TORONTO — Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has announced the creation of new sector-by-sector health and safety guidelines and the hiring of 58 new inspectors leading up to the staged restart of the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes.
The safety guidelines released April 30 are directed to workers in the manufacturing, food manufacturing and processing, restaurant and food service, and agricultural sectors.
The standards supplement 60 guidelines previously developed by Ontario’s health and safety associations in response to COVID-19 for various sectors including construction, retail, health care, transportation, police services, firefighters and transit employees.
“We all want to reopen our businesses, services and favourite places across the province, but we must do it in a safe and responsible way,” said Premier Doug Ford in a release. “That’s why we are providing clear guidelines to employers, with practical measures to help them keep staff and customers safe while preventing the spread of COVID-19. By taking these steps, we will be prepared to get people back to work when the time is right.”
The inspectors, which include workers from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority and the Ontario College of Trades, will be given the job of communicating COVID-19 safety guidelines to essential workplaces or enforcing emergency measures, including physical distancing and the closure of non-essential businesses, the statement said.
Ontario recently doubled the capacity of Ontario’s Health and Safety Call Centre to 50 phonelines to deal with a large increase in calls.
As of April 29, inspectors had completed 5,158 workplace visits and issued 1,822 orders, including 18 stop-work orders related to COVID-19.
Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer Ron Kelusky produced guidelines for the construction sector that were released by the province March 29.
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