Three COVID-19 Screening Tools Available to Canadians

COVID-19 screening tools range from custom-built HR applications to paper and pencil. No matter the organization, screening tools are essential to limiting the spread of the virus. Although the rules vary across Canada, Ontario is the first province to introduce mandatory workplace screening guidelines.

On September 25, 2020, the Ontario government announced a new mandatory workplace screening requirement as per the Ontario Regulation 364/20. The person responsible for the business or organization must comply with the advice, recommendations, and instructions of the Chief Medical Officer of Health on implementing a COVID-19 screening tool in their workspaces, regardless of the place of work. Retailers, restaurants, banks, factories, and construction sites are all included under the regulation. No distinction was made between indoor and outdoor places of work.

Three Most Popular COVID-19 Screening Tools

1. Paper COVID-19 Screening At The Door

With the launch, the Ontario government launched a paper-based COVID-19 screening tool. With this approach, employers verbally check each employee at the door to the organization. The employer then either admits the employee (if all answers are ‘’no”) or sends them home (if any response was “yes”).

Pros:

• Easy to implement
• Easy to do with small numbers of employees

Cons:

• Doesn’t adjust to changing regulations, providing a risk of non-compliance
• No way to track who did the test day-to-day
• All information is stored on paper, which is prone to errors and requires the storage of employee health information.
• Privacy risk as an employer or fellow employees seeing or hearing personal health information.
• No actionable next-steps for employees who are sent home
• Employees are already at the place of work – meaning they could have spread COVID-19 on their way to work within their community
• Requires additional labour expense to have someone at the door to screen individuals 
• Creates bottlenecks of employees delaying them from starting productive work
• As it gets colder outside, it will be harder to require employees to stand outside as they are screened.
• Difficult to manage those who need to self-isolate from returning to the workplace within their self-isolation period

2. Paper And Pencil COVID-19 Screening At Home

With most organizations switching to virtual meetings and at-home offices to combat the novel coronavirus, an easy and convenient way to screen for COVID-19 has been the paper and pencil method. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of this procedure:

Pros:

• Easy to implement 
• Easy to do with small numbers of employees
• Keeps potential illnesses at home, off transit, and away from workplaces
• No privacy risk as an employer or fellow employee does not see personal health information.

Cons:

• Doesn’t adjust to changing regulations, providing a risk of non-compliance
• No way to track who did the test day-to-day
• All information is stored on paper at the employees’ home, which does not provide an opportunity to prove compliance
• No actionable next-steps for employees who are kept home

3. Digital Screening Tools

Some organizations have created their own digital screening tools for employees and employers alike. Such digital tools make it easy for businesses to screen their employees on a daily basis while ensuring compliance with Covid-19 guidelines. Remember these are contactless, most often customizable and paperless solutions enabled by these platforms.

Pros:

• Easy to implement 
• Scales to all sizes or organizations
• Low-cost 
• Available on a mobile phone or desktop
• Completed at home, which keeps potential illnesses at home, off transit, and away from workplaces
• No privacy risk as an employer or fellow employee does not see personal health information
• Real-time automated dashboard to track compliance
• Updated to reflect changing regulations, eliminates the risk of accidental non-compliance
• Nudge reminders for employees to complete the screening when required
• Actionable next-steps provided to employees based on results, including directions to the closest screening location

Cons:

• 24 hours to set-up

Choosing Your {COVID-19 Screening Solution}

How will these requirements change existing processes? In July 2020 Mercer reported that most companies are doing something about their employees’ health to protect the workplace. At the time, temperature screening onsite and simple questionnaires were the most common solutions. Now, digital solutions present the best opportunity to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Ready to implement a digital screening tool for your workplace? Learn more about our suite of COVID-19 Screening solutions, including Return to Workplace and Return to School. Or, book a demo directly to find out more.