Employer's Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report - Frequently Asked Questions

Section I: About the Employer’s Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report (EAHOR)

Section II: How to complete the EAHOR

Section III: Additional Questions

Section I: About the Employer’s Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report (EAHOR)

I-1) What is the Employer’s Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report (EAHOR)?
The EAHOR is a written report, which records the number of accidents, occupational diseases and other hazardous occurrences in the work place. This report shall contain the information and be in the form set out in the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (COHS Regulations) Part XV, section 15.10, Schedule II, pursuant to Part II of the Canada Labour Code (Code).

I-2) Do I have to complete a EAHOR?
If you are a federal jurisdiction employer, then you are required to submit a report each year indicating all hazardous occurrences/accidents in all work places under your control to the Minister of Labour, Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC-Labour).

I-3) Am I a “Federal Jurisdiction” employer?
Federal Jurisdiction means any work, undertaking or business that is within the legislative authority of Parliament. It also includes any work deemed to be for the common good of two or more provinces and outside the exclusive authority of provincial legislatures.

Visit the web site for a description of typical activities under federal jurisdiction:
http://www.canada.gc.ca and follow the links: Departments & Agencies, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, Operations.

The federal jurisdiction has been grouped into 16 industrial sectors: Air Transport; Banking; Bridges and Tunnels; Broadcasting; Communications; Federal Crown Corporations; Federal Public Service; Feed, Flour and Seed Mills; Grain Elevators; Longshoring; Energy and Mining; Pipelines; Postal Contractors; Rail Transport; Interprovincial Road Transport and Water Transport.

I-4) What do I do if I received a pre-printed report form but I am not a federal jurisdiction employer?
Clearly indicate on the form that you are a provincially regulated employer, sign and date the form and return it in the postage-paid pre-addressed envelope. As a result, we will amend our records and next year, you will not receive a pre-printed form.

I-5) When am I required to complete the EAHOR form and submit it to HRSDC?
You are required to submit the EAHOR form no later than March 1^st of the following year, as prescribed by section 15.10 of the CanadaOccupational Health and Safety Regulations or related regulations for the Extended Jurisdiction.

I-6) What assistance does HRSDC-Labour Program provide to me, to help me meet my obligation to submit a EAHOR?
Every year, HRSDC-Labour Program mails a package to all Federal Jurisdiction Employers. The package includes:

a letter with explanatory notes to help in the completion of the pre-printed annual report form;
a personalized pre-printed EAHOR based upon information you submitted the previous year,
a postage-paid and pre-addressed returned envelope, and
other information relevant to your Labour obligations.

I-7) Is there any additional information that can help me to complete my EAHOR correctly?
On the reverse side of the EAHOR form, there are instructions to help you in completing this report. The form identifies what information needs to be updated and/or completed, such as the name and address of all work places, the number of work injuries, employees (full-time equivalents), total hours worked and the name and title of the person responsible for the information being provided.

I-8)      To whom and how can I submit the completed EAHOR?
Submit your completed EAHOR by mail to the following address:
          Occupational Health and Safety Division
          HRSDC-Labour Branch
          Place du Portage, Phase II, 10th floor
          165 Hôtel-de-Ville Street
          Ottawa Ontario, K1A 0J2

The report can also be faxed to (819) 953-1743.

I-9) If I have not received or if I have lost the pre-printed EAHOR, where can I get a copy?
Make your request :

to HRSDC-Labour Program Research and Analysis section at headquarters by telephone at (819) 997‑5472 if you are in the Ottawa-Gatineau local calling area, or toll-free at 1‑877‑568‑9609 from everywhere else in Canada,
to a HRSDC-Labour office near you,
by fax or by mail to the same address and phone number indicated under I-8, or
by downloading and printing generic copies of the annual report form from the list on the Occupational Health and Safety Forms page.

I-10) If no employees were injured at work during the year in question, do I still have to complete an EAHOR?
Yes, even if no employees were injured at work during the period concerned, you must prepare an annual report. Simply enter “0” in the appropriate boxes, and you must indicate the number of employees at work.

