Worker Safety Awareness Training
Know your rights. Recognize hazards. Understand your role in workplace safety. Our Worker Safety Awareness Training provides instructor-led foundational health and safety education structured around Ontario’s Worker Health and Safety Awareness in 4 Steps framework and the basic awareness requirements of O. Reg. 297/13.
Foundational Workplace Safety Awareness for Ontario Workers
Worker Safety Awareness Training gives workers a practical introduction to their health and safety rights, responsibilities, workplace hazards, and sources of help in Ontario.
Our instructor-led course follows the core concepts of Ontario’s Worker Health and Safety Awareness in 4 Steps framework and is designed to cover the prescribed basic occupational health and safety awareness topics required under O. Reg. 297/13.
Participants learn how workers, supervisors, and employers each contribute to workplace health and safety through Ontario’s Internal Responsibility System. The course explains key worker rights and duties, employer and supervisor responsibilities, common workplace hazards, and the role workers play in identifying and addressing safety concerns.
The course also introduces the worker’s right to know about workplace hazards, the right to participate in health and safety, and the right to refuse unsafe work where the legal requirements are met. Participants also learn about protection against reprisals for exercising rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Hazard awareness includes common workplace risks such as slips, trips and falls, moving equipment, machinery, hazardous products, electrical hazards, noise, ergonomic hazards, workplace violence, and occupational illness. Participants also learn why some occupational diseases may develop long after an exposure occurs.
WHMIS is introduced as part of the basic worker-awareness requirements, but Worker Safety Awareness Training does not replace the additional WHMIS education and workplace-specific instruction that may be required where hazardous products are used.
This course provides foundational awareness only. Employers remain responsible for providing the workplace orientation, task-specific instruction, equipment training, hazard-specific training, supervision, emergency procedures, PPE instruction, and other training required for each worker’s actual duties.
StartSafe’s approximately three-hour instructor-led format includes group exercises, quizzes, workplace examples, and discussion so workers can apply the concepts rather than simply review them as a checklist.
Course Topics and Learning Outcomes
Build a practical understanding of worker rights, workplace responsibilities, common hazards, participation, and the resources available when health and safety concerns arise.
Understand Worker Rights & Duties
Understand key worker rights and duties under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Understand Workplace Responsibilities
Recognize the health and safety responsibilities of workers, supervisors, and employers within the Internal Responsibility System.
Recognize Workplace Hazards
Identify common workplace hazards and understand the importance of learning how those hazards are controlled.
Know How to Participate
Understand how workers can participate through communication, training, health and safety representatives, and Joint Health and Safety Committees.
Know Where to Get Help
Identify workplace and external sources of health and safety information, support, and assistance.
Understand Worker Protections
Understand foundational worker rights relating to unsafe work, raising health and safety concerns, and protection against reprisals.
Who This Course Is For
Worker Safety Awareness Training is broad foundational training for Ontario workers who require basic occupational health and safety awareness. It is suitable for both new and existing employees and is not limited to construction or one specific workplace hazard.
- New Workers Entering Ontario Workplaces
- Existing Employees Requiring Basic Safety Awareness
- Workers Unable to Provide Acceptable Proof of Previous Training
- Employer Groups Completing Foundational Training Together
- Construction Workers
- Tradespeople
Training Your Employees?
Worker Safety Awareness Training is offered as private group training for up to 12 participants at $75 + HST per participant. Contact us to discuss your workforce, scheduling, and training needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers about who needs Worker Safety Awareness training, Ontario's 4 Steps requirement, previous training, certificate expiry, and private group bookings.
Do I need Worker Safety Awareness training in Ontario?
Ontario employers must generally ensure workers complete basic occupational health and safety awareness training as soon as practicable, unless an applicable exemption applies. The requirement broadly applies to workers covered by Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Will this course meet Ontario's Worker Health and Safety Awareness in 4 Steps requirement?
Our Worker Safety Awareness Training is structured to cover the prescribed basic worker-awareness topics required under O. Reg. 297/13 and follows the core concepts of Ontario's Worker Health and Safety Awareness in 4 Steps framework. Employers remain responsible for ensuring the training used for their workers meets the regulation, maintaining the required records, and providing any additional workplace- or job-specific training required.
If I already completed Worker Safety Awareness training with another employer, do I need to take it again?
Not necessarily. A new employer may rely on your previous training if you provide proof of completion and the employer verifies that the previous program met the requirements of O. Reg. 297/13.
Does my Worker Safety Awareness certificate expire?
No. StartSafe does not assign an expiry date to our Worker Safety Awareness certificate, and O. Reg. 297/13 does not establish a recurring expiry period for basic worker-awareness training. Additional workplace-specific or refresher training may still be required when appropriate.
Can I book Worker Safety Awareness training for my employees?
Yes. Worker Safety Awareness Training is offered as private group training for up to 12 participants at $75 + HST per participant. Use Request Group Training to discuss your group size, scheduling, and training needs.
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