Megan Mah has a diverse practice that focuses on human rights, employment, civil litigation, administrative and constitutional law. In May 2020 she spoke with Canadian Occupational Safety magazine about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected construction site safety, and the steps that can be taken to protect construction workers.
In the article, Megan speaks to the current guidelines, what employers can do now, and what can be done in the future.
“First and foremost, employers should keep apprised on upcoming regulations and guidelines” as well as “keeping on top of the news and government announcements,” said Megan.
“Employers need to make sure that they’re protecting the privacy and human rights of workers,” though she explains that it’s a delicate balance to strike and they also need to be keeping track of their workers in case they need to perform contact tracing in the case on an outbreak.
“I think that this could have a lasting impact on the construction industry and how we perceive health and safety in general.” Megan believes that we are going to see a lot more focus on hand hygiene, PPE, and physical distancing even after the pandemic.
“We’re also going to see an increase in inspectors who are deployed and enforcement of OH&S on-site,” she said. “[COVID-19] may impact future legislation and might broaden the scope of what the public perceives as health and safety… We might see a greater focus on issues like pandemic planning.”
Visit thesafetymag.com to read the full article by Maia Foulis.
