Truckers Corner
COVID-19 REOPENING: SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRUCKING COMPANIES By Dave Elniski
INTRODUCTION With summer 2021 underway, it appears as though there is an attitude of hope in many areas with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. While reopening is underway in some places and lockdowns remain in place in others, it is reasonable to assume that restrictions will begin to lift - even if they may be reinstated later. Businesses need to prepare themselves for how reopening may impact their operations. While we were used to things prior to COVID-19 entering the scene, the pandemic has been around long enough now that many people have grown accustomed to operating under varying levels of public health restrictions. It is not safe to assume that all workers will be eager and willing to get right back to the ways things were pre-COVID. In this article, I will explain some safety-related concerns businesses - especially trucking companies - should consider as they begin to see local governments lift public health restrictions. There is no one-sizefits all approach
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to bringing workers back to the office or removing pandemic operating restrictions, but the process requires more than simply modifying personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements.
REVIEWING HAZARD ASSESSMENTS Employers should assess the work they ask their workers to perform for hazards to the health and safety of their employees. This is a standard practice in occupational health and safety (OH&S), and is required in the OH&S legislation that applies to different workplaces. For the trucking industry, carriers that operate in more than one province can find their OH&S obligations in the Canada Labour Code Part II [1]. While general trucking continued operations during the pandemic due to the essential nature of the wo r k performed, the dayto-day routine of workers was likely affected to some degree
by pandemic restrictions. Office workers may have been sent to work from home. Drivers are familiar with self-declarations, self-isolation, and additional PPE. Loosening public health restrictions imply that the risk posed by the COVID-19 virus has lessened. This is great news, but not all people will react to it the same way. Since the aforementioned workers have had significant disruptions to their pre-COVID routines, it will take time for them to adapt to new routines even if new routines were the norm back in 2019. Businesses should reassess hazards present in their workplaces as COVID-19 restrictions ease. So much attention has been paid to public health-related hazards that it is fair to assume that other hazards have received less consideration. Once allowed to do so, the removal of plexiglass barriers and additional hand sanitizer stations may feel cathartic and symbolic of the end of an unpleasant era in an organization’s history. However, all pre-COVID hazards are still present.
PROACTIVE BUILDING MAINTENANCE Many buildings h a v e been operat-
