  • Oxygen Content Level – the Industrial Establishments Regulation (R.R.O. Reg. 851) was amended to change the “threshold atmospheric pressure oxygen content level below which a worker must be protected by mechanical ventilation” from 18% to 19.5%, in force January 1, 2018.
  • Occupational Exposure Limits – the Control of Exposure to Biological or Chemical Agents Regulation (R.R.O. Reg. 833) was updated to reflect the adoption of new or revised occupational exposure limits (OELs) or listings for 21 chemical substances based on recommendations by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), in force January 1, 2018.
  • Health Care and Residential Facilities – O. Reg. 174/18, amending O. Reg. 67/93, with respect to child development services and child treatment services, in force April 30, 2018; O. Reg. 59/18, amending O. Reg. 67/93 with respect to notice of accidents and the deletion of Form 1, in force March 2, 2018.
  • Construction Projects – O. Reg. 64/18, amending O. Reg. 213/91, with respect to suspended work platform systems and compressed air, in force March 2, 2018.
  • Industrial Establishments – O. Reg. 60/18, amending R.R.O. Reg 851, with respect to definitions, fees and forms, electrical transmission systems or outdoor distribution systems and logging, in force March 2, 2018.
  • Mines and Mining Plants – O. Reg. 61/18, amending R.R.O. Reg. 854, with respect to trades and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, rope construction, hoist operators, toilets and wash facilities, in force March 2, 2018.
  • Asbestos – O. Reg. 62/18, amending O. Reg. 278/05, with respect to ongoing asbestos management and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, in force March 2, 2018.
  • Firefighters – O. Reg. 63/18, amending O. Reg. 714/94, with respect to tailboards, in force March 2, 2018.
  • X-Ray Safety – O. Reg. 106/18, amending R.R.O. Reg. 861, with respect to definitions, the federal Nuclear Safety and Control Act, Ministry responsibility, exposure and forms, in force March 15, 2018.