COVID-19 AN ISSUE IN COMMON AREAS AT WORK

 Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) incident monitoring shows an increase in COVID-19 exposure with the failure of controls in workplace common areas.

​What can you do?
Have your safety representative conduct a hazard assessment and control to consider things like: 

1. the size of the area
2. the number of people using the area
3. how people move through the area 
4. high touch surface

When a hazard cannot be eliminated, it needs to be controlled.
Be sure to follow the standardized hierarchy of controls that must be followed:
1. first choice – engineering controls (e.g. plexiglass barriers) 2. second choice – administrative controls (e.g. staggering break times) 3. third choice – personal protective equipment (PPE) (e.g. gloves, face shields, respirators).​

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Don't forget, all employers need to have procedures for rapid response if or when workers show symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.