Covid-19 Safety Plan

Covid-19 Safety plan for Kaslo Visitors’ Centre and S.S. Moyie National Historic Site

WorkSafeBC has developed a six-step process for developing our COVID-19 Safety Plan:

1. Accessing the risk at your workplace 

2. Implementing measures to reduce the risk (i.e.: cleanliness and hygiene, maintaining physical distance) 

3. Developing policies (i.e.: self-isolation, sick workers etc.) 

4. Creating communication plans and training 

5. Monitoring our workplace and updating our plan

6. Assessing risks that arise from resuming operations

1. Accessing the risk at our workplace 

High risk areas include areas of congestion and high touch spaces:

  • Large group events 50+ – Canada Day, Pirate Day-cancelled for the season
  • Front entrance
  • Bathrooms
  • Basement
  • Pilot house
  • Caboose
  • Kuskanook
  • Brochures
  • Stairs up to Saloon deck
  • Freight deck
  • Shared tools, pens etc.
  • Cash money
  • Square (point of sale)
  • Credit card handling. Tap will be promoted.
  • Plexiglas at entrance to each cabin, pursers’ office, kitchen etc. 
  • Guest book and pen (mandatory signing with email or phone# for contact tracing purposes).

High risk people:

  • Those displaying symptoms of illness
  • Seniors 60+
    • By appointment with 24 hrs. notice the S.S. Moyie will be opened (9:00 – 10:00 am) for seniors only.

To lessen high-risk areas, some will be closed to the public this season. These include the upper deck Pilot/Wheel House, the Kuskanook, the Caboose, one upstairs washroom reserved for staff and potentially the Basement displays under the visitors’ centre.

2. Implementing measures to reduce the risk (i.e.: cleanliness and hygiene, maintaining physical distance) 

  •  Hand Hygiene & Sanitation

Respiratory viruses like coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread when mucus or droplets containing the virus get into your body through your eyes, nose or throat. Most often, this happens through your hands. Hands are also one of the most common ways that the virus spreads from one person to the next. During a global pandemic, one of the cheapest, easiest, and most important ways to prevent the spread of a virus is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

Below is a step-by-step process for effective handwashing, to remove all traces of the virus:

  • Step 1: Wet hands with running water
  • Step 2: Apply enough soap to cover wet hands
  • Step 3: Scrub all surfaces of the hands – including back of hands, between fingers and under nails – for at least 20 seconds.
  • Step 4: Rinse thoroughly with running water
  • Step 5: Dry hands with a clean cloth or single-use towel
  • Step 6: Use towel to turn off the faucet

Hand hygiene is available in washrooms including soap and paper towels. Washrooms on the premises will be disinfected frequently; hand sanitizer stations will be located at the entrance of the Visitors’ Centre. The six-step process will be posted with diagrams in all 4 washrooms, two within the VC building and each of the public beach washrooms.

All staff will wear gloves when sanitizing bathrooms with soap and water all high touch areas. Light switches, doorknobs, taps, soap dispenser, flush lever. Masks will also be available to staff.

  • There will be 3 main sanitation stations
  • 1) at the entrance to the visitors’ centre,
  • 2) at the bottom of the starboard stairs up to the passenger deck/entrance to freight deck
  • 3) at the top of the passenger deck for the port side down staircase
  • To preserve the integrity of the artifacts on board, no sanitizer stations will be inside the SS Moyie. Staff will sanitize plexiglass barriers and high touch areas when deemed necessary. Dawn dish soap will be used on metal surfaces.
  • The SS Moyie and the visitors’ centre will have reduced hours 10:00 am – 5:00 pm giving the staff an hour to clean and sanitize the entire site. (Appendix I)
  • It is suggested the SS Moyie be closed to the public Mondays – Wednesdays to self-sanitize

Physical Distancing for Employees:

  • revising work schedules or implementing work-from-home policies for some staff to limit the number of workers on site at a given time
  • maintaining an up-to-date list of employees at the workplace

Physical Distancing for Employees and Visitors

  • Workers, co-workers and customers should keep a distance of two metres between themselves and the people they work with. 
  • Use a standard greeting with each other that is positive but reminds others to keep a safe distance. 
  • Posting occupancy limits
  • maximum 5 visitors, 2 staff in VC building, 
  • one person/family unit in washroom (including Beach Washrooms), 
  • 10 people on patio on Front Street entrance, 
  • 20 people on National Historic Site grounds, boarding passes will be counted to contain maximum of 20 people.
  • using tape to mark areas where visitors can and cannot walk, floor arrows where visitors may walk only in one direction (includes entry and exit through VC Building, deck joining Visitors’ Centre building to Ship, counter-clockwise pathway through freight deck and clockwise direction on passenger deck).
  • One-way travel will be promoted entering basement under office, leaving left through breeze way.
  • posting signage to remind workers and visitors to maintain their 2 metre distance throughout site
  • Signs and markings will be posted to direct visitors of appropriate distances to stand, mark direction of travel, designate entrances or exits, or identify drive-thru pick-up lane and waiting areas if necessary
  • Physical Barriers
    • Stanchions in entry will divide entrance and exit pathway
    • Plexiglas will be installed to separate visitors from staff where distancing is less than 2 metres, at point of sale and map display counters, at door during “Take Out” early opening phase to prevent encroachment.
    • Seats in Women’s Saloon will be roped off, no seating allowed.
    • In the basement chairs will be spaced 2 metres apart

