OMG, One of Our Workers Has COVID; Now What Do We Do?!

Employers are getting better at complying with the COVID public health restrictions. For example, during its most recent blitz, the Ontario MOL cited only 15% of the worksites inspected for a violation. Still, while implementing a plan to prevent infection at the workplace, remains the paramount objective, one aspect of COVID management tends to get overlooked, namely, how to respond when prevention fails and you discover a positive case at your site.

COVID response isn’t something you can ‘learn on the job.’ You must be prepared to take action along a number of fronts, including:

• Isolating the infected worker;
• Performing contract tracing;
• Reporting the case to public health authorities;
• Notifying co-workers and persons with recent close exposure to the infected worker;
• Arranging for COVID testing; and
• Ultimately, ensuring a safe and legally appropriate return to work.