Since the end of September 2020, issuing screening questions has become mandatory for employers in Ontario to welcome workers at the workplace.
As defined by the provincial government, the 1st step to prevent the spread of the virus is to exclude symptomatic workers who may infect some of their co-workers from the workplace. To be identified as symptomatic, the person has to go through a
required list of screening questions as defined by the provincial government. If the person cannot complete the assessment, even because of only one symptom in the list, then she is considered as 'symptomatic' and cannot enter the workplace. She must be put immediately in self-isolation at home and contact her health care provider.
A person can assess its own risk factor, but as a company you must screen every employee 'actively'. Meaning going through the full list of required screening questions to determine whether or not this person can enter the workplace or should stay home in self-isolation.
It is crucial for a company to play an 'active' role in this process because of the information you can collect and provide.
You must support symptomatic employees by providing them information about the process and the requirements for their return to the workplace.
You want to collect information to trace symptomatic employee and to know about their interactions with co-workers. You need to inform those co-workers that they may have been exposed in the workplace with information about the date, time and location of potential exposure without disclosing the identity of the symptomatic person. Tracing symptomatic worker allows you to take action and to prevent the spread of the virus.
Finally, the screening can be done remotely, before the person arrives at the workplace. This is the safest option to avoid the spread of the virus among your team and to protect your employees and your business.
At Commut, safety is our priority and we can support company in that process to make their workplace a safer place. We have a mandatory in-app screening assessment before each ride. It means that employees are doing an active screening before they even leave their home, before they are in contact with a co-worker and before they arrive at the workplace. This is our way to play an 'active' role in the fight against the spread of the virus, by allowing companies to avoid symptomatic employees to enter the workplace.