COVID-19 

The purpose of the COVID-19 Preparedness Plan is to manage the risks of the virus to you, your co-workers and client sites allowing us to:

·         Continue working and maintaining the essential services we provide.

·         Protect our families and our clients on a day-to-day basis.

Self Monitoring means paying extra close attention to general health condition, new symptoms and daily temperature which is documented on the Self-Monitoring Tracking Sheet.  If an employee feels ill, has a household member that is ill, has been in contact with anyone being tested or diagnosed with COVID, or if someone observes that a person is exhibiting symptoms associated with COVID-19, the Supervisor or Manager should be contacted immediately. 

Self-Isolation requirements are situational and depend on the circumstances triggering the isolation.  Guidelines around extent and duration of isolation may vary from local Health Authority, site specific requirements and additional internal requirements.

Daily screening questions and temperature checks are required to be completed upon entry to the offices and sites by all employees and visitors.  In addition all Close Contact experiences during the course of work are tracked on a daily basis.  Site Access requirements may also require COVID-19 Testing, the details and timing of which are client site specific.

This is one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of illness during an outbreak and means making changes in your everyday routines to minimize close contact with others, including: avoiding crowded places and non-essential gatherings, avoiding common greetings, such as handshakes, limiting contact with people at higher risk like older adults and those in poor health, keeping a distance of at least 2 metres from others.

Hazard assessments should be conducted to identify existing and potential hazards related to COVID-19.  Where elimination of these hazards is not possible or reasonable, they should be controlled.  PPE is based on risk of exposure to a pathogen that considers both the risk associated with a specific task/activity as well as the source of infection (e.g. ill person). PPE that is chosen should be appropriate to the hazard.  When hazards related to COVID-19 cannot be eliminated completely, the following hierarchy of controls are required:

First choice: Engineering controls

These control the hazard at the source.  Examples include placing barriers or partitions between staff, removing seats from lunchrooms and dining areas, re-arranging lockers, restricting general access to the business and increasing ventilation.

Second choice: Administrative controls

These controls change the way workers interact. Examples include policies for physical distancing, providing adequate facilities, supplies and policies for hygiene. Increased frequency of cleaning facilities, equipment, etc.

Third choice: PPE

PPE is necessary when physical distancing or physical barriers cannot be maintained by administrative and engineering controls.  See specific PPE requirements below.

In addition to normal PPE worn on a day-to-day basis, workers are required to wear a two layer medical style face mask in public areas as well as when working with others both in the office and at site.

All shared spaces will be cleaned and disinfected daily. This includes Offices, job site trailers, company vehicles and equipment.  Clean and disinfect areas that are touched regularly, e.g., counters, tabletops, doorknobs, light switches, toilet handles, faucets and taps, toilets, phones, keyboards, computers.

All non-essential travel between offices and client facing is suspended.  All essential travel is evaluated for risk and cohort tranmission mitigation.