I-11) If the information on the pre-printed EAHOR is wrong, what should I do?
Strike out the incorrect passage and replace it with up-to-date information (e.g. employer’s name, name of work place, full address for each work place, name and title of the person preparing the report). Be sure to complete the information on injuries and employment for each work place.

I-12) How do I add new work places to my EAHOR?
If you have started to operate a new work place during the year covered and it is not indicated on the pre-printed report, at the bottom of the report form, simply enter the name and full address of the new work place as well as the number of injuries and employment data for that work place.

I-13) How do I indicate work places where operations were terminated during the year covered?
If the operations of a work place indicated on the report form were terminated during the year covered, you simply indicate on the report form, the date on which the operations stopped, and the number of injuries and the employment data for the period during which the work place was still in operation.

I-14) Do I still have to submit an EAHOR if operations were terminated in all work places in my business, including the head office, during the year covered?
Yes. Simply indicate on the pre-printed report form that all work places including the head office, terminated their operations, and specify the date. Include all injury and employment data that may have occurred during the period of operation, sign and date the report and return it to HRSDC-Labour so that your information can be recorded. As a result, you will not receive a pre-printed report the next year.

I-15) Do I have to complete an annual report if I am a self-employed worker?
If you are self-employed or an independent worker who does not employ anyone, you are not subject to Part II of the Canada Labour Code, and you do not have to complete an EAHOR. If this is your situation, and you have received a pre-printed report form in error, clearly indicate your status on the report form, sign and date it, and return it to HRSDC-Labour. As a result, you will not receive a pre-printed report the next year.

Section II: How to complete the Employer’s Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report (EAHOR)

II-1) What information is recorded on the EAHOR ?
The EAHOR records for each work place, the :

employer’s name
address of the work place,
number of occupational injuries and diseases,
number of other hazardous occurrences,
total number of employees expressed in full-time equivalents (in FTEs),
number of office employees (in FTEs),
total number of hours worked, and
name, title and telephone number of the person who filled in the report.

II-2) Which period do I cover in the EAHOR?
Include the data for the calendar year just passed, that is, January 1 to December 31. You have until March 1^st of the following year to submit your report.

II-3) What is the employer identification number?
The employer identification number is an administrative number assigned to the employer by HRSDC-Labour, to facilitate computer-based data retrieval.

II-4) Can I combine data for several work places?
You are encouraged to report each work place separately, however, if you have more than five work places in any one province and each employs less than 15 employees, you may group that information. In all other cases, you have to report the total number of injuries and employment separately, for each individual work place.

II-5) How many work places can I enter on each page of the EAHOR?
There is space to enter up to four work places on each page. If you are reporting more than four work places, you can photocopy the pre-printed report received in order to add any work places that are not included and the data specific to each site. Alternatively, you can get additional forms as explained above in question I-8).

II-6) Which employees are considered “office employees”?
Any employee whose occupation or trade mostly entails office, sales or clerical duties in a controlled environment inside a building will be included in the “office employee” category. “Office employees” should be working in an environment free of any of the following hazards or discomfort descriptors:

Outdoors; Unregulated indoor climate; Vehicles; Hazardous chemical substances; Biological agents; Equipment, machinery or tools; Electricity; Radiation; Flying particles, falling objects; Fire, steam, hot surfaces; Hazardous locations; excessive levels of Noise, Vibration, Humidity, Odours, or Non-toxic dusts.
All other employees are considered to be “non-office employees”.

II-7) What does “disabling injury” and “minor injury” mean?
“Disabling injury” means an employment injury or an occupational disease that

prevents an employee from reporting for work or from effectively performing all the duties connected with the employee’s regular work on any day subsequent to the day on which the injury or disease occurred, whether or not that subsequent day is a working day for that employee,
results in the loss by an employee of a body member or part thereof or in the complete loss of the usefulness of a body member or part thereof, or
results in the permanent impairment of a body function of an employee.

“Minor injury” means an employment injury or an occupational disease for which medical treatment is provided and excludes a disabling injury. [Note: Medical treatment is that which is provided at a medical treatment facility, which means at a hospital, medical clinic, of physician’s office at which emergency medical treatment can be dispensed and is not to be confused with first aid.]

