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Safety Board

Written for Canada. Plans are metric, but many crews and suppliers work in feet and inches, so this site gives both: millimetres and metres, with feet and inches beside them. Codes are the National Building Code of Canada 2020 (NBC 2020) Part 9 as your province adopts it. A number marked Confirm has not been checked against every province, so check it with your own authority before you act on it.

Reviewed by a working tradesman with 17+ years in the field.

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What goes on the jobsite safety board, where it lives, and who reads it.

I am a:

Tap your level and the boxes below open to the advice for you. Remembered on this device.

What it isThe jobsite's information centre: what is posted, where, and who needs to know it.
Your jobPost the required items, keep them current and dry, and make sure the crew knows the muster point and first aid.
The hard ruleThe legal list is set by your province. This page is a practical start, not the legal list.
The checkCould a delivery driver who has never been here find the address, first aid and muster point from the board?

By the end you can

  • Build a safety board with the usual items.
  • Choose a muster point.
  • Set up a working-alone check-in.
  • Know who looks at the board and why.
Stop and read

If something goes wrong, the board must tell people where to go and who to call. Know the muster point and the first aid location before you start work. Missing or out-of-date safety information can lead to orders and penalties.

The big idea

This is jobsite safety information, not a building code topic. What you must post comes from your provincial or territorial occupational health and safety (OHS) law and your employer's safety program. The board sits in a central, protected spot, is kept up to date, and shows an officer that the site is organised.

What to post

A practical starting list. Check it against your province's requirements.

  • Site address with a civic address and clear directions for responders.
  • Emergency numbers: 911, the company contact, the safety contact, and the prime contractor or owner where there is one.
  • Nearest hospital and route.
  • First aid: kit location, attendant name where one is required, and AED location if there is one.
  • Emergency plan and site map: exits, muster point and extinguishers.
  • Permits as the municipality requires.
  • Hazard assessments and safe work procedures.
  • Meeting notes and the orientation sign-in sheet.
  • Safety committee or worker representative names where required.
  • Regulator contact for reporting incidents (Confirm current numbers).
  • WHMIS: where the safety data sheets are kept.
  • Weather advisories: heat, cold, wind, smoke and storms.
Example: Ontario

Ontario's IHSA lists, for a construction board: the Ministry's Prevention Starts Here poster, the WSIB In Case of Injury poster, copies of the OHSA and O. Reg. 213/91, inspector orders, the health and safety policy, the violence and harassment policy, the constructor's name, the emergency response plan, committee or representative names, and the Notice of Project where required. At the first aid station: first aid certificates and the first aid box inspection card. A signed Notice of Project copy is posted in a conspicuous place or kept on site. Other provinces have their own lists: Confirm yours.

Muster point and working alone

  • Muster point: a clear, safe, visible place away from hazards where everyone goes in an emergency. Every worker, sub-trade and delivery driver knows it and counts in there.
  • Working alone: if anyone works alone, the site needs a check-in procedure, posted, and someone who actually checks. Rules differ by province: Confirm yours with your regulator.

Example (numbers made up). A crew of 12 holding a 10-minute meeting each morning for 22 working days spends 12 × 22 × 10 = 2,640 minutes, which is 44 crew-hours a month. It is real time, so price it in.

Who looks at it

  • Regulator officers check that safety information is posted, current and known by workers.
  • Municipal building inspectors check that the permit and approved drawings are on site.

Common mistakes

  • Old or soaked information
  • Board in the office instead of the site
  • No muster point
  • No site address for responders
  • Nobody knows where first aid is
  • No working-alone plan
Pro note

Walk the site and read the board as if you were a delivery driver who has never been there. If you could not find the address, the first aid kit or the muster point from it, fix it.

Weather note

Rain, wind and frost destroy paper. Use a weatherproof case, replace soaked sheets, and add heat, cold and smoke advisories when they apply.

