Health and safety training is a core part of protecting workers, but for Canadian employers, the responsibility goes beyond scheduling a course. Employers need to understand what training is required, who needs it, when it was completed, and whether they can prove it if asked.
Across Canada, occupational health and safety legislation expects employers to provide workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision needed to do their jobs safely. For federally regulated workplaces, the Canada Labor Code includes duties to provide necessary training and supervision, make employees aware of workplace hazards, train supervisors and managers, and keep prescribed health and safety records.
Training records help employers show that they took reasonable steps to protect workers. If an inspection, audit, incident, or claim occurs, organizations may need more than a general statement that training was completed.
Clear records can help show:
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety describes workers’ “right to know” as the right to be informed of workplace hazards and receive the information, instruction, education, training, and supervision needed to protect their health and safety.
When training records are incomplete, outdated, or difficult to find, employers may be left trying to reconstruct evidence after the fact. That can create risk during inspections, client audits, tendering processes, incident investigations, or legal proceedings.
There can also be direct consequences when workers are not properly instructed or supervised. In Ontario, Brampton Brick Limited was fined $65,000 after a worker was critically injured while cleaning a block machine. The province stated that the employer failed to provide information, instruction, and supervision on how to clean the machine safely, contrary to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
For employers, this type of case highlights the importance of having a clear process for training and evidence. A missing certificate, expired refresher, unclear training owner, or incomplete record can make it harder to show that training responsibilities were properly managed.
The real test of a training program is whether you can quickly answer: who needs training, who has completed it, and what is coming due next?
If those answers are hard to find, it may be time to bring more structure to your process.
This is where an OHS training planning tool can support stronger compliance and better visibility. It helps employers organize training requirements by role or task, identify upcoming renewals, and keep training responsibilities clear across teams.