II-8) What does the term “other hazardous occurrences” mean?
“Other hazardous occurrences” are any other situations where events have occurred that resulted in:

an explosion;
damage to a boiler or pressure vessel that results in fire or the rupture of the boiler or pressure vessel; or
damage to an elevating device that renders it unusable, or a free fall of an elevating device;
an electric shock, toxic atmosphere or oxygen deficient atmosphere that caused an employee to lose consciousness;
the implementation of rescue, revival or other similar emergency procedures; or
a fire.

II-9) How do I calculate employment levels as full-time equivalents (FTE)?
For statistical purposes, the total number of employees are expressed as “full-time equivalents”, rather than simply counting the total number of people on staff including part-time and seasonal workers. There are two methods recommended for calculating the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs):

Calculate the total number of hours worked by all employees together (including part-time, contract personnel, casual, seasonal and even those who worked for one day). Then, divide this combined number of hours worked, by the number of hours per year typically worked by one full-time employee at your business; or
Convert part-time employees to FTE’s. For example, two people each working half-time (or half the year) equals one FTE; similarly, three people each working one-third the normal number of hours per week equals one FTE. Once you have converted the part-time hours into FTEs then add this number to the number of full-time employees. This is the total FTE’s to be reported for your business.

II-10) I am an employer in the interprovincial road transport sector. How do I indicate the total number of hours worked for all my employees, including drivers paid on the basis of their distance traveled for a delivery and those drivers paid a flat rate according to their destination?
To calculate the total number of hours worked by interprovincial road transport drivers, you may:

use the driver’s black book and convert the distance traveled as recorded in the book into hours of work; or
determine the total actual hours worked by the drivers in a particular three-month period and multiply by four if the workload was similar throughout the year; or,
use the total number of hours allowed under provincial legislation for the year concerned and multiply by the number of drivers if they worked the entire year.

II-11) Do I have to fill in more than one type of EAHOR form?
Employers in the air, rail, and marine transport industries fill in two separate reports which distinguish between activities and injuries while an aircraft, train, or ship is in operation (on-board) and all other activities and injuries that occur when the aircraft, train, or ship is not in operation (off-board).

All “off-board” activities are reported separately on the EAHOR pre-printed white-coloured form according to the CanadaOccupational Health and Safety Regulations (section 15.10).

All “on-board” activities are reported separately as follows:

If you are an employer in the aviation industry, use the pre-printed blue-coloured report form entitled Aviation Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (subsection 9.7(2)).
If you are an employer in the marine transport industry, use the pre-printed green-coloured report form entitled Marine Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (subsection 14.7(2)).
If you are an employer in the rail industry, use the pre-printed tan-coloured report form entitled On Board Trains Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (subsection 11.8(2)).

II-12) How do I separate Aviation industry “on-board” from “off-board” employees?

“On-board” personnel, for the aviation industry, may include all employed personnel that deal with cargo transport, carrier operation, express service, freight transport, passenger transport, aircraft under taxi operation, airmail and charter flying while the aircraft is in operation.
“Off-board” personnel, for the aviation industry, usually consists of mechanics, engineers, office staff, flight instructors and airport maintenance personnel.

II-13) How do I separate Marine transport industry “on-board” from “off-board” employees?

“On-board” personnel, for the marine transport industry, usually consist of all employed personnel that are on a ship, vessel, barge or ferry while it is in operation, and personnel involved in the direct loading and unloading of ships.
“Off-board” personnel, for the marine transport industry, may consist of mechanics, engineers, office staff, dock operation and maintenance personnel, pier and wharf operational workers, and steamship agency staff.

II-14) How do I separate Rail transport industry “on-board” from “off-board” employees?

“On-board” personnel, for the rail transport industry, usually consist of all employed personnel that are on a train while it is in operation.
“Off-board” personnel, for the rail transport industry, may consist of mechanics, engineers, office staff, baggage carriers, and station maintenance workers.

