Effective September 25, 2020, all businesses in Ontario must screen workers and essential visitors who enter their premises. Workers include staff, students, contractors and volunteers, and essential visitors include those providing a service in the establishment who are not employees or patrons of the establishment (such as delivery, maintenance and contract workers).
The Ontario Government announced this new requirement on Friday, September 25, 2020, with the amendment of O. Reg 364/20: Rules for Areas in Stage 3 under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (the "Amendment"). The screening requirements are part of a broader obligation to comply with any advice, recommendations, and instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (the "CMO") on screening for COVID-19.
The CMO's specific screening recommendations are set forth in the COVID-19 Screening Tool for Workplaces (Businesses and Organizations) (the "Screening Tool"). Note that the Screening Tool is not intended for healthcare workplaces and certain other non-health care workplaces where screening is already in place (such as congregate living settings).
Curiously, the Screening Tool states that it is not intended to apply to patrons or customers entering the workplace. However, employers may make their own decisions as to whether or not patrons and customers should be screened prior to entering their establishments, keeping in mind their duty to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect workers.
The Screening Tool includes screening questions that must be asked of all workers and essential visitors before they enter the work environment. If the individual does not "pass", they must be instructed to self-isolate and call their health care provider or Telehealth Ontario. The screening questions are as follows:
- Do you have any of the following new or worsening symptoms or
signs? Symptoms should not be chronic or related to other known
causes or conditions.
- Fever or chills
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Cough
- Sore throat, trouble swallowing
- Runny nose/stuffy nose or nasal congestion
- Decrease or loss of smell or taste
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain
- Not feeling well, extreme tiredness, sore muscles
- Have you travelled outside of Canada in the past 14 days?
- Have you had close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19?
If the worker or essential visitor answers "YES" to any of the above questions, they have not passed and must be advised not to enter the workplace.
The Screening Tool does not provide guidance on how it should be implemented – for example, whether the responses should be done in writing or orally, or whether the information should be collected and stored somewhere. Accordingly, employers will have to decide for themselves how best to implement the Screening Tool in their workplace.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.