This means:

• ensuring your workers have the skills and training needed to do their jobs in a healthy and safe manner
• providing competent supervisors
• preventing violence and harassment in the workplace
• informing your workers of all the health and safety hazards at the job site
• setting up safe work practices and ensuring these practices are followed
• providing safety equipment and training
• properly labelling and storing dangerous chemicals
• investigating serious injuries and incidents
• investigating potentially serious incidents (PSI)
• working with the health and safety committee or representative
• meeting  OHS and Employment Standards Code requirements

Joint Work Site Health and Safety Committees and  Health and Safety Representatives

 An employer shall establish a joint work site health and safety committee: 

(a)    if the employer employs 20 or more workers and work is expected to last 90 days or more, or
(b)    at any other work site designated by a Director.

Designation of health and safety representative

Unless a Director approves an alternative measure to ensure the health and safety of workers, an employer shall designate a worker appointed or selected under subsection (2) as a health and safety representative

(a)    if the employer employs 5 to 19 workers and work is expected to last 90 days or more, or
(b)    at any other work site designated by a Director

Duties of a joint work site health and safety committee

(a)   the receipt, consideration and disposition of concerns and complaints respecting the health and safety of workers;
(b)   participation in the identification of hazards to workers or other persons arising out of or in connection with activities at the work site;
(c)   the development and promotion of measures to protect the health and safety of persons at the work site and checking the effectiveness of such measures;
(d)   cooperation with an officer exercising duties under this Act, the regulations and the OHS code;
(e)   the development and promotion of programs for education and information concerning health and safety;
(f)    the making of recommendations to the employer, prime contractor or owner respecting the health and safety of workers;
(g)   the inspection of the work site at regular intervals;
(h)   the participation in investigations of serious injuries and incidents at the work site in accordance with section 40;
(i)    the maintenance of records in connection with the receipt and disposition of concerns and complaints and the attendance to other matters relating to the duties of the committee;
(j)    such other duties as may be specified in this Act, the regulations and the OHS code.

Duties of a health and safety representative

The health and safety representative shall, in cooperation with a representative of the employer, perform the same duties, with any necessary modifications, as set out for the joint work site health and safety committees in section 19.

Learn more about how Able Audit safety inspection features can you help you perform and manage inspections, distribute reports and manage action items.

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This document will discuss general precautions a workplace can take to help lower the spread of coronaviruses. For updates on the 2019-n-CoV/COVID-19 situation, please see:

• In Canada: Government of Canada (Public Health Agency of Canada) – Novel Coronavirus infection (Wuhan, China): Outbreak update
• In the USA: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – 2019 Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan, China
• For world reports: World Health Organization – Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

How COVID-19 spreads

When someone who has COVID-19 coughs or exhales they release droplets of infected fluid. Most of these droplets fall on nearby surfaces and objects – such as desks, tables or telephones. People could catch COVID-19 by touching contaminated surfaces or objects – and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. If they are standing within one meter of a person with COVID-19 they can catch it by breathing in droplets coughed out or exhaled by them. In other words, COVID-19 spreads in a similar way to flu.

Most persons infected with COVID-19 experience mild symptoms and recover. However, some go on to experience more serious illness and may require hospital care. Risk of serious illness rises with age: people over 40 seem to be more vulnerable than those under 40. People with weakened immune systems and people with conditions such as diabetes, heart and lung disease are also more vulnerable to serious illness.

Simple ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in your workplace

The low-cost measures below will help prevent the spread of infections in your workplace, such as colds, flu and stomach bugs, and protect your customers, contractors and employees.

Employers should start doing these things now, even if COVID-19 has not arrived in the communities where they operate. They can already reduce working days lost due to illness and stop or slow the spread of COVID-19 if it arrives at one of your workplaces.

Make sure your workplaces are clean and hygienic

• Surfaces (e.g. desks and tables) and objects (e.g. telephones, keyboards) need to be wiped with disinfectant regularly
• Provide information to employees and customers on proper hand washing techniques (see our new handwashing poster)
• Why? Because contamination on surfaces touched by employees and customers is one of the main ways that COVID-19 spreads

Hazard Prevention Program

Supporting the Internal Responsibility System, the employer should make all revisions to the workplace Hazard Prevention Program by consulting with:

• the policy health and safety committee
• the workplace health and safety committee, or
• the workplace health and safety representative

Federal employees must be provided with training on the hazard and the safe work procedures that will protect them. Employers must keep training records.

Able Audit Resources

Special Program: To help businesses during this crisis,  we are  providing access to a free license  including resources for COVID-19 Coronavirus program and cleaning.

VIEW MORE DETAILS

• COVID-19 Coronavirus: Preparing Your Workplace (WHO)
• COVID-19 Coronavirus: Events and Meetings (WHO)
• COVID-19 Coronavirus: Workplace Travel
• Checklist: Cleaning – Facility (COVID-19)
• Cleaning – Restaurant (COVID-19)

Please See Additional Resources Below

Learn more about how our safety management software features can you help your JHSC perform and manage inspections, distribute reports, assign action items, develop safe work procedures,  perform safety talks,  committee meeting minutes and incident reports.

The post COVID-19 Coronavirus: Preparing Your Workplace appeared first on Able Audit.