Your free guide to Ontario’s construction health and safety laws

IHSA’s updated construction safety app makes health and safety legislation easier to understand.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and the Regulation for Construction Projects (O. Reg. 213/91) tell everyone at construction workplaces what they need to do to fulfill their health and safety duties. But the legal language in these documents can be hard to understand.

The IHSA Construction Safety App takes the legislation and provides clear, actionable guidance to help IHSA members achieve compliance on a range of topics—and feel more confident about working safely. Recently, in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), IHSA redesigned the app to make it more accessible for users and easier to update as regulations change.

More than 23,000 users have viewed the new version of the app since it was launched in September 2024.

Find the web app

You can view the app in your Safari (iPhone) or Chrome (Android) web browser and save it for quick access on your mobile device: Visit ohsguide.ihsa.ca.

Follow your browser’s instructions to save the web app to your device’s home screen.

Access it anywhere you have an active internet connection.

Find the construction health and safety information you need

The updated app highlights 50-plus industry-specific health and safety topics in English and French, including 12 new topics:

• Driving
• Fall rescue plan
• Heat stress
• Mental health
• New and young workers
• Occupational health
• Slips, trips, and falls
• Struck by – heavy equipment
• Trenching and excavation
• Winter hazards
• Workplace violence and harassment
• Yard safety

Understand the hazards and your legal duties

Selecting a topic brings up a summary of its hazards and risks. For example, the summary about heat stress details the conditions that may cause heat stress and the health effects that it can lead to. The summary also describes legislative requirements for reducing or eliminating the hazards. For some topics, the specific duties of each workplace party are also included.

Review the OHSA and other legislation

Next, you can quickly access and review the laws that relate to your topic. This section may contain excerpts from several pieces of provincial legislation, including the OHSA and O. Reg. 213/91.

Learn more about prevention at your construction workplace

Each topic also features a list of additional resources from trusted health and safety sources, like IHSA, CCOHS, and the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development. Check out these resources to learn more about how you can eliminate or reduce hazards at your construction workplace.