Warehouse Cleaning and OHSA Housekeeping Duties in Ontario

In a warehouse or plant, cleaning is part of safety. Spilled stretch wrap, broken pallets, dust on racking and oil in a forklift lane are not just untidy; they are how people slip, trip and get hurt. Ontario's workplace safety law treats housekeeping that way, and so should the cleaning plan.

This article explains the Ontario rules that shape warehouse and industrial housekeeping, what they mean in day-to-day terms, and how a cleaning program can support them. It is general information, not legal advice; your own health and safety advisers and your joint health and safety committee are the right people to interpret the rules for your site.

The general duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act

Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) puts the main responsibility for workplace safety on employers. Among other duties, an employer must take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker. Supervisors must make sure workers follow the rules and must tell them about hazards they know of. Workers must work safely and report hazards.

Housekeeping fits squarely inside that general duty. A floor covered in debris, an aisle blocked by pallets, or a spill left in a traffic lane is a hazard a reasonable employer is expected to deal with.

Regulation 851: Industrial Establishments

Most warehouses, distribution centres and factories in Ontario are “industrial establishments” and are covered by Regulation 851 under the OHSA. It sets specific rules on top of the general duty. Several of them touch housekeeping directly:

• Floors and other surfaces used by workers must be kept free of obstructions, hazards and accumulations of refuse, snow or ice.
• Machinery must not be cleaned while moving parts can endanger a worker. Motion has to be stopped and parts secured, and lockout is required where unexpected start-up could hurt someone.
• Materials and articles must be stored and piled so they will not tip, collapse or fall.
• Lighting must be adequate for the work being done, which affects how well spills and debris can be seen.

For a cleaning program, the first and second points matter most. Regular sweeping and scrubbing of traffic lanes and quick spill response support the floor requirement. And no one on the cleaning crew should clean inside or around machinery unless the site has stopped and locked it out under its own procedures.

WHMIS: the products used to clean

Cleaning chemicals are workplace hazardous products. In Ontario, WHMIS 2015 requirements are set out in Regulation 860 under the OHSA. Every hazardous product needs a supplier label, a Safety Data Sheet must be available, and workers must be trained on the products they use. Products decanted into smaller containers need a workplace label.

In a warehouse, this applies both to the cleaning contractor's products and to the site's own chemicals. Degreasers, floor strippers and some disinfectants can be corrosive or irritating. Ask your contractor for the Safety Data Sheets before work starts, and tell them about any chemicals stored or used on your site that they could come into contact with.

The Ontario Fire Code: exits and combustible waste

The Ontario Fire Code (O. Reg. 213/07) requires exits and the routes to them to be kept free of obstructions. It also limits the build-up of combustible materials. In a warehouse, cardboard, shrink wrap, wooden pallets and dust are the usual combustible waste. Emptying bins on a schedule, keeping waste away from exits and heat sources, and not letting cardboard pile up in aisles are as much about fire safety as appearance.

What a warehouse housekeeping plan looks like

A good plan divides the building into zones and gives each zone a frequency. A typical distribution centre might use:

Every shift

• Spill response in traffic lanes and at docks.
• Waste and recycling emptied at packing and shipping stations.
• Lunchrooms and washrooms checked and restocked.

Daily

• Main traffic lanes swept or machine scrubbed.
• Dock areas cleared of debris, broken pallet pieces and wrap.
• Lunchrooms, change rooms and washrooms fully cleaned.
• Plant office and meeting rooms cleaned.

Weekly or on rotation

• Racking aisles dust mopped.
• Floor scrubbing of low-traffic zones.
• Entrance and vestibule floors deep cleaned, especially in winter.

Monthly or quarterly

• High dusting of ledges, beams, lights and the tops of racking, one zone at a time.
• Degreasing of floor areas around equipment, once the site has made the area safe.
• Cleaning of walls and doors in busy areas.

Working around forklifts and production

Cleaning crews in a working warehouse share the floor with forklifts and order pickers. The site's traffic rules apply to them like anyone else: designated pedestrian routes, high-visibility clothing where required, and clear communication with supervisors about which zone is being cleaned. Machine scrubbing is often done in sections, with the area marked off, so the floor can dry before traffic returns.

High dusting usually needs a lift or ladder. Ontario's rules on working at heights and the site's own procedures apply, and the work should be planned with the site so racking aisles are closed only while it is done.

Winter: snow, salt and wet floors

Regulation 851's floor rule names snow and ice for a reason. In winter, dock doors and staff entrances bring in snow, slush and salt, and the first metres inside each door become slippery. Practical steps are walk-off mats that are cleaned or swapped often, more frequent mopping or scrubbing near doors, and drying floors after machine cleaning before traffic returns. Salt residue left on concrete or resilient floors also becomes slippery and damages floor finishes, so it should be removed with a suitable cleaner rather than spread around with a mop.

Records that help

A cleaning schedule is easier to manage when there is a record that it happened. Zone checklists signed at the end of each shift, a log of spill responses, and a rotation sheet for high dusting give supervisors a quick way to see what was done and what was missed. They are also useful after an incident, when the first question is often what the housekeeping routine was and whether it was followed.

Records do not need to be complicated. A one-page checklist per zone, kept for a set period, is usually enough for most warehouses.

The joint health and safety committee

Workplaces in Ontario with 20 or more regularly employed workers generally need a joint health and safety committee, and a designated member regularly inspects the workplace. Housekeeping problems such as blocked aisles, damaged floors and spills are common inspection findings. Sharing the cleaning schedule with the committee, and fixing the schedule when inspections find recurring problems, makes the cleaning program part of the site's safety system instead of a separate contract.

Choosing a contractor for industrial cleaning

• Ask how the contractor will plan cleaning around your shifts and shutdowns.
• Ask for Safety Data Sheets for every product and a list of the equipment they will bring on site.
• Confirm that their crew will attend your site orientation and follow your PPE, traffic and lockout rules.
• Ask for a current WSIB clearance certificate and liability insurance certificate.
• Agree how spills and hazards the crew finds will be reported to your supervisor.

Lowfare has WSIB clearance and commercial liability insurance, and our staff are police-checked; we supply both certificates with the quote or on request. Request a quote.

Lowfare provides industrial cleaning services for plants and warehouses across the GTA, including warehouse cleaning in Vaughan. Our crews follow each site's own safety rules; the employer's duties under the OHSA stay with the employer.