PROVISION OF FACILITIES FOR SICK EMPLOYEES

Employers should seek to ensure that suitable facilities are provided for employees who may fall ill at work.

1. Identify a room that will be used as a sick bay, equipped with a handwashing station, or, at minimum, a hand-sanitiser station.

2. Employees presenting with respiratory symptoms, who have not been exempted by their physician, should be provided with personal protective equipment and should be sent home to seek medical care with the appropriate precautions taken.

3. Where an employer is informed that an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19, the health department should be immediately informed so that the necessary public-health measures can be put in place. These include an interview of the patient, initiation of contact tracing and deep-cleansing of the facility, especially areas visited by the employee.

4. The Ministry of Health and Wellness advises the wearing of facial barriers (masks) in public settings where other social-distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies).

In addition, it recommends the wearing of masks in the following situations:

• If you are taking care of a person with suspected COVID-19 infection;

• If you are ill, i.e., coughing or sneezing;

• Persons who are quarantined or isolated at home with or without respiratory symptoms;

• Caregivers of persons who are quarantined or isolated and other members of the household;

• If you have had COVID-19 and have been discharged from hospital, you should wear a mask for two weeks;

• Elderly and persons with chronic illnesses, who are at high risk, if infected, of developing severe illness and complications of illness.

All employees should ensure that their masks/facial coverings

• fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face.

• be secured with ties or ear loops.

• include multiple layers of fabric.

• allow for breathing without restriction.

• be able to be washed and dried without damage or change to shape.