The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is changing our lives and our world by the minute, and it is increasingly difficult to keep abreast of it all. Employers in Canada have a legal and moral obligation to protect the health and safety of their employees, but most don’t realize to what extent and the ramifications of non-compliance.

The best place for employers to start is with their federal, provincial or territorial governing body that polices employers’ legal responsibilities, compliance and penalties under occupational health and safety. Find yours here: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/information/govt.html. 

Depending on your location and number of employees, the legislation varies. It is prudent and proactive business practice to ensure policies, procedures and processes are in place to comply with your local health and safety laws, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. Since it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure the health and safety of its employees during this pandemic, they must make certain that systems (information, training, protective equipment, communications, policies, alternative work arrangements, etc.) are in place sooner, rather than later.

Canadian Dr. Bruce Aylward is heading up the COVID-19 global task force for the World Health Organization (WHO) and provided a very informative interview with W5 on March 14. It’s a worthy 22 minutes of your time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lViaVZ_s8MY. In this video, it is estimated that 60 per cent of the world’s population will get COVID-19 and 80 per cent of these will have mild symptoms. But the remaining 20 per cent will be severe to critical and 3.4 per cent will die.

On the surface these statistics don’t appear alarming, but when you do the math it reveals a different story. Given the global population is approximately 7.7 billion, 60 per cent testing positive amounts to 4.62 billion, with 20 per cent of these cases being severe to critical (924 million) and 3.4 per cent of cases resulting in death (157 million). Employers be aware the odds are your employees could become one of these terrible statistics. Not only this, but consider the spin-off affecting customers, clients, family, friends, colleagues. How much work will be missed taking care of loved ones?

Employers – are you prepared and protected? Do you have everything in place to protect your employees and your business? If you don’t have your health and safety emergency response plans, business continuity strategies or emergency preparedness plans in place, you could face penalties including fines and/or imprisonment. Not to mention the public humiliation and damage to your reputation and business. Do you have adequate insurance and legal representation?

Employers may have their basic health and safety committees in place along with policies and basic training that includes an emergency plan which typically covers what to do in cases of fires, gas leaks, tornados/earthquakes, snowstorms, violent intruders, etc. Does your plan include pandemics, and have all your employees been properly trained? Does their Human Resources file include proof of this? Do you have enough personal protective equipment on hand?

Here are some resources and solutions to help you:

Workplace Safety & Prevention Services in Ontario has created an informative Business Pandemic Preparedness Checklist: https://www.wsps.ca/WSPS/media/Site/Resources/Downloads/pandemic-preparedness-checklist.pdf?ext=.pdf (Thanks to Tanya True, account manager at WSPS, for arranging permission to share this helpful document.)

Toronto law firm Aird Berlis has conducted a free webinar and presentation called COVID-19 (Coronavirus): Assessing the Risk – Managing the Workplace https://sites-airdberlis.vuturevx.com/10/2899/uploads/webinar---march-11---the-coronavirus-and-our-workplaces.pdf (Thanks to Michael Horvat, partner, Aird Berlis, for permission to share this excellent presentation.)