A four-day, multi-ministerial COVID-19 workplace safety blitz in the Peterborough-area resulted in seven tickets and 17 occupational health and safety orders.
A team of 26 provincial offences officers, joined by local public health inspectors and bylaw officers, conducted the blitz from Feb. 17-20 at approximately 260 businesses, including big-box stores, other retailers, restaurants and fitness centres.
The province did not release the names of the businesses that were ticketed.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, the officers found, in preliminary reporting, that 43 per cent were in compliance with public health requirements under the Reopening Ontario Act.
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Follow-up visits to certain businesses where contraventions were found will be conducted in the coming weeks to check for compliance, the ministry states in an email.
Two of the most common contraventions were that businesses were not actively screening everyone who works on site before they entered and they did not have a COVID-19 workplace safety plan.
This initiative was the first multi-ministry COVID-19 safety campaign in the Peterborough-area.
Many of the businesses had been closed to the public during the provincial shutdown and for that reason, most officer visits focused on providing education and compliance assistance, the ministry states.
Global News Peterborough has contacted the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and Peterborough Public Health for comment on this story.
More to come…
