4. Contact the Ministry of Labour
Question & Answer
What should I do if my work is not safe?If you and your employer can't agree on how to solve the problem, you can call the Ministry of Labour’s Health and Safety Contact Centre at 1-877-202-0008.
The Ministry of Labour sends an inspector to your workplace to look at the situation and to make sure the rules are being followed. You have the right to be there during the investigation.
The inspector conducts an investigation where they gather facts and make a decision about the situation. They make a written report of their findings and give a copy of the report to your employer representative and your representative.
You can also have your health and safety representative or representative from a Joint Health and Safety Committee with you.
The inspector decides if the job is safe. They may also order your employer to change something to make the job safe. They can:
- order your employer to fix any place, equipment, or thing
- order that no one can use a piece of equipment until it's fixed
- stop the work in your workplace until the safety issue is fixed
- order everyone to leave a dangerous place until the safety issue is fixed
They will give you a written copy of their decision.
If the inspector says your job is safe, you must return to work.
During the investigation, your employer can give you another job to do. If you have a , then the new job must be something you're allowed to do under the rules in your .
If you disagree with the inspector's decision, you can ask the Ontario Labour Relations Board to change it. This is called appealing the decision of an inspector.