What the inspector or safety officer looks at

Posted, current, weatherproof, and known by the crew. Confirm what your regulator checks.

✅ Check yourselfTap a question
Where should the safety board go?
A central location on the jobsite where every worker can see and reach it, such as the entrance or muster point (IHSA, Ontario), and protected from the weather so it stays readable.
Name five things that belong on the board or at the first aid station.
Examples from Ontario's IHSA list: emergency response plan, site address and emergency contacts, first aid certificates and the first aid box inspection card, the health and safety poster, and the notice of project where one is required. Your province's list differs.
In Ontario, when must a Notice of Project be filed, and where is a copy kept?
Before construction begins on a project meeting the requirements in O. Reg. 213/91 s. 6, for example expected labour and materials over $50,000. A signed copy is posted in a conspicuous place at the project or kept on site for an inspector.
Why does the board carry the site's civic address?
So a delivery driver, a worker on the phone to 911 and an ambulance crew can all say and find the same place.
A crew of 12 holds a 10-minute safety meeting every morning for a 22-day month. How many crew-hours is that?
12 × 22 × 10 min = 2,640 min ÷ 60 = 44 crew-hours. Numbers are made up. Price the meetings into the job.
Who checks the board?
The provincial OHS regulator's officers check that safety information is posted, current and known by workers. Municipal inspectors check the permit and approved drawings. Confirm what yours check.
🧰 Gear for this stepMust-haveRent itNice to have
  • Must-haveWeatherproof board or enclosed notice case, with lockable or latching cover
  • Must-haveLaminated or sheet-protected emergency sheet:
  • Must-haveSign-in and orientation sheets, clipboard, pens in a weatherproof holder
  • Must-haveFirst aid kit(s) sized to your province's rules, with an inspection card
  • Nice to haveAED where required or where you choose to have one
  • Must-haveFire extinguishers sized and placed per your rules
  • Must-haveSafety signs and tape:
  • Nice to haveDocument pouch for permits, drawings, SDS binder
🛒 Buy, rent or borrow?Tap your level
Home DIY
Buy a weatherproof sign holder and a printed emergency sheet; they cost little. If you hire anyone, confirm with your workers' compensation board whether you must register and what you must post. Hire a safety consultant if you are the constructor of a larger project.
Laborer or helper
Read the board every morning and know the muster point and first aid location before starting. Tell your lead if a hazard on site is not on the board. Never ignore a posted warning, and ask if you are unsure.
1st-year apprentice
You will not set up the board. Learn where it is, read it every morning and know the muster point and first aid location before you pick up a tool.
Apprentice, 2nd to 4th year
Read the board every morning, sign in at orientation and learn the emergency steps. Report hazards that are missing from the board. Do not remove or edit posted information. Ask your journeyperson how it is updated.
Journeyperson
Carry copies of your own tickets and certificates. Check the board against the real site hazards and tell the lead hand when it is out of date.
Lead hand or foreman
Keep the board current with real hazards, run the site orientation and keep sign-in sheets for your crew. Confirm with your regulator what must be posted. Update the board when conditions change, and do not skip a hazard to save time.
Contractor or business owner
The company supplies the board, the safety program, hazard assessments and records. Confirm with your workers' compensation board whether you must register, keep orientation sign-in sheets and understand the prime contractor or constructor duties. Those differ by province.
Starting a new business
Set up a board, hazard assessment and orientation record from the first day. Confirm with your workers' compensation board whether you must register, and confirm what to post and who is responsible with your provincial regulator and insurer.
By Province:

Every province and territory has its own OHS law, so the posting list, first aid rules, working-alone rules and whether a homeowner must register all differ. WHMIS and the CSA PPE standards are national. I dropped the old per-province fall-protection heights and registration notes because I could not verify them here, and only the Ontario example above is sourced. Confirm with your provincial regulator and workers' compensation board.

See Canada by Province for the full comparison.

Sources:

Last reviewed October 2026. General information, not engineering or legal advice.

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