Companies must ensure that COVID-19 measures in the workplace
are robust enough to protect the health of employees and the public
and to prevent legal liability. This is equally important whether
employers are meeting current regulatory requirements to protect
employees or whether they are responding to regulators' special
measures regarding exposure risk.
Throughout Canada, employers must take precautions to prevent
exposure risk to workers. For example, Ontario's
Occupational Health and Safety Act provides that employers
have the obligation to, among other things, "take every
precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a
worker." Québec's Act Respecting Occupational
Health and Safety similarly provides that all employers
"must take the necessary measures to protect the health and
ensure the safety and physical well-being of" their
workers.
