| 1884 | Passage of the Ontario Factories Act. It sets up a system of inspection to ensure safety and health standards in factories |
| 1911 | Building Trades Protection Act. Provides some measures for safety of tradesmen engaged in construction of buildings |
| 1914 | Passage of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, creating the Workmen’s Compensation Board |
| 1915 | Electrical Utilities Safety Association (EUSA) is formed |
| 1915 | Forest Products Accident Prevention Association (FPAPA) is formed |
| 1915 | Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers Safety Association (OPPMSA) is formed |
| 1917 | Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) is formed |
| 1919 | Department of Labour is established; responsible for a number of pieces of safety-related legislation (e.g., Stationary and Hoisting Engineers Act) |
| 1926 | Underground Work Regulation. It covers work in shafts, tunnels, caissons, cribworks; two factory inspectors are assigned to it |
| 1929 | Construction Safety Association (CSAO) is formed |
| 1930 | Mines Accident Prevention Association (MAPAO) is formed |
| 1942 | Transportation Safety Association of Ontario (TSAO) is formed |
| 1950 | Royal Commission on the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Roach Commission). It was not clear whether rules under the WCB Act were to prevent accidents or to manage the safety associations. Accident prevention should be as important to WCB as compensation. Joint labour–management workplace committees are recommended |
| 1954 | Trench Excavator’s Protection Act |
| 1961 | Royal Commission on Industrial Safety (McAndrew Commission): “Accident prevention associations are not functioning ... as contemplated by the Act and ... are isolated islands of autonomy having no responsibility to report to or even advise the Board” |
| 1964 | Amendment of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. It establishes the role of the associations as education, not inspection; associations are to report to Board |
| 1965 | Labour Safety Council Report. Recommends there be labour representatives on safety association boards |
| 1965 | WCB establishes Safety Education Department under a full-time director, to integrate resources and co-ordinate the programs of the safety associations |
| 1968 | Health Care Occupational Health and Safety Association (HCOHSA) is formed as a department of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) |
| 1969 | College, University and School Safety Council (CUSSCO) is formed |
| 1973 | Farm Safety Association is formed under Section 123 of the Worker's Compensation Act. |
| 1976 | Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines (the Ham Report). This Commission is in response to a wildcat strike by mine workers in Elliot Lake over health and safety concerns.The report has a significant effect on the content of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (1978) |
| 1978 | Passage of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Concepts of the Ham Report are incorporated into a participative model that forms the basis of the Act |
| 1980 | Founding of the independent Radiation Safety Institute of Canada in Elliot Lake, Ontario |
| 1981 | Joint Federal–Provincial Inquiry Commission into Safety in Mines and Mining Plants (Burkett Commission) recommends that MAPAO sever its ties with the Ontario Mining Association, establish labour–management advisory committees at provincial and regional levels, and include labour representatives on its board |
| 1981 | Advisory Council on Occupational Health and Occupational Safety recommends clearly spelling out WCB’s direct responsibility for prevention in the legislation; Council of Safety Associations to establish overall objectives to guide the associations |
| 1984 | Occupational Health and Safety Education Authority (OHSEA) is established with a tripartite structure, including Vice-Chairs representing labour and management |
| 1984 | Workers’ Compensation Act is amended to empower the WCB to fund organizations that did not qualify as safety associations |
| 1984 | Report of the Royal Commission on Matters of Health and Safety Arising from the Use of Asbestos in Ontario. Says Ontario “is the scene of ... a world-class occupational health disaster: the Johns Manville plant in Scarborough…” |
| 1985 | OEW and OWA created as branches of the Ministry of Labour |
| 1985 | Workers Health and Safety Centre is recognized by WCB as eligible for funding like other safety associations |
| 1986 | Municipal Health and Safety program (MHSP) is formed |
| 1988 | Tourism and Hospitality Industry Health and Safety Education program (THIHSEP) is formed |
| 1989 | Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) is formed |
| 1990 | Bill 208 is passed. OHSEA is disbanded and the Workplace Health and Safety Agency is established to “oversee” operation of the safety associations |
| 1992 | OEW and OWA become independent agencies of the Ministry of Labour |
| 1992 | HCOHSA becomes Care-givers of Ontario Safety and Health Association (COSHA), a bipartite organization independent of the OHA |
| 1993 | Forest Products Accident Prevention Association, Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers Safety Association, and Mines Accident Prevention Association merge to form the Ontario Natural Resources Safety Association (ONRSA) |
| 1993 | Workplace Health and Safety Agency launches certification training program |
| 1994 | Funding for THIHSEP is transferred to the IAPA. Funding for COSHA and CUSSCO is transferred to the Workers Health and Safety Centre |
| 1998 | Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. The Agency is abolished; its functions are absorbed by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. The Education Safety Association of Ontario, Health Care Health and Safety Association, and Ontario Service Safety Alliance are formed |
| 1998 | Mines and Aggregates Safety and Health Association, Ontario Forestry Safe Workplace Association and Pulp and Paper Health and Safety Association are established |
| 1998 | Ministry of Labour releases strategy document — Preventing Illness & Injury: A better Health and Safety System for Ontario Workplaces |
| 2000 | The Council of Safe Workplace Associations becomes the Occupational Health & Safety Council of Ontario (OHSCO) |
