Trust the guidelines

As Ontario’s chief prevention officer, my No. 1 priority is the health and safety of every worker in the province. My commitment to protecting workers is heightened during these unprecedented times while we, as a health and safety system, as a government, and as a society, work to address the unfolding implications of COVID-19 on the workforce.

I have heard from workers and employers from all over the province during these challenging times. We all have the same goal: stopping the spread of this deadly disease.

Keep Workers Safe

Keeping workers safe is vital; it’s essential to reopening our economy and ensuring the safety of the public at large. As Ontario moves forward with the Framework for Reopening our Province – the government’s responsible, measured approach to reopening businesses, services, and public spaces – we must keep this goal top of mind.

To protect workers, customers, and the general public from COVID-19 as the economy reopens, the ministry of labour, training, and skills development, along with our partner health and safety associations, has published safety guidelines for workers and employers in dozens of sectors. As the economy opens further, more guidelines are being added. Employers should use these guidelines to plan to reopen in a way that protects workers, customers, and the general public.

Guide for Manufacturers

For guidance on manufacturing health and safety during COVID-19 we are providing information and best practices for protecting yourself and your co-workers, physical distancing, workplace sanitation, adjustments of on-site and production schedules, tracking and monitoring of the workforce, reporting illness, dealing with workers with COVID-19, getting information on infection prevention and control, sharing information, posting policies, ministry reporting requirements, and other helpful information.

This guidance will continue to be relevant as businesses reopen and in preventing a resurgence of the virus.

The Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS) health and safety association is one of our system partners dedicated to serving the manufacturing, agricultural, and service sectors. Its mandate includes providing guidance to businesses to help them understand their health and safety responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

WSPS as well as other health and safety partners, including Public Services Health and Safety Association, Infrastructure Health and Safety Association, and Workplace Safety North, have developed COVID-19-related technical sector guidance documents for Ontario workplaces.

These guidance materials, together with additional sector guidance notes and other resources from the ministry of labour, training, and skills development, can all be found on Ontario's COVID-19 online portal (ontario.ca/covidsafety).

I also encourage you to stay informed on the latest updates relating to COVID-19 at the province of Ontario (covid-19.ontario.ca), government of Canada’s website (canada.ca) and Public Health Ontario (www.publichealthontario.ca).

As we move forward in the weeks and months ahead, we must maintain our vigilance when it comes to health and safety in the workplace. Nothing is more important than protecting the health and well-being of Ontarians.

Every step taken by the province and every effort made by each of us to avoid close contact with others are the key to our success as a province to stop the spread of this virus.

Ron Kelusky is Ontario’s chief prevention officer, Ministry of Labour Health & Safety Contact Centre, 877-202-0008, ontario.ca/healthandsafetyatwork.