Does Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act Address MSDs?

• Issued: December 2009
• Content last reviewed: December 2009

The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires employers to:

• Ensure that workers are made aware of the hazards associated with their jobs and workplaces
• Implement controls to reduce the risk of injury due to these hazards, and
• Take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect a worker

MSD hazards must be treated the same as any other workplace hazard, This means that they need to be:

• Recognized and identified
• Assessed, and
• Controlled

Although there is no specific section in the Occupational Health and Safety Act or Regulations that is dedicated to workplace ergonomics or MSD hazards, there are many sections that are used by MOL inspectors to enforce protection of Ontario workers.

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