Covid 19 mandatory Order

Dear New Brunswick employers

The January 23 Mandatory Order introduced new requirements for proprietors and managers of workplaces located in the areas of the province that are in the red or lockdown level.

The following interpretation clarifies these provisions. This interpretation remains in effect until modified or terminated through the Mandatory Order in effect.

For employees

For employees, contractors and any visitors admitted to the workplace, proprietors and managers must:

Maintain a record of employees and any admitted visitors, including contractors who enter the workplace, and actively screen everyone who enters. This record must be created daily and maintained for 28 days (electronic scans of employees entering and leaving workplaces are sufficient records).
Ensure that anyone who enters the workplace continuously wears a face covering, except while eating or drinking.
Sanitizes their hands before entry.
Either close or continuously monitor lunch rooms, break rooms and cafeterias to ensure compliance with distancing and mask wearing, as required, and maintain a record of names and times of those in attendance.

For patrons

Where patrons may enter any place where the public is welcome, proprietors and managers are required to:

Actively screen anyone who enters.
Actively manage the number of patrons permitted in the facility to ensure COVID-capacity limits are respected, as outlined in the operational plan.
Make all reasonable efforts to ensure that patrons maintain 2m of physical distancing with others who are not in their bubble.
Ensure that anyone who enters continuously weas a face covering, and maintains 2m of physical distancing with others who are not in their bubble
Ensure anyone who enters sanitizes their hands before entry, in addition to all other Chief Medical Officer of Health and WorkSafeNB guidelines.

For example, a retailer is required to maintain a record of names of employees coming to work including contractors, visitors, etc., but they are not required to maintain a record of patrons entering the facility.

As part of their operational plan, employers must take steps to reduce human interaction, where possible, and to to consider the safety of patrons (such as accommodating some patrons in indoor lobby spaces, where possible instead of waiting in line outside in cold weather).

Active screening

Active screening means that the workplace must assign resources to ensure that necessary screening questions are asked of anyone entering the facility. The questions may be asked one at a time by the screener, or the screening questionnaire can be made available to the person entering the facility, such as posting it, and the workers or patrons entering can read and provide their responses to the screener.

For employees, contractors and permitted visitors entering the workplace, the screener must also record the name, time and date of entry. These records must be maintained for 28 days.

The screener must also ensure that the workers and patrons entering the facility are wearing a face covering that covers their nose and mouth, and that they follow all other public health guidelines, including disinfecting hands before entry and physically distancing.

For greater clarity, in certain commercial operations it may be suitable for a single worker behind a counter to actively greet patrons, contractors and authorized visitors, and ensure all other public health requirements are met before any person may proceed beyond the initial screening point. If control measures to respect capacity limits as outlined in the operational plan are required, additional resources may be necessary.

More information on active screening can be found in WorkSafeNB’s guide, Embracing the New Normal.

Remember to visit www.gnb.ca/coronavirus regularly for the most up-to-date and accurate information on COVID-19