Retail services and COVID-19 safety
Select retail services continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering essential goods and services to Canadians. By doing so, those retailers are playing a vital role in ensuring their customers get the goods they need, when they need them.
Retail services currently in operation include grocery and other food stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, automotive dealers, auto repair and auto body shops, liquor stores and gas stations, among others. For a full listing click here.
In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, all organizations must take the necessary precautions to minimize the risk of employees and customers contracting and/or spreading the virus. This involves conducting proper hazard assessments on worksites and putting controls and procedures in place to mitigate the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
Some measures that can be taken, according to the Retail Council of Canada, include (but are not limited to):
- Monitor the number of customers and staff entering and leaving the store. Once the maximum number of people for a store is reached, allow one person in for every person that leaves. Ensure that the number of people on site fits within the social distancing restrictions.
- Use physical markers and queue line controls (such as crowd control cordons) at entrances and in checkout lines. Place tape or cones every two metres, to provide customers with visible queues that support physical distancing.
- Have clearly visible signs in multiple locations that indicate the maximum number of customers and staff a store can accommodate at any one time
- Ensure that a frequent sanitization schedule is set up and adhered to. Place extra hand sanitizer, containing at least 60 per cent ethyl alcohol, at doors, check outs and other high traffic areas and clean any high touch surface areas between customers.
- Ensure staff are practicing proper hygiene. This includes frequent hand washing, coughing or sneezing into an elbow rather than a hand, and avoiding touching one’s face.
- Offer alternative services such as online delivery where possible.
- When gloves are used by workers, ensure proper disposal of gloves and thorough handwashing before and after each changing of gloves.
A full detailed listing of these measures can be found at:
Workplace safety and employee policies for COVID-19
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