Guides & Toolkits

4. Q. Is it an employer's right to take the temperature of an employee? Or Customer? A. Depending on the nature of your business, it may be reasonable to conduct health screening measures, including temperature checks; however, human rights, occupational health and safety and privacy considerations should be investigated before imposing these measures. Understanding the "normal" temperature range and what constitutes a fever is important to understand before implementing this assessment, as is understanding its limitations as an effective screening tool. For example, asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 may not show elevated temperatures. Seeking legal counsel before implementing this with your workforce is recommended. (Source WSPS COVID-19 Customer Inquiries FAQ) 5. Q. An employee is invoking their "right to refuse" unsafe work. What do I do? A. Employers have duties to protect workers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). They must take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect the health and safety of workers from hazards, including hazards posed by infectious diseases. Employers should conduct an assessment of their workplace to determine the measures and procedures they need to put in place to protect the health and safety of their workers and avoid hazards. If a worker has concerns about their safety, the OHSA provides them the right to refuse work that they believe will endanger their health and safety. In this situation the worker must promptly report the circumstance of the work refusal to their employer or supervisor and employers are required to conduct an investigation and try to resolve the issue internally. The Ministry encourages the internal resolutions of complaints. The joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative and the employer have a role in identifying which hazards exist in the workplace and what measures are needed to protect workers. If there is no resolution, the workers or employer must notify the Ministry of Labour Training and Skills Development and an inspector will follow-up in consultation with the employer and the worker. (Note: Certain occupations that have a responsibility to protect public safety have a limited right to refuse work if the danger in question is a normal part of the job or if the refusal would endanger the life, health or safety of another person. This could include persons employed in certain health care workplaces, first responders and correctional services workers. These workers cannot refuse work when either: - The circumstance is inherent in their work or a normal condition of their employment - Their refusal to work would directly endanger the life, health or safety of another person - In these circumstances the employer and supervisor still have a duty to take every precaution reasonable to protect the health and safety of all workers. - For details related to the "right to refuse" visit the Ontario government's Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act or the Safety Say What website. © Workplace Safety & Prevention Services 2020. Workplace Safety & Prevention Ser v ices (WSPS) grants permission to approved end users to reproduce this document in whole or in part, provided its intended use is for non-commercial, educational purposes and that full acknowledgement is given to the WSPS. Approved end users are firms registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. WSPS reserves the right to extend this permission to other stakeholders and interested parties by express written permission upon application. WSPS extends no warranty to materials amended or altered by the end user. Under no circumstances is this document, or any portion thereof, to be duplicated for purposes of sale or for external reproduction or distribution. (Sample WSPS acknowledgement, "Reproduced or adapted from name of solution with permission of Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, Mississauga, Ontario.") The information contained in this reference material is distributed as a guide only. It is generally current to the best of our knowledge as at the revision date, having been compiled from sources believed to be reliable and to represent the best current opinion on the subject. No warranty, guarantee, or representation is made by WSPS as to the absolute correctness or sufficiency of any representation contained in this reference material. WSPS assumes no responsibility in connection therewith; nor can it be assumed that all acceptable safety measures are contained in this reference material, or that other or additional measures may not be r equired in particular or exceptional conditions or circumstances.

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