Health and Safety Bulletin Board
To protect workers’ rights, and their health and safety in the workplace, employers are required by law to post certain documents. The Health and Safety Bulletin Board is an ideal location for posting these documents. A Ministry of Labour inspector may check the Health and Safety Bulletin Board in your workplace to make sure that the employer has posted the required documents.
Following is a list of documents that you should be able to find on the Health and Safety Bulletin Board in your workplace. It includes links for downloading and further information. The list was adapted from the Ministry of Labour’s website resource:
Posting and Training Requirements
If you believe there may be something missing on the Health and Safety Bulletin Board in your school, let your principal know.
Employers must display this poster in their workplaces. It outlines the rights and responsibilities of workers, supervisors and employers on the job and provides contact information for the Ministry of Labour. Download the poster here.
Under a regulation of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA), affected employers must display the “In Case of Injury” Poster (Form 82) in their workplaces. To get further information and the poster, cut and paste “In Case of Injury” Poster (Form 82)” in an internet search engine. “In Case of Injury” Poster (Form 82)
Under to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), employers must display a copy of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in their workplaces. Since a number of OHSA Regulations also apply in our workplaces, the best practice would be to post the OHSA and its Regulations in book form – also known as “The Green Book” – and available for purchase from Service Ontario and publishers such as Carswell. Download the Act here.
The OHSA requires employers to prepare and review, at least once a year, a written occupational health and safety policy, and to develop and maintain a program to implement that policy. The policy must be posted in the workplace. The Ministry of Labour’s Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act includes Appendix A: How to Prepare an Occupational Health and Safety Policy
The OHSA also requires employers to prepare and review, at least once a year, workplace violence and workplace harassment policies, and to develop and maintain programs to implement those policies. These policies must be in writing and posted in the workplace except for workplaces with five or fewer regularly employed workers, unless ordered by an inspector. Note that even though these policies are not required in workplaces with five or few workers, putting these documents into active use would benefit everyone in the workplace. The Ministry of Labour’s guideline, Workplace Violence and Harassment: Understanding the Law includes examples of these policies and programs.
In workplaces where the employer is required to establish a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC), the employer must also post the names and work locations of the committee members in a conspicuous place. In practical terms if you have a site-based JHSC, those names are posted. If you have a multi-workplace JHSC, those names are posted. If you have health and safety reps in a workplace, their names and roles can also be posted.
Employers must post the names of designated First Aiders in a conspicuous place. These designated First Aiders are trained during the working day. Both the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act contain regulations relating to first aid. First Aid Requirements (O.Reg. 1101) sets out the employer’s duties for ensuring there are sufficient designated workers trained in First Aid, and there are sufficient First Aid supplies for the size and the nature of the workplace. First Aid Requirements (O.Reg 1101) can be downloaded to post: First Aid Regulations Brochure
Emergency Contacts could include for example: 911, Poison Control, Municipality, local police. Emergency Procedures could include for example: fire safety and evacuation routes.
The most recent monthly health and safety inspection reports should be posted. The OHSA requires that the workplace be inspected at least monthly and that this inspection be performed during the working day by the worker health and safety representative, or a worker member of the JHSC. These health and safety inspection reports are provided to the principal for action. Situations that may be a source of danger or hazard to workers must be reported to the principal and the JHSC. Read more about health and safety inspections here.
Minutes of the JHSC meetings Download a useful template for JHSC minutes.
Additional reports related to Occupational Health and Safety that are of relevance to the workplace must be posted. This could include testing results for indoor air quality and recent field visit report from Ministry of Labour inspectors.
Under Ontario Regulation 860 – Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) there are three ways in which information on hazardous materials is to be provided:
- labels on the containers of hazardous materials;
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS) to supplement the label with detailed hazard and precautionary information; and
- worker education programs.
The employer is required to make copies of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) readily available to workers, and to the joint health and safety committee, or to a health and safety representative. The Safety Data Sheets can be posted to the Health and Safety Bulletin Board. In a school setting there may be a number of products with SDS sheets, for example; fire extinguishers; products for cleaning, maintenance and construction; and products in science labs and tech shops.
