Survey suggests many launch operations with hazardous exposures without considering health and safety management
Presenting to the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) Speakers Series on April 21, 2026, scientist Dr. Lynda Robson outlined findings from a recent survey of owners of new Ontario businesses with employees. The study examined how these firms begin managing occupational health and safety (OHS) and what factors are associated with putting safety systems in place.
New businesses pose heightened risks, but many start without OHS systems
“About 100,000 businesses are created in Canada each year that will employ workers,” Robson noted, adding many of these new firms are small and staffed by short‑tenure employees, two factors linked to higher injury risk. She says the inception phase is a distinct point in the business life cycle, with unique preferences and opportunities for prevention-focused intervention.
The cross-sectional survey captured 851 Ontario businesses that had registered as single‑owner firms one to three years earlier, excluding lower‑harm sectors such as finance to focus on workplaces where more serious injuries would be expected. Many were very small: half had between two and five employees and operated in higher‑risk sectors such as construction, retail, janitorial services and other goods‑producing or service roles with clear physical hazards.
Using an IWH-developed tool that asks about exposure to eight physical and one psychosocial hazard, the team found about half the businesses had hazardous exposures that clearly required mitigation. Yet when the researchers looked at nine basic OHS management actions, from simply finding legal requirements to systematically identifying hazards, they found striking gaps.
Across the sample, 10% of businesses reported having put all nine types of safety measures in place, while about one quarter reported none. For the analysis, the team defined “initiation” of OHS management as having completed two or more of the nine actions. Just over one‑third of businesses met that threshold, meaning almost two‑thirds of small businesses had not meaningfully begun managing OHS.
Robson stressed this was not a population of low‑risk workplaces. Among businesses that had not initiated OHS management, 41% had hazardous exposures of concern associated with increased rates of work‑related injury and illness if not controlled. “I’ve shown evidence of a lack of basic OHS management in some new businesses with employees, even in the presence of hazardous exposures of concern,” she said.
Knowledge and confidence emerge as key drivers of safety action
To understand what separates businesses that initiate OHS management from those that do not, the study drew on a behaviour‑change framework that looks at capability, motivation and opportunity, along with contextual factors.
The survey measured self‑reported OHS knowledge across 10 topics, assigning each firm an average score out of three. Overall, the average score was 2.1, indicating “some” knowledge, but responses ranged from almost none to “a lot” across all topics. The team applied similar scales to OHS self‑confidence (for example, confidence in training staff or purchasing protective equipment) and to expectations of positive outcomes from investing in safety.
When all potential predictors were entered into a single model, two stood out: OHS knowledge and OHS self‑confidence. An increase of one unit in the knowledge score was associated with a 48% higher prevalence of OHS management initiation. Comparing firms that were “somewhat confident” in carrying out OHS activities with those “not at all confident,” the model suggested a fourfold higher prevalence of initiation in the more confident group.
“From research, we know that knowledge and self‑confidence can be enhanced through education and training,” Robson said, pointing to both formal learning and informal sources such as prior work experience. At the same time, the survey showed that many owners still rely heavily on personal networks for safety information, rather than on public OHS resources.
Registration seen as the ‘teachable moment’ for new employers
A central policy question in the study was when and how public authorities and health and safety associations can reach new businesses with credible, practical safety guidance. One idea tested was a free online OHS course linked to the business registration process.
When asked about time they could devote to such training, most respondents said they could commit about one hour over the next month, and up to three hours over six months, suggesting an appetite for short, focused courses. Overall, 45% said a basic online OHS course would be “very helpful,” but three other supports were rated even more highly: contact information for an OHS expert, a website with customizable templates, and a guide to workers’ compensation for their type of business.
Perhaps the most striking finding for policymakers was timing. “You can see up to 80% said that the best time is at the time of registration or before,” Robson said of a question on when new businesses prefer to learn about OHS resources. In Ontario, however, access to health and safety associations and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) resources often comes later, after a business has registered, hired employees and, where required, enrolled with WSIB.
Robson suggested this creates “opportunity for delay and even disconnect,” particularly for sectors not required to register with WSIB, and asked whether jurisdictions could better align the moment of highest receptivity, business registration, with early, straightforward exposure to OHS expectations and supports.
As new businesses continue to emerge across the country, regulators, prevention agencies and safety professionals may need to shift more attention to the very first days of an employer’s life cycle, before unsafe practices become the norm.
