Frequently Asked Questions

As an employer, your duty and focus is to take action to minimize the risk of exposure and spread of the virus.
  1. Isolate the worker. If an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, they have a responsibility to stay home, and to notify their employer.If an employee has tested positive for COVID-19 or been told that they have COVID-19, they will need to self-isolate, manage their symptoms, and let their close contacts know. Information for employees who have tested positive for COVID-19.
  2. Contain the exposure. Take immediate steps to identify the extent of potential exposure in your facility. Fully vaccinated employees who have been in close contact with the worker should self-monitor for symptoms. Unvaccinated workers should self-isolate Close contacts includes:
    • People they live with
    • People they have had intimate contact with
    • People outside of their households who they were face-to-face with for 15 minutes or more, while indoors, and not wearing a mask.
  3. Sterilize the workplace Ensure a proper infection control cleaning protocol is implemented to clean and sterilize the potentially contaminated work area(s). Follow these directions from the Centre for Disease Control.
  4. Communicate clearly and report if required If you produce food products, report the incident immediately to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.Inside your organization, remember that gossip and fear spread quickly. The best solution is to communicate clearly, quickly, and frequently, explaining the situation and the control measures you have put in place to keep employees safe.
  5. Enhance the measures you already have in place to prevent the spread of infection
    • Cleaning: Consider increasing the frequency of routine cleaning. If you are cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces daily, increase to twice a day using the same products.
    • Space: Consider the density of your business and provide additional space for customers and employees to interact. For example: Consider how line ups, seating, or workstation setup can be expanded so that people are able to put 2 metres of space between one another.
    • Avoid visiting another area or department to ask a question; use the phone instead.
    • As much as possible, establish separate, clean entrances and exits for your building and key work areas to avoid congestion.
    • Consider how you could adjust your schedule to reduce the number of staff in an area at once, and to keep crews separate from each other—to reduce the risk of exposure if someone becomes ill.
    • Hand hygiene: Ensure your washrooms and hand-washing stations are always stocked with soap and consider offering hand sanitizer at entrances. Ensure that staff have clear instructions for hand hygiene, including glove use if required.
    • Communication: Show your customers and employees what you are doing to support the work to slow transmission of this virus by communicating online and at your place of business.
    • Employees who feel unwell: Support your employees to stay home if they are sick.
  6. Review the WorkSafeBC information on COVID-19 related claims When a worker contracts COVID-19 as a direct result of their employment, they may be entitled to compensation. Review the information for employers at WorkSafeBC.
Need more help? Call 811 and follow the instructions. Wait times can be long, but keep trying—or consider using the non-medical information COVID-19 line available from 7:30 am-8 pm at 1-888-COVID19.

Yes. Two negative tests are required before an employee may be considered recovered. In addition, as with other viruses, COVID-19 may cause other complications that make it unsafe for the employee's own health to return to work even after the viral infection is cleared. Return to Work policies vary widely from company to company, but a doctor's note helps ensure the health and safety of the returning employee as well as other workers on site. The investigating health authority may impose additional protocols for return to work as well.

Employers are expected to follow s. 5.2 and 5.59 (general industry) or s. 6.33 to 6.40 (healthcare and similar sectors) in relation to COVID-19 exposure in their workplace.

People who public health has determined are infected with COVID-19 will be monitored by their local public health office, which will conduct contact tracing and provide them with advice as to treatment, self-isolation, and eventual return to work. Being considered to be infected with COVID-19 is a medical diagnosis, which is personal information. The employer will need to follow directions provided by public health, if a public health officer advises them that a person who is or has been present at the workplace is an infected person and requests that the employer report the contact information, if known, of each person who may have been exposed to the infected person, and consider their privacy law obligations.

Follow the instructions from the public health office.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency will advise if there are food product-specific requirements.

No product recalls have been announced in association with outbreaks in food facilities, as there have not been any reports of coronavirus being transmitted through food or food packaging.

The employee must be off work for a minimum of 14 days, and may not return to work until they are asymptomatic and have had 2 negative swab tests.

No. An N95 mask with an exhalation valve defeats the purpose of not spreading droplets. Look for masks without these plastic valves.

An industrial hygienist can recommend based on the size of the room, overall indoor air quality, and other factors. There is no one recommendation.

A surgical mask was probably sufficient in most production environments. An N95 mask is not required in most production environments but an Industrial Hygienist is best qualified to determine the appropriate type.

Re-evaluate the existing Workplace Respiratory Protection Program if in place before the COVID-19 pandemic. Alternatively, you may be able to use non-medical masks to protect against novel coronavirus spread between co-workers in work areas where the physical distancing measures are not adequately present and enforced.  For the same work areas improved mechanical ventilation can be of benefit.

Masks should be single-use (length of shift is not a critical factor, but masks should be safely disposed after a single use). The mask serves to "concentrate" any microbe on the surface, and COVID-19 is viable for 7 days on the surface of a mask.

Since an asymptomatic worker can carry the virus, all plant staff working in close proximity with inadequate physical distancing measures in place should be equipped with at least non-medical face masks. These masks should not replace the existing workplace respiratory protection program requirements; Another type of mask or respirator may be indicated based on a task-based hazard assessment, so your respiratory protection program should be re-evaluated and revised as needed to address biological hazards such as COVID-19.

If masks are used, they should be single-use and disposed after each use, or laundered after each use in the case of non-medical fabric masks. COVID-19 can remain viable on a mask for 7 days (Lancet). 

An industrial hygienist should review the specs and certifications and decide if they are appropriate for the intended use. Watch the Respiratory Protection Basics webina by our Industrial Hygiene Specialist for more information.

Your Workplace Respiratory Protection Program among all should include respirator fit testing and training of each worker. For specific assistance, contact us to schedule a call with our industrial hygienist or contact your respirator protection provider for assistance with the selection process and training. 

Ultimately, the employer is responsible for providing appropriate controls (up to and including PPE if needed) and training employees follow procedures and use PPE effectively. That is true whether the PPE is provided by the employer or by the employee. Employers should have a program and policy in place around the provision of PPE. If an employee is using PPE that requires fit testing or maintenance, the employer is responsible for providing the necessary training. Employees should also understand how the PPE fits into the hierarchy of controls and protocols in place in the plant to protect workers. Employers may make the decision not to allow employees to provide their own PPE if they cannot be confident that it's quality PPE and in good condition.

Some workers are opting to wear Cloth and Surgical masks. It is important to make aware that these types of masks may not protect you from the virus. These do not form a tight seal with the face and are not considered as an equivalent to the N95s. Cloth and surgical masks have their limitations, and these should be communicated to your workers.  See this document from WorkSafeBC, on the differences between Cloth, Surgical, and Disposable N95 respirators.

All respirators are rated to protect against a certain concentration of particulates. The N95 gives the minimum acceptable protection for an infectious contaminant such as COVID-19. The information contained in this briefing is valid ONLY when looking for alternatives to the N95. In most manufacturing and food processing use cases, the alternative options noted provide greater protection than the N95 respirator mask.

Fit testing is required for any tight-fitting respirator, including the N95 and any half face/full face alternative respirator. Certain exceptions may apply.

Some workers are opting to wear Cloth and Surgical masks. It is important to make aware that these types of masks may not protect you from the virus. These do not form a tight seal with the face and are not considered as an equivalent to the N95s. Cloth and surgical masks have their limitations, and these should be communicated to your workers.  See this document from WorkSafeBC, on the differences between Cloth, Surgical, and Disposable N95 respirators.