Coronavirus resources for workplaces

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different shapes and sizes of the virus

The Government of Ontario has ordered the mandatory closure of all non-essential workplaces. Visit the Government of Ontario's website to read the list of essential workplaces.

The Ministry of Health has prepared guidance for essential workplaces and the Ministry of Labour has prepared sector specific guidance.

Ontario has announced the first stage of reopening additional workplaces.

If you have questions about what will be open or impacts to your business or employment, call the Stop the Spread Business Information Line at 1-888-444-3659

For the latest updates from the Government of Ontario, please visit the Ontario Newsroom.

When essential staff are needed to support business it is important to take appropriate measures to ensure staff are protected as well.

While all employees should continue to practice physical distancing and hand hygiene in their personal lives, additional measures are needed to protect workplaces and employees.

Reduce the spread of illness

To reduce the spread of any illness in the workplace encourage good hand hygiene and infection control practices.

Encourage employees to review public health measures to help protect themselves
Screen employees for symptoms at the beginning of each shift by asking staff to complete a self-assessment
Before starting work and after returning from break, all staff should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
Post signs asking ill clients or customers to stay away from the workplace.
Post signs encouraging employees to cover coughs/sneeze and practice hand washing
Ensure tissues and trash receptacles are readily available for all employees
Ensure hand washing facilities, hand sanitizer, tissues, and trash cans are easily available throughout the workplace.
In addition to routine cleaning, clean and disinfect frequently touched objects (e.g. point of sale transaction equipment, phones, doorknobs, light switches, elevator buttons, toilet handles, counters, hand rails, etc.)
If they can withstand the use of liquids for disinfection, frequently touched electronics such as phones, computers and other devices may be disinfected with 60% alcohol (e.g. alcohol prep wipes)

Gloves are not a substitute for proper hand hygiene, as they do not guarantee that food or surface is not contaminated.

Additional resources

Cleaning and disinfecting for public settings (Public Health Ontario)
Cleaning and disinfecting public spaces (COVID-19) (Public Health Agency of Canada)
Cover your cough (Public Health Ontario)
Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19 (World Health Organization)
Help stop the spread of germs!
How to handwash (Public Health Ontario)
How to handrub (Public Health Ontario)
Mask use for non-health care workers (Public Health Ontario)
Reduce the spread of COVID-19: Wash your hands (Public Health Agency of Canada)
Steps to take off gloves (Public Health Ontario)

If an employee is sick

Individuals should continue to think about action they can take to stay healthy and prevent the spread of any illness, especially respiratory infection. For employees who have respiratory symptoms:

Tell sick employees to stay home
Employees who arrive at work with or develop COVID-19 related symptoms at work should be separated from other employees and be sent home.
Where possible, do not require a healthcare provider’s note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness or to return to work.
- Healthcare provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way
Unless an employee is experiencing symptoms or in close contact with someone who has symptoms, they do not need to self-isolate. It is strongly encouraged that all staff are screened prior to each shift to ensure they are not symptomatic.
In addition, encourage staff to self-monitor daily, not only when they are coming in to work.

Assessment and testing

COVID-19 assessment and Testing Centre in Waterloo Region
Testing Update for Workplaces (May 20, 2020)

Employees who are travelling

If you have an employee that has recently travelled outside of Canada, you should be aware that the Government of Canada has specific advice for returning travellers.

All travellers entering Canada are required to self-isolate for 14 days upon entry. Individuals are not to go to work and avoid contact with other people for 14 days, while monitoring themselves closely for symptoms. Please refer to the Government of Canada for some exemptions for workers in certain sectors. Health care professionals should refer to our resources for health professionals for additional guidance.

Employees returning to work after self-isolation

Everyone must self-isolate at home for 14 days from the day you developed symptoms. Staff can stop isolating at home and return to work after 14 days if you do not have a fever and their symptoms are improving.

All staff should continue to use the self-assessment tool prior to each shift to ensure they are not symptomatic in addition to self-monitoring daily.

Preparing your workplace

Employers are advised to consider how best to lower the potential impact of COVID-19 in their workplace through “business continuity planning.” That is, they are advised to develop a plan or review their plans for how their business will run if a proportion of their employees are sick. More information is available from the World Health Organization.

To learn more about Canada’s actions to help Canadians and businesses facing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, refer to Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

Physical Distancing in the Workplace

Physical distancing means keeping at least 2 metres between yourself and others whenever possible outside of your household.