3. Developing policies (i.e.: self-isolation, sick workers etc.) 

   Customer Policies Messaging to Customers

  • If you have underlying medical conditions, it is recommended that you not visit our facility
  • Anyone displaying symptoms of COVID-19, which primarily displays as a persistent cough, will not be permitted on the premises. If you are sick, please stay home
  • If you have travelled outside Canada, you are not permitted on our premises until you have self-isolated for a minimum of 14 days
  • If you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 or you live in a household where someone is showing symptoms of COVID-19, please stay home
  • Physical distancing is required at all times (minimum of 2 metres)
  • Failure to observe physical distancing risks the closure of the facility, and you will be asked to leave the premises
  • Washrooms on the premises are disinfected frequently especially with respect to high touch surfaces, door knobs, taps, flush lever, light switches. Hand sanitizers are located at the entrance of the Visitors’ Centre and more will be placed strategically when the full site and SS Moyie are opened

Employee Policies, Employees Must:

  • Practice physical distancing by working at least 2 metres apart from co-workers whenever possible
  • Stay home if they are sick or might be sick. Use the BC Ministry of Health for self-assessment: https://bc.thrive.health/covid19/en
  • Avoid touching their face
  • Cough or sneeze into your elbow, not hands
  • Wash their hands at the start of their shift, before eating or drinking, after touching shared items, after using the washroom, after handling credit/debit cards (we will promote the use of the Tap feature) all cash handling will require the use of gloves.

Employers should ensure that workers do not come to work if they are displaying symptoms of COVID-19. This includes workers who fall into the below categories:

  • Anyone with COVID‐19-like symptoms such as a sore throat, fever, sneezing, or coughing must self‐isolate at home for a minimum of 10 days from onset of symptoms, until their symptoms are completely resolved.
  • Workers who live in the same household as a confirmed or clinical COVID-19 case who is self-isolating.

If workers report having COVID-19-like symptoms while at work:

  • They will be sent home to recover for the prescribed self-isolation period.
  • Their work station will be cleaned and disinfected and any areas or tools that they were using as part of their job.
  • Rules will be followed with the direction of public health with regard to detailed cleaning, temporary closure and trace contacting.

Zero Tolerance/Progressive Discipline Policy

The responsibility for meeting the requirements of occupational health and safety legislation ultimately lies with the employer. Employees are required to follow the health and safety rules in the workplace and the employer needs to ensure employees do so. For employees who are observed to not be following these rules, employers are expected to use discipline, which includes verbal and written warnings, and in extreme cases, termination. Therefore, it is essential that employers have a progressive discipline policy and all employees are familiar with it. 

 

4. Creating communication plans and training 

This plan will be shared with all staff and members of the KLHS Board. Each person working on site will be toured throughout the facility explaining the measures to be taken, signage positioning and the reasoning associated with each measure taken. If important for further preparation, role playing and our “soft entry” with all staff partaking before full opening will be a time of training, real-life practice and assessment.

5. Monitoring our workplace and updating our plan

Covid-19 is a novel virus. We are all in this for the first time. We are all in this together. Feedback will be welcomed from staff, the Board, and visitors to modify and upgrade our plan. Networking will continue throughout the summer with other visitor centres in the Kootenay region and beyond to compare notes and tweak as we go.

6. Assessing risks that arise from resuming operations

We are asking all staff members to observe closely and be active where possible our first days of reopening. It will be a low key, unannounced public opening not to attract or encourage large crowds as we test the viability of our COVID-19 Safety Plan.

Appendix I

Use damp cleaning methods such as damp clean cloths, and/or a wet mop. Do not dust or sweep which can distribute virus droplets into the air. f Contaminated disposable cleaning items (e.g. mop heads, cloths) should be placed in a lined garbage bin before disposing of them with regular waste. Reusable cleaning items can be washed using regular laundry soap and hot water (60-90°C). Clean and disinfect surfaces that people touch often f In addition to routine cleaning, surfaces that are frequently touched with hands should be cleaned and disinfected more often, as well as when visibly dirty.