Health and Safety Excellence program: Frequently asked questions

Our program helps you create a healthier and safer workplace and improve your safety culture, while earning rebates on your WSIB premiums. Plus, you can receive an extra $1,000 once you get started. 

By participating in the program, you can: 

• reduce the risk of injuries and illnesses, and lessen the impact on your business when they do occur
• boost employee confidence, productivity and psychological well-being
• receive support that makes it easier for you to make lasting health and safety improvements to your workplace and comply with health and safety laws
• earn recognition in the form of member and level badges that you can display on your website, in your email signature and in other marketing materials to show employees, customers and investors your commitment to health and safety

There are four steps in the Health and Safety Excellence program:

1. Join: You choose a WSIB-approved program provider. Your provider will help you complete an assessment to determine where you are in your health and safety journey. They’ll then help you select topics that make up your health and safety action plan. You can receive your member badge and $1,000 once your provider approves your action plan.
2. Develop: You complete your chosen topics with the help of your provider. You have up to 12 months to complete the topics in your health and safety action plan from the day your provider approves it.
3. Demonstrate: You submit evidence that you have completed your topics to the WSIB for review by a validator. We aim to provide online validation decisions within 14 business days of your submission of the validation package to us through the Health and Safety Excellence program digital tool. We aim to provide decisions within five business days of the onsite validation. A validator will reach out if any additional information is needed for online or onsite validations.
4. Achieve: You’ll receive your rebate and can earn a level badge if the validator determines you’ve successfully completed the topics within a level.

The time you spend working on the program depends on how many topics you plan to complete and what those topics are. You can choose to complete up to five topics in your health and safety action plan. Topics can generally take between six months to one year to complete. 
   
Your program provider will work with you to choose topics that make sense for your business and help you determine the time and resources you'll need to complete each one.

We know it can be challenging for small businesses and businesses new to health and safety to know where to start. That's why we offer a recommended pathway tailored to your needs and designed to help you succeed in the program.

The recommended pathway includes sets of pre-selected topics and each set makes up a health and safety action plan. There are five sets designed to be completed over five years/cycles and each set includes three or four topics. 

Completing the recommended sets of pre-selected topics will make it easier for you to develop a foundational health and safety program and give you confidence you’re taking the right steps to make your workplace safer.

We’ll help you choose topics that make sense for your business if you already have mature health and safety practices in place. Once you complete all the topics that make sense for your business, we’ll also help you transition to other health and safety programs as appropriate that will help you continue your health and safety journey.

Other health and safety programs that may be right for you include ISO 45001, COR® 2020 and the Supporting Ontario's Safe Employers Program. You may be eligible for financial incentives from the WSIB if you participate in the Supporting Ontario's Safe Employers Program.

The Health and Safety Excellence program helps you complete topics that are the building blocks of a health and safety management system.

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program recognizes businesses with a health and safety management system that meets ministry accreditation standards. Businesses that are recognized by the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program and meet additional WSIB eligibility requirements can receive financial incentives from us.

The ministry program and associated financial incentives are separate from the Health and Safety Excellence program and its financial incentives. Businesses that have applied for or been recognized through the Supporting Ontario's Safe Employers Program aren’t eligible to participate in or receive financial incentives from the Health and Safety Excellence program.

We recommend completing all the Health and Safety Excellence program topics that make sense for your business before applying for recognition through the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program. Businesses will be disenrolled from the Health and Safety Excellence program once they apply for the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program.

Learn more about the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Program and the associated financial incentives from us.

You must meet these criteria to qualify for rebates, incentives and/or recognition:

• Schedule 1 businesses can earn rebates on their WSIB premiums, plus are eligible to receive an extra $1,000 once their health and safety action plan is approved.
• Schedule 2 businesses cannot receive rebates and financial incentives because they don’t pay WSIB premiums.
• Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 businesses:
  • are eligible to receive member and level badges that can be used on their website, in email signatures and in other marketing materials to show people their commitment to workplace health and safety
  • must submit proof to a WSIB validator that they successfully implemented their health and safety action plan topics to receive rebates and/or level badges
  • cannot have any allowed traumatic fatalities from the date their health and safety action plan is approved to the date the rebate and/or digital level badge is issued
    • if a business is waiting for a decision about a traumatic fatality claim, they’re not eligible for a rebate or member or level badges until the decision has been made
  • must comply with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA)

The amount you receive in rebates from the program is based on the number of topics you complete in your health and safety action plan and your reported WSIB premiums for the previous year. Plus, you can receive an extra $1,000 once your health and safety action plan is approved.

* The maximum rebate per action plan regardless of the number of topics completed is 200 per cent or two times your previous year’s reported premiums.

Contact accessibility@wsib.on.ca if you require this document in alternative format.

We provide rebates quarterly throughout the year.