Occupational Health And Safety - The Impact of Covid-19

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF
COVID-19 ON THE CANADIAN WORKPLACES
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1OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Introduction
As per the official report of Ccohs.ca (2020), within the nation of Canada in the year
2017 there were 326 reported incidents of workplace accidents whereas around 625 reported
cases of workplace health-related hazards. Almost et al. (2019) are of the viewpoint that the
different workplace accidents and the hazards that have become a common part of the modern
corporations adversely affects the safety as well as the wellbeing of the workers and thereby
takes a negative toll on the individual and the overall productivity of the corporations as well.
Thus, it had become important for the modern-day corporations to take into account the concept
of occupational health and safety and thereby take the help of different measures which will
safeguard the safety or the wellbeing of the workers.
More importantly, in the particular context of the nation of Canada it is seen that the
different corporations of the concerned nation are required to ardently follow the various
precepts of the Occupational Health and Safety Legislation, Canada Labour Code Part II and also
the information related to the same outlined by the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information
System manual (Ccohs.ca, 2020). Furthermore, various amendments to these mandates,
legislations, policies and others have been made in the face of the different pandemic events like
Covid-19 and others the concerned nation had faced over the years. The purpose of this paper is
to undertake an analysis of the manner in which the pandemic event created by the Covid-19
virus is likely to impact the occupational health and safety policies followed by the corporations
of Canada and the possible measures that the corporations can adopt for mitigating the
occupational health and safety issues that the virus is likely to create.
Overview of Covid-19 and the threats presented by it
According to Who.int (2020), Covid-19 or more commonly called by the name of
Coronavirus disease is an important global health issue that the different nations of the world like
China, Italy, USA, Canada and others are presently facing which in turn had given rise to a
pandemic event in these nations. Adding to this, Fadel, Salomon and Descatha (2020) have noted
that it is an infectious disease which is being caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2) which is related to the SARS species. This
particular disease had been named after the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak and the individuals

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infected with this particular virus display symptoms like fever, cough, shortness of breath,
fatigue and others (Paules, Marston & Fauci, 2020). In serious cases, the individuals infected
with this particular virus can get pneumonia, multiple organ failures and even die as well
(Swerdlow & Finelli, 2020). The nation of China had been affected the most by this particular
virus and the number of people infected with the same had reached more than 60,000 with 2.9%
of the patients out of the same being dead (Peng, Ho & Hota, 2020). In the particular context of
the nation of Canada, it is seen that more than 37 cases related to coronavirus had been reported
till now and out of them only 8 individuals had been able to recover from the same despite the
advanced medical as well as the healthcare services offered by the concerned nation (Hutchins,
2020). This in turn had given rise to a pandemic situation within the condition wherein the
people are scare to leave their homes and go to work or even the public places wherein they
would be surrounded by people and thereby get infected with the virus under discussion here.
Impact of Covid-19 on Industry, Social Structures and Environment
Wax and Christian (2020) are of the viewpoint that the different pandemic events while
adversely affecting the lives of the individuals also takes a toll on the different industries, the
societal structure and also the environment of the nations as well. Adding to this, Phelan, Katz
and Gostin (2020) have noted that an impact of this virus on the social structure of the nations
like Canada wherein people from all nations and backgrounds reside can be attributed to the fact
that it had substantially enhanced the ostracism or for that matter the racism which is being faced
by the individuals within the societal framework of the concerned nation. In this relation, it needs
to be said that the nation of Canada over the years had been known to be a multicultural nation
wherein individuals from the different nations, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds reside
in a harmonious manner without having to face any form of discrimination, stigmatization and
other kinds of societal evils that the individuals from diverse backgrounds had to face in other
nations (Fadel, Salomon & Descatha, 2020). However, in the wake of the pandemic situation
created by coronavirus it is seen that this social structure which had dominated the societal
framework of Canada is likely to change. This can be explained on the basis of the fact that
Chinese, Italian and the individuals from the nations which had been adversely affected by
coronavirus are facing ostracism and to some extent racism within Canada because of the fear of
the people that they might pass on the virus to them (Hutchins, 2020). In the light of these

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aspects, it can be said that the threat presented by coronavirus had taken a negative toll on the
social structure which is presently being followed within the nation of Canada.
Chinazzi et al. (2020) are of the viewpoint that the different industries and the
corporations related to them have also been adversely affected by the looming threat of the
pandemic situation created by coronavirus within the nation of Canada. Adding to this, Papineau
et al. (2019) have noted that the organizational or for that matter the workplace culture followed
by the different corporations of the nation of Canada had undergone a radical change in the face
of the pandemic situation under discussion here. In this relation, it needs to be said that the effect
of the framework of multiculturalism followed by the nation of Canada becomes apparent when
the workforce diversity of the different corporations of the concerned nation is being taken into
account (Forster, 2020). However, presently it is seen that the different workers of the
corporations rather than working in a collaborative manner are distancing themselves or
ostracizing the workers from the Chinese, Italian and other nations wherein the threat of the virus
is the greatest (Hutchins, 2020). This in turn had adversely affected the work of the different
corporations while reducing both the individual productivity of the workers and also their overall
productivity as well.
In addition to these, it had been seen that the pandemic event under discussion here had
also substantially increased the number of sick leaves which are being taken by the workers
(Forster, 2020). Furthermore, it is seen that some of the workers also taking leaves because their
family members are not well or even out of fear that they might contract the virus while being at
the workplace of the corporation (Chinazzi et al., 2020). This had delayed the completion of the
work of the different corporations and also taken a negative toll on their overall productivity as
well. More importantly, the corporations had also being forced to take the help of different
precautionary safety measures for safeguarding the safety as well as the wellbeing of their
workers which in turn had significantly enhanced the operations cost of the corporations and
thereby adversely affected their overall profitability (Canada.ca, 2020). These in short are some
of the most important effects of Covid-19 on the different industries or the business corporations
of the nation of Canada.
Phelan, Katz and Gostin (2020) are of the viewpoint that the pandemic situation created
by the outbreak of Covid-19 had also impacted the environment of the nation of Canada in a