Emergency Response Plan: COVID – 19 – D-Squared Construction

Introduction
D. Squared Construction Limited is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees as outlined in our Health & Safety Company Policies and Programs. However, due to COVID -19 pandemic we have created this Emergency Response Plan to consolidate and expand on our Policies, Safe Work Procedures as they relate to the pandemic
Some of the ways we are monitoring our program include:
COVID – 19 Joining the Workforce Questionnaire
• Required by all staff returning to work from 3 or more consecutive workdays off.
• Page 15
COVID – 19 Sub-Contractor Screening Questionnaire
• Required by all sub-contractors starting or returning to work from 3 or more consecutive workdays off
• Page 15
COVID – 19 Safe Work Practices: Request to Work Within 2m
• Required by supervisors who are requesting permission to have staff complete the work within 2m of each other.
• Page 17
We are actively monitoring the situation and listening to recommendations of various agencies including Ottawa Public Health, Ontario Ministry of Labour and the Government of Canada. We will keep operations going if it is safe to do so, and our clients and the government allows.
These are challenging times, but we will make it through them together.
President Domenic Franco Madonna

Policy – Keeping Our Families & Community Safe
We ask that all owners, consultants, sub-contractors, suppliers & the community follow these same principles when interacting with each other and our staff. If you must be on our jobsite and interacting with our staff, please check-in with the Site Supervisor first.
Company-Wide Principles:
• Stay positive we will get through this together
• Support each other to the best of our ability
• Self-isolate in accordance with Ottawa Public Health
• Stay home if you’re not feeling well
• Practice social distancing (2m rule) and be “handshake free”
• More frequent and thorough cleaning of work areas
• Wash your hands regularly and after interacting with people, paper or devices
• All non-essential in person meetings have been replaced with video or phone calls
• No non-essential visitors and limited interactions with 3rd party deliveries
• No digital signatures on devises that are not your own.
Jobsite Principles:
• Daily Toolbox Talks regarding best practices while practicing social distancing (2m rule)
• Discourage staff from gathering in groups, no group meetings in site trailers
• No transporting staff in work vehicles
• Limit movement of operators between equipment and only after a thorough disinfecting
• Disinfect yourself before & after working on equipment

Policy – Office & Shop
With the goal of keeping our office and shop staff safe we have implemented the following principles:
Company – Wide Principles:
• Stay positive – we will get through this together
• Support each other to the best of our ability
• Self – isolate in accordance with Ottawa Public Health
• Stay home if you’re not feeling well
• Practice social distancing (2m rule) and be “handshake free”
• More frequent and thorough cleaning of work areas
• Wash your hands regularly and after interacting with people, paper or devices
• All non-essential in person meetings have been replaced with video or phone calls
• No non-essential visitors and limited interactions with 3rd party deliveries
• No digital signatures on devices that are not your own
Office Principles:
• If you have the ability, work from home – D. Squared Construction will accommodate to the greatest extent practical
• One person per office and one person every second cubicle
• No visitors (including deliveries) inside any of our buildings
• The transfer of internal paperwork will be limited to the greatest extent possible
• Handling of paper should be done in bulk sessions and not periodically throughout the day

Policy – Recruitment, Interviews & Orientations
Recruitment:
Participation in public job-fairs are suspended for the duration of the pandemic. The organization of internal job fairs and any other community facing events are suspended for the duration of the pandemic.
Interviews:
Potential D. Squared employees will apply for and be contacted for positions in accordance with our usual practices which include online and phone interactions. Priority will be given to conducting interviews via virtual portals. If not possible or practical interviews can be conducted in person while respecting company policy related to COVID-19 including submitting the COVID-19 Joining the Workforce Questionnaire prior to the in-person interview.
Orientations:
Priority will be given to conducting orientations via virtual portals. If not possible or practical orientations can be conducted in person while respecting company policy related to COVID-19 including submitting the COVID-19 Joining the Workforce Questionnaire prior to orientation.

