Stop-work order (occupational health and safety)

A stop-work order is one of the tools safety law gives an inspector. A buyer meets it when reading a seller’s inspection history, because an order that is still open can mean part of the operation is not allowed to run. Which law applies depends on the workplace.

How Ontario and federal law frame it

Under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, s.57(6), where an inspector has ordered compliance and finds the contravention is a danger or hazard to a worker’s health or safety, the inspector may order that work stop until an inspector withdraws or cancels the order after an inspection, subject to s.57(7), which lets work resume pending inspection where a worker committee member or health and safety representative advises an inspector the order has been complied with. Under the Canada Labour Code, s.145(2)(b) and (4), where the Head considers the danger cannot otherwise be corrected, altered or protected against immediately, a direction can require the employer to discontinue the use of a place, machine, thing or activity until the measures the Head directed have been taken.

What to ask

• Whether any order is open, and for the written order itself (an oral Ontario order must be confirmed in writing before the inspector leaves, s.57(2))
• What the order required and how it was met
• Whether an inspector has withdrawn or cancelled it
• Which safety law covers the workplace; this entry covers Ontario and federal rules only, so check the rules where you are

Open orders also belong in the employment liabilities review, alongside occupational health and safety compliance.