Expanded Definition of Worker under the Occupational Health and Safety Act

• Content last reviewed: June 2017
• See also: News Release | Backgrounder

In November 2014, the new definition of worker under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) expanded coverage of the OHSA to unpaid co-op students, certain other learners and trainees participating in a work placement in Ontario.

Specifically, the definition of worker now includes:

• Unpaid secondary school students who are participating in a work experience program, authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the students are enrolled,
• Other unpaid learners participating in a program approved by a post-secondary institution, and,
• Any unpaid trainees who are not employees for the purposes of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) because they meet certain conditions.

Volunteers are not covered by this new definition of worker.

If you are an unpaid co-op student, learner or trainee as described above, you now have the same rights under the OHSA as paid workers such as the right to know about hazards and to refuse unsafe work. You also have the same duties as a paid worker, such as wearing and using protective equipment and not doing anything that may harm or endanger yourself or others in the workplace.

If you are an employer or supervisor, this means that you have the same duties towards an unpaid co-op student and other unpaid trainees and learners at your workplace that you have toward your paid workers.

Learn More

• “Worker” as defined in OHSA
• Frequently Asked Questions