Policy – Potential Coronavirus in the Workplace
The following procedure is based on the recommendations of Ottawa Public Health and will be used to safely deal with any staff member who has cold/flu like symptoms during the coronavirus outbreak.
If a staff member is observed at work with cold/flu like symptoms:
1. If someone appears to have cold/flu like symptoms (i.e. fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath) they will be separated from other staff and sent home to seek medical attention as necessary.
2. The sick staff member will report to their supervisor where they have worked since feeling sick, with whom they interacted with, if those interactions were for an extended time and if they were within the 2m social distancing bubble.
3. The sick staff member will self-isolate in accordance with Ottawa Public Health.
4. All hard surfaces that the sick staff member may contacted within the past 24hrs will be sanitized.
5. The supervisor will report this information to the Health & Safety Officer.
6. The Health & Safety Officer will notify management and supervisors of all potentially impacted staff of the situation.
7. All potentially impacted staff will monitor cold/flu like symptoms and act in accordance with this procedure and will self-isolate in accordance with Ottawa Public Health. If the potentially impacted staff has not spent extensive time within 2m social distancing bubble with the sick staff member and are not showing cold/flu like symptoms they can continue working with discretion.
8. All external communication with owners, consultants, sub-contractors, suppliers and the community in general will be done by a D. Squared spokesperson.

If a staff member calls in with cold/flu like symptoms:
1. Staff member is directed to remain at home and seek medical assistance as necessary
2. The sick staff member will report to their supervisor where they have worked since feeling sick, with whom they interacted with, if those interactions were for an extended time and if they were within the 2m social distancing bubble.
3. The sick staff member will self-isolate in accordance with Ottawa Public Health.
4. All hard surfaces that the sick staff member may contacted within the past 24hrs will be sanitized.
5. The supervisor will report this information to the Health & Safety Officer.
6. The Health & Safety Officer will notify management and supervisor of all potentially impacted staff of the situation.
7. All potentially impacted staff will monitor for cold/flu like symptoms and act in accordance with this procedure and will self-isolate in accordance with Ottawa Public Health. If the potentially impacted staff has not spent extensive time within 2m social distancing bubble with the sick staff member and are not showing cold/flu like symptoms they can continue working with discretion.
8. All external communication with owners, consultants, sub-contractors, supplier and the community in general will be done by a D. Squared spokesperson.

Support for workers
We would like to provide our employees at D-Squared Construction with an update as to what the Canadian Government is doing for each one of us as it pertains to COVID-19. Our overall goal is the health and safety of our staff and families. We encourage our employees to investigate these options as some alternatives the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laid out this morning.
• Provide additional assistance to families with children by temporarily boosting Canada Child Benefit payments.
• Introduce an Emergency Care Benefit of up to $900 bi-weekly for up to 15 weeks to provide income support to workers who must stay home and do not have access to paid sick leave. This measure could provide up to $10 billion to Canadians, and includes:
▪ Workers, including the self-employed, who are sick, quarantined, or who have been directed to self-isolate but do not qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits.
▪ Workers, including the self-employed, who are taking care of a family member who is sick with COVID-19, such as an elderly parent or other dependents who are sick, but do not qualify for EI sickness benefits.
• EI-eligible and non EI-eligible working parents who must stay home without pay because of children who are sick or who need additional care because of school closures.
• Introduce an Emergency Support Benefit delivered through the Canada Revenue Agency to provide up to $5 billion in support to workers who are not eligible for EI and who are facing unemployment.
• Provide additional assistance to individuals and families with low and modest incomes with a special top-up payment under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit. This measure would inject $5.5 billion in the economy.
• Waive, for a minimum of six months, the mandatory one-week waiting period for EI sickness benefits for workers in imposed quarantine or who have been directed to self-isolate, as announced on March 11.
• Waive the requirement for a medical certificate to access EI sickness benefits.
• Extend the tax filing deadline for individuals to June 1, and allow all taxpayers to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of any income tax amounts that become owing on or after today and before September 2020. This relief would apply to tax balances due, as well as instalments, under Part I of the Income Tax Act. No interest or penalties will accumulate on these amounts during this period. This measure will result in households having more money available during this period.
• Provide increased flexibility to lenders to defer mortgage payments on homeowner government-insured mortgage loans to borrowers who may be experiencing financial difficulties related to the outbreak. Insurers will permit lenders to allow payment deferral beginning immediately.
If there are any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us should you need clarifications or assistance with this. While D-Squared continues to work, we also take our internal and external processes to ensure the health and safety of our employees very seriously. additional details as these programs are rolled out over the upcoming weeks on where to go to and how to apply, please let us know if there is any way we can help.