In order to ensure physical distancing in the workplace, the following steps should be taken:

Allow employees to work from home, or to work flexible hours to avoid crowding the workplace
Increase space between work spaces
Allow staff to have staggered lunch hours to avoid crowding lunch rooms
Remind staff to wash hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and to clean eating surfaces before meals
Spend as little time as possible in communal areas (i.e. break rooms, cafeterias, photocopy centres, etc.)
Avoid meeting in person. Use telephone or video conferencing to conduct as much business as possible (even when you are in the same building)
When in-person meetings are necessary, have the meeting in a larger room where people can sit with more space between them
Cancel or postpone any travel, meetings, workshops, etc. that are not absolutely necessary
Avoid all close contact, including shaking hands

For retail stores

In retail settings, the maximum number of people in the store at any one time is one person per 4 square metres (2 metres by 2 metres) of retail floor space.

For physical distancing in retail you should:

Maintain 2 metres between employees and customers unless there is a physical barrier (e.g. plexiglass)
Use clear signs in multiple locations that indicate the maximum number of customers and staff a store can accommodate at any one time
Monitor the number of customers and staff entering and leaving the store.
- Once the maximum number of persons for a store is reached, allow one person in for every person that leaves
Ensure that 2 metres is maintained beween any customers waiting outside to enter your facility (e.g. place markers to indicate how far people should stand from each other)
Place markers on the floor at check-out aisles to ensure customers maintain 2 metres between one another.
Consider placing arrows to indicate that aisles are one-way, if aisles are not wide enough for customers to physically distance themselves
Close any seating or dine-in area that may be in the store

Workplace guidance

Visit the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development to find more sector-specific guidelines and posters to help protect workers, customers and the general public from COVID-19.

Campgrounds and trailer parks

Only Ontarians whose only Canadian residence is at a seasonal trailer park or campground are permitted to continue their occupancy on a month-to-month or long-term basis and/or complete their mandatory self-isolation as required by the mandatory self-isolation order made by the federal government under the Quarantine Act.

Note that seasonal trailer parks and/or campgrounds are not to be used for recreational purposes or any type of communal activity.

For the most recent updates on seasonal campground requirements visit the Government of Ontario's list of essential workplaces.

Here are the requirements to keep your campground open and how you can mitigate the risk if you have people self-isolating at your facility to protect yourself and those at the campground:

Close the campground to all other campers, day visitors and short-term trailers
Post a notice that the campground/trailer park is closed to all but permanent residents
Maintain an inventory of residents with contact information, date of arrival and site location
The site should be fully serviced with potable water, sewer and electricity
The RV should be fully equipped so that occupants are able to self isolate within the RV (access to water, a bathroom, a bed, kitchen, heating and lighting)
Recreational components of the campground or trailer park are not permitted to be used
Provide support with supplies or support campers in obtaining supplies
Trailer parks are to close communal facilities and are not to open to casual or recreational campers
All communal bathroom and restroom facilities must be closed including showers and laundry facilities

For more inofrmation visit cleaning and disinfecting public spaces.

Delivery

As much as possible, conduct sales/orders over the phone or internet
Try to use other methods of payment whenever possible such as online payment
Leave the package outside of the door and notify the customer over the phone, or via text/email that the package has been delivered
If it is not possible to pay over the internet or the phone, encourage your customers to pay by debit or credit card (tap if possible) and the delivery person should clean the machine with a disinfectant wipe and use hand sanitizer immediately after the interaction
Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (use and alcohol-based hand sanitizer if water is not available) before and after deliveries

Food truck operations

Do not park and provide service in the same lot or close proximity to other food trucks
Provide physical distancing markings or pylons for line-ups/crowd control, to maintain 2 metres between customers, including up to the order window

Customers must take their food away and eat at home

Individual packets should be offered and provided with the order

Consider an order number system to identify orders for pick up

Leave the order on the counter or set up a side table and have the customer pick it up
If it is possible, encourage customers to pay by debit or credit card (tap is preferred)

Have one person responsible for all transactions and clean and sanitize all surfaces after each interaction, followed by washing their hands with soap and water

Actively monitor and take steps to prevent crowding
Provide hand sanitizer at the order/pick up window
Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (use and alcohol-based hand sanitizer if water is not available) after each interaction
Gloves are not a substitute for proper hand hygiene, as they do not guarantee that food or surface is not contaminated.
- For food handlers, gloves should be worn when a handler has a bandage that is covering a wound. In the event that you use gloves, do so properly:
  - Gloves must be used in combination with handwashing
  - Hands should always be washed and/or sanitized prior to putting on gloves and after taking gloves off
  - Change gloves whenever you change activity, touch your face, or come into contact with an item that may have germs
  - Gloves should be thrown out and not used again once they have been taken off
Limit the number of employees in the food truck

Grocery/retail stores

Place hand sanitizer with a minimum of 60% ethyl alcohol in dispensers near doors, check outs, and other high-touch locations for customers and staff use, and making wipes and trash bins available for wiping shopping carts and disposing of the wipes.
Provide clean carry-out bags for purchased food and grocery products. Encourage customers not use their own containers, reusable bags or boxes
Post signs at each check out counter that customer packaging is not to be used or placed on check out counters
Do not sell bulk items, except in gravity feed bins or where staff dispense the bulk items
Remove any product sampling stations
Ask customers with COVID-19 symptoms to return home and have a friend or family member do the shopping for them or use a delivery service instead