II-15) I am an employer in the air, marine or rail transport industry but I do not have any “on-board” activity. Do I still have to fill out the “on-board” report?
Yes. However, you only need to indicate a zero in each space and write “No On-Board Activity” on the appropriate “on-board” report form for your industry (blue, green or tan-coloured pre-printed forms). You must still submit the pre-printed white-coloured “off-board” EAHOR.

Section III: Additional Questions

III-1) What if I still have questions about completing the employer’s annual hazardous occurrence report (EAHOR)?
In addition to these “Frequently Asked Questions”, if you need more help in completing your EAHOR, you may call :

HRSDC-Labour Program Research and Analysis section at headquarters by telephone at (819) 997‑5472 if you are in the Ottawa-Gatineau local calling area, or toll-free at 1‑877‑568‑9609 from everywhere else in Canada, or
a HRSDC-Labour office near you.

III-2) What might happen to me if I fail to submit my EAHOR?
Failure to submit your EAHOR in a timely manner can result in the use of increased compliance measures such as issuance of a direction by a Health and Safety Officer, or in repetitive delinquent cases, up to and including prosecution which ultimately results in fines upon conviction.

III-3) Are there other hazardous occurrence reporting requirements I have to meet?
Yes. When the hazardous situation results in one of the following consequences, you must report it to an HRSDC Health and Safety Officer within the time period specified, and in the manner specified:

By telephone or telex as soon as possible but not later than 24 hours after becoming aware of:

the death of an employee;
a disabling injury to two or more employees;
the loss by an employee of a body member or a part thereof or the complete loss of the usefulness of the body member or a part thereof;
the permanent impairment of a body function of an employee;
an explosion;
damage to a boiler or pressure vessel that results in fire or the rupture of the boiler or pressure vessel; or
any damage to an elevating device that renders it unserviceable, or a free fall of an elevating device.

In writing, within 72 hours after a hazardous occurrence which resulted in:

damage to a boiler or pressure vessel that results in fire or the rupture of the boiler or pressure vessel; or
any damage to an elevating device that renders it unserviceable, or a free fall of an elevating device.

In writing, within 14 days where that investigation discloses that the hazardous occurrence resulted in any one of the following circumstances:

a disabling injury to an employee;
an electric shock, toxic atmosphere or oxygen deficient atmosphere that caused an employee to lose consciousness;
the implementation of rescue, revival or other similar emergency procedures; or
a fire or an explosion.

III-4) Is there a special report form to report these hazardous occurrences?
Yes. The Hazardous Occurrence Investigation Report (HOIR) form (LAB 1070), is available from your nearest HRSDC-Labour office, or you may download a blank report from our departmental website. You have to submit the completed HOIR to the district or regional office closest to your work place within the time period specified in III-3.

III-5) Are there any other reports I should know about?
Yes. Under the Code, the employer co-chair person of your health and safety committee must prepare and submit a report on their committee’s activities for the 12 months between January 1^st and December 31^st of the previous year, which is signed by both co-chairpersons. A Heath and Safety Committee Report form (LAB 1058), is available from your nearest HRSDC-Labour office, or you may download a blank report from our departmental website.

III-6) When and where do I send the annual “Health and Safety Committee Report”?
You have to submit the completed Health and Safety Committee Report by March 1st of the following year, to the nearest regional health and safety officer as follows

For “off-board” employees covered by the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations – to the nearest HRSDC-Labour Regional Health and Safety Officer;
For “On board” Aviation employees – to the nearest Transport Canada – Aviation Regional Health and Safety Officer;
For “On board” Marine employees – to the nearest Transport Canada – Marine Regional Health and Safety Officer;
For “On board” Rail employees – to the nearest Transport Canada – Surface [Rail] Regional Health and Safety Officer; and
For employees to whom the Oil and Gas Occupational Health and Safety Regulations apply – to the nearest National Energy Board Regional Health and Safety Officer.

III-7) Where can I obtain further information about any of the above Labour Reports?
Addresses and telephone numbers for the various regional and district offices are available on our departmental website or by calling 1- 800 O-Canada. Alternatively, you will find the telephone number for the regional and district office closest to you in your municipal telephone book under the Government of Canada listings (blue pages), under the heading Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Labour Program.