LOCAL RULES: OHSA S. 51

Ontario incident report requirements

Your Ontario incident report has 5 rules to meet. ReportDraft puts every one on your checklist and checks your draft before you sign.

  • An immediate call and a written report within 48 hours of a death or critical injury

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Ontario employers report workplace deaths, critical injuries, injuries needing medical attention and occupational illnesses under Part VII of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and Ontario Regulation 420/21 lists what each written report or notice must contain. Here is each rule with a link to the official text, and how notes become an Ontario incident report.

Last reviewed October 12, 2026 against the official sources listed below.

Incident reportONTARIO / SAMPLE

Sample notes, 140 words

Company: Northgate Fabrication
Site: 1840 Industrial Pkwy, shipping dock 2
Date: 10/08/2026, about 2:15pm
Injured: Luis Romero, material handler, warehouse crew
Supervisor: Tom Reilly
...
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5 Ontario rules on your checklist, including the employer's type of business, the witnesses' contact information and the steps taken to prevent a recurrence.

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  • Ontario lawWritten report or notice under the OHSA
  • NeededType of incident
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Employer nameNorthgate Fabrication
Place of the occurrence1840 Industrial Pkwy, shipping dock 2
Date of the incidentOct 8, 2026
Person injured or involvedLuis Romero, material handler, warehouse crew
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What Ontario requires

  • The written report or notice gives the employer's name, address and type of business; the worker's name; the nature of the bodily injury or occupational illness; the names and addresses or other contact information of witnesses; and the steps taken to prevent a recurrence or further illness; a death or critical injury report adds the constructor's name and address if at a project, the worker's address, the nature and circumstances of the occurrence including any machinery, equipment or procedure involved, its time, date and place, and the name and address of the physician, nurse practitioner or medical facility attending the workerO. Reg. 420/21, s. 3
  • When a person is killed or critically injured from any cause at a workplace, the constructor (if any) and the employer notify an inspector, and the committee, health and safety representative and trade union (if any), immediately by telephone or other direct means; the employer sends a written report of the circumstances to a Director and to the committee, representative and union within 48 hoursOccupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, s. 51 (1) · Ministry: Reporting workplace incidents and illnesses
  • Critically injured means an injury of a serious nature that places life in jeopardy, produces unconsciousness, results in substantial loss of blood, involves the fracture of a leg or arm (not a finger or toe), involves the amputation of a leg, arm, hand or foot (not a finger or toe), consists of burns to a major portion of the body, or causes the loss of sight in an eyeO. Reg. 420/21, s. 1 (1)
  • After a death or critical injury, no one may interfere with, disturb, destroy, alter or carry away any wreckage, article or thing at the scene until an inspector gives permission, except to save life or relieve suffering, maintain an essential public utility or public transportation, or prevent unnecessary damage to equipment or propertyOHSA, s. 51 (2)
  • If a person is disabled from performing their usual work or requires medical attention because of an accident, explosion, fire or incident of workplace violence, and no one dies or is critically injured, the employer gives written notice within four days to the committee, health and safety representative and trade union (if any), and to a Director if an inspector requires itOHSA, s. 52 (1)
  • When a worker or former worker advises the employer of an occupational illness, or of a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board claim for one, the employer gives written notice within four days to a Director, the committee or health and safety representative, and the trade union (if any), including the cause or suspected cause of the illnessOHSA, s. 52 (2), (3) · O. Reg. 420/21, s. 3 (2) 6
  • After an accident, unexpected explosion, fire, flood, equipment failure, cave-in or other prescribed incident at a project site or mine, the constructor (project) or employer (mine) gives written notice within two days to the committee, representative and trade union, and to a Director unless a section 51 report or 52 notice already went to one; on construction projects prescribed incidents include a fall of three metres or more, a fall stopped by a fall arrest system, a worker becoming unconscious, and accidental contact with energized electrical equipmentOHSA, s. 53 · O. Reg. 420/21, s. 4
  • Medical attention means treatment from a legally qualified medical practitioner or a registered nurse holding an extended certificate of registration (nurse practitioner)O. Reg. 420/21, s. 1 (1)
  • The section 51 and 52 reporting contents do not apply to a death or injury from a motor vehicle collision on a highway (including Highway 407) unless the worker was working at a project or was not travelling in the vehicleO. Reg. 420/21, s. 2 (2)

Death or critical injury: call now, report in 48 hours

When anyone is killed or critically injured at a workplace, the employer and constructor notify the ministry, the joint committee or health and safety representative, and the union immediately by phone or other direct means. The ministry's Health and Safety Contact Centre takes these calls at 1-877-202-0008, at any hour. A written report follows within 48 hours, and the scene stays untouched until an inspector says otherwise, except to save life, keep essential services running or prevent unnecessary damage.

A critical injury is one that endangers life, causes unconsciousness or substantial blood loss, fractures a leg or arm, amputates a leg, arm, hand or foot, burns a major part of the body, or costs the sight of an eye.

Injuries needing medical attention and occupational illness: 4 days

When an accident, explosion, fire or workplace violence leaves someone unable to do their usual work or needing medical attention from a doctor or nurse practitioner, the employer gives written notice within four days to the committee or representative and the union, and to the ministry if an inspector asks. An occupational illness, or a claim for one, gets written notice within four days of the employer learning of it, including its cause or suspected cause.

On construction projects and at mines, incidents such as a fall of three metres or more, a fall stopped by fall arrest, a worker knocked unconscious or contact with live electrical equipment need written notice within two days, even with no injury.

What the report must contain

Every report or notice names the employer with its address and type of business, the worker, the nature of the injury or illness, the witnesses with their contact information, and the steps taken to prevent it happening again. A death or critical injury report also gives the constructor if it happened at a project, the worker's address, the time, date and place, how it happened including any machinery, equipment or procedure involved, and who is treating the worker.

From notes to an Ontario incident report

Write down who was hurt, how, with what equipment, and who saw it. ReportDraft marks which OHSA report or notice applies, adds the employer's type of business, the worker's address, the constructor and the treating provider, keeps witness contact details, and turns your prevention steps into corrective actions.

Common mistakes

  • Waiting for the written report instead of calling the ministry right away after a critical injury.
  • Moving equipment at the scene before an inspector gives permission.
  • Missing the four-day notice for an injury that needed a doctor's care.
  • Leaving out the type of business, witnesses' contact information or prevention steps.
  • Forgetting to copy the joint health and safety committee or representative and the union.

Sources

Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Next review due January 12, 2027. This page explains published rules to help you write your report. It is not legal advice; the official text linked above governs.