Occupational Health and Safety Obligations in the Age of COVID-19

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On March 13, the Government of Quebec declared for the first time a state of health emergency throughout Quebec. This decision was taken following the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO), which declared that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) could therefore be classified as a pandemic. From that moment on, a series of measures were decreed to protect the population. But how do these new measures fit in with the obligations of the various players in the workplace? What about the Law on occupational health and safety¹ in times of pandemic?

Public health law

The Public health law ² (LSP) aims to protect the health of the population and allow the establishment of conditions favorable to the maintenance and improvement of the state of health of the population in general³. This law allows the government to declare a state of health emergency when a serious threat to the health of the population requires the immediate application of measures to protect citizens.⁴. Section 123 of this law empowers the government to take measures such as closing places such as schools or bars. It also makes it possible to impose the wearing of a mask. The government must proceed by decree to institute these measures and, unless authorized by the National Assembly, these decrees are valid for a maximum period of ten days, renewable indefinitely.⁵. Finally, these are measures that apply to the entire population and failure to comply with them may result in the imposition of a fine.⁶.

The law on occupational health and safety

The Law on occupational health and safety (LSST) aims to eliminate at the source the dangers to the health, safety and physical well-being of workers⁷. It provides, inter alia, for various obligations for employers and workers in Articles 49 and 51. Among the obligations incumbent on employers is the general obligation to take the necessary measures to protect the health and safety of workers by ensuring that the work organization as well as the work methods and techniques used are safe⁸. They also have the obligation to adequately inform their staff of the risks associated with their work and to ensure their training.⁹. Workers have, among other things, the corollary obligation to take the necessary measures to protect their health and safety and to ensure that they do not endanger that of other people in the workplace.¹⁰. Failure to comply with the obligations provided for in the LSST is likely to have consequences that may include the imposition of fines. ¹¹, the issuance of correction notices, the suspension of work or the closure of a workplace.

Occupational health and safety in times of pandemic

In times of a pandemic, workers in the workplace are subject to the measures decreed under the LSP and the obligations arising from the LSST.

To comply with the obligations imposed on them by the OHSA, employers must implement measures to identify, control and eliminate the risks associated with COVID-19 contamination in the workplace. For example, to reduce the risk associated with COVID-19 contamination, the employer will have to implement measures such as regular cleaning and disinfection of surfaces, tools and equipment, and the adoption a work practice that promotes physical distancing of 2 meters between people. In such a context, the respective obligations under the LSST and the LSP converge and may have consequences under these two laws. Caution and vigilance are therefore required for all stakeholders in the workplace, because they must now also deal with the obligations emanating from government decrees, which change and evolve rapidly.