Handling sales

As much as possible, conduct sales/orders over the phone or internet
Try to use other methods of payment whenever possible such as online payment
Reduce the need to hand any point of sale (POS) transaction equipment between employee and the member of public to promote physical distancing
During deliveries, leave the package outside of the door and notify the customer over the phone, or via text/email that the package has been delivered
Provide appropriate gloves that reduces the skin to surface contact, such as vinyl or nitrile gloves (or latex as a last resort, as this is a common allergen)
Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (use and alcohol-based hand sanitizer if water is not available) before and after putting on gloves

Maintenance of vehicle, equipment and buildings

Maintain 2 metres between people
If 2 metres cannot be maintained, screen all employees prior to their shift and encourage staff to self-monitor
Do not share tools

Meetings

Cancel all non-critical face to face meetings or consider using phone or video conferencing
If an in-person meeting is essential, please consider the following:

Only have essential people at the meeting
Do not shake hands
Keep 2 metres between attendees
Avoid sharing equipment and disinfect any equipment used

Public interations

Provide service virtually whenever possible
Set up physical distancing parameters for public interactions (i.e, Plexiglass between cashiers and customers, limit the number of people inside at one time, place markers on the floor to promote separation of customers). For more information click here
Bring your own writing supplies

Recreational water

Review the COVID-19 Guidelines for Recreational Water for information on re-opening public pools, splash pads, spas, and wading pools.

Rotation of operators in vehicles and shared equipment

Avoid job rotation
If workers have to drive to a job site, they should travel in separate vehicles
Wipe down equipment before and after use with a disinfectant (wipe or cleaner)
- If possible, have staff use the same piece of equipment or assign staff to equipment for duration of shift when possible
If staff are required to switch pieces of equipment, all seating, handles, controls and steering wheels must be wiped with a disinfectant (wipe or cleaner)

Shared office work spaces

Minimize sharing work spaces. If it is necessary, follow the below precautions at the beginning and end of shifts:

Wipe all frequently touched surfaces with a disinfectant (wipe or cleaner)
Wipe down hard surfaces on chairs (do not wipe fabric)
Wipe the telephone, keyboards, mouse, and other frequently touched surfaces
Wipe under the keyboard, and wipe the wrist rest
Wipe LCD screens with an appropriate screen cleaning products
Bring personal writing supplies to the work area when beginning to work and remove when finished

Take-out/Curbside pick up

Conduct sales/orders over the phone or internet, as much as possible
Let customers know what time their order will be ready and encourage them arrive at the given time to minimize the number of customers waiting at any one time
Use online payment, whenever possible
- If paying online or by phone isn't possible, encourage customers to use debit or credit cards
  - Have one person responsible for all transactions and clean and sanitize all surfaces after each interaction, followed by washing their hands with soap and water
Encourage customers to stay in their cars using curb-side pick up, bring the package outside to customers picking up their order.
If curbside pick up is not possible, leave the package on the counter and have the customer pick it up
Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (use and alcohol-based hand sanitizer if water is not available) after each interaction
Gloves are not a substitute for proper hand hygiene, as they do not guarantee that food or surface is not contaminated.
- For food handlers, gloves should be worn when a handler has a bandage that is covering a wound. In the event that you use gloves, do so properly:
  - Gloves must be used in combination with handwashing
  - Hands should always be washed and/or sanitized prior to putting on gloves and after taking gloves off
  - Change gloves whenever you change activity, touch your face, or come into contact with an item that may have germs
  - Gloves should be thrown out and not used again once they have been taken off

Working in private homes

Staff should only be attending a private home for emergency purposes (e.g. a critical repair)
- Postpone all non-essential work
Perform the work remotely, by phone or email, if possible
If staff must enter residences they should:
- Ensure they do not have symptoms
- Call ahead to ensure no one in the residence is symptomatic, ask again at the door while maintaining 2 metres
  - if someone is symptomatic, do not go inside unless absolutely essential and ask that the symptomatic person stays in another room
- Keep a physical distance of 2 metres between themselves and residents
- Avoid touching their face (eyes, nose or mouth)
- Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (use and alcohol-based hand sanitizer if water is not available) before entering and after leaving the residence

Additional resources

Cleaning and Disinfecting for Public Settings (Public Health Ontario)
Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19 (World Health Organization)
Guidance for Food Premises (Ministry of Health)
Guidance for Occupational Health and Safety (Ministry of Health)
Resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Ministry of Labour)
Waterloo EDC