COVID-19 Health & Safety

To stay fully informed about UBC’s response to COVID-19 visit covid19.ubc.ca. For Okanagan-specific updates, visit ok.ubc.ca/COVID19

On this page:

Prevention | Working safely on campus | Working safely remotely | Reporting COVID-19 exposure

Prevention

Following appropriate health guidance during the current COVID-19 response will reduce your risk of infection. Organizations such as the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Public Health Canada, and the World Health Organization, have issued COVID-19 related health guidance which, if followed, helps to reduce the risk of infection:

Wash hands thoroughly and frequently Use hand sanitizer when you can’t wash your hands
Wipe down frequently touched surfaces and objects Avoid touching your head/face whenever possible
Minimize your contact with others through physical distancing by keeping about two metres apart when outside your home If you are sick or come into contact with a person who is sick, stay home and follow guidance about self-isolation

COVID-19 Self-Assessment Requirements

Faculty, staff and contractors working on campus are required to directly confirm to a supervisor (or designate) that they have completed a daily self-assessment for symptoms of COVID-19 on arrival at their workplace (regardless of campus location).

Daily health checks must be completed every day and before each shift.

Please see here for more information.

Working safely on campus

While working on campus, health and safety guidance must be followed at all times, this is unaffected by the situation caused by COVID-19:

  • Always follow safe working procedures, current processes, and health and safety guidance for your role.
  • To find relevant safe working procedures speak to your manager or the appropriate member of the HSE team.
  • If you encounter a situation that appears to have an elevated risk of contact with COVID-19, leave the area immediately and contact your supervisor for assistance.
  • If your staff member reports an elevated risk to you, please contact ready.ok.ubc@ubc.ca for next steps.

Non-medical masks

Effective Wednesday, September 16, 2020, UBC students, faculty, staff and visitors are required to wear non-medical masks, when indoors on our campuses.

The requirement to wear non-medical masks indoors recognizes that transmission is reduced when face masks are worn in conjunction with physical distancing and other safety practices.

More information can be found on the Using non-medical masks page.

Mandatory Online Training

All faculty, staff and student staff who are performing work on campus must take the online course Preventing COVID-19 Infection in the Workplace. This course is designed to help UBC faculty, staff and student-staff work safely by following provincial direction on reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission and is an important element of the on-campus work resumption process.

Facilities

Access

Due to heightened security procedures on campus, building access is limited. For details, visit Limited Building Access & Hours.

Cleaning

Facilities Management continues to meet ISSA Canada and APPA Leadership in Educational Facilities cleaning standards for COVID-19.

Best Service Pros provide our custodial services and maintain the campus to a very high standard. Moving forward, custodial have enhanced cleaning scope and resources during both the out-of-hours and daytime cleaning to accommodate the needs of a phased return of faculty, staff and students to campus.

Supplementary cleaning of high touch surfaces in shared work areas is encouraged. For those who wish to perform supplementary cleaning of their space, supplies will be provided through Facilities Management. See below for related guidance.

Preparing Spaces for Resumption

Facilities Management will provide support with facility needs (cleaning kits, barriers/plexiglass installation, hand sanitizer, face shields) for UBCO teams that have received approval to return campus. Signage is also available for workspaces. For full details, visit COVID-19 Resumption.

Safety Guidance

The following documents have been compiled to reflect infection control guidance from Health Canada, the BC CDC, Safety and Risk Services and UBCO IDAPP (Infectious Disease and Pandemic Planning Committee) for the context of the UBCO campus.

Members of the campus community are encouraged to review these documents and to apply the guidance, where appropriate, in an effort to follow infection control best practices and to reduce potential spread of COVID-19. Questions about these documents should be directed to hse.ok@ubc.ca

Infection Control Consultations

Members of the Health, Safety & Environment and the Campus Health team are available to provide safe working consultations, either in person or online, and help to develop COVID-19 safety plans. Please contact hse.ok@ubc.ca to request support.

Working safely remotely

It’s always important to ensure you are working safely, whether on campus or remotely.

Reporting COVID-19 exposure

Faculty and Staff

If you suspect you have been exposed to, or contracted COVID-19 at UBC or through your association with UBC, please notify your supervisor and report the incident through the Centralized Accident / Incident Reporting System (CAIRS).

WorkSafeBC has provided COVID19 claims related information for workers on their website: COVID-19 Claims WorkSafeBC info

Supervisors

Contact Health, Safety and Environment at hse.ok@ubc.ca or 250.807.8516 and a safety expert will provide guidance on any immediate follow-up measures.

Notification of COVID-19 Cases

What is the notification process for confirmed cases of COVID-19?

Notification of COVID-19 cases, and potential exposures within our community, is managed by public health authorities, not by UBC. If UBC is asked by public health authorities to notify our community members of a confirmed case, we will do so by distributing material prepared by those public health authorities. Only those identified through contact tracing as “needing to know” will have access to this information. You can learn more about the contact tracing process here.