First sales centre in Toronto opens back up

After closing their doors to do their part in slowing the spread of COVID-19, Canderel just re-opened its St.Clair Village sales office, but not before actioning several new health and safety procedures to ensure both staff and visitors follow recommended guidelines.

How have your operating procedures at your sales centre changed for visitors?

Given the continuing concerns about COVID-19, we wanted to assure our visitors that we are taking all necessary steps to protect their health and well-being. Before a scheduled appointment, we now ask visitors to sign a statement confirming that they haven’t traveled within the past 14 days, experienced any symptoms of COVID-19, been tested for the virus, or been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. The statement also includes an agreement to comply with recommended hygiene guidelines, such as handwashing.

How have your operating procedures at your sales centre changed for staff?

We revised staff responsibilities and expectations when working in the sales centre, to include additional mandatory handwashing and wearing a face mask around clients. They also no longer share workstations, and only one staff member answers the main office phone at the sales centre each day. We developed a safety checklist that all staff must submit daily as well, including a list of all the surfaces they must wipe down regularly.

What changes have you made within the sales centre space?

We have implemented a number of measures in the sales centre to adhere to social distancing guidelines, including floor decals to remind visitors to stand two metres apart, glass shields at the signing desk, and signage to remind visitors not to touch any surfaces. We have also circulated traffic flow maps to staff, to give them a better understanding of how to move through the sales office, kitchen/bathroom vignette and signing areas while maintaining a 2-metre distance from visitors.

Which health/safety materials did you reference when developing this new operating handbook?

Here are the links that we referenced when developing our procedures:
https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/05/ontario-announces-additional-workplaces-that-can-reopen.html
https://www.wsps.ca/WSPS/media/Site/Resources/Downloads/covid-19-retail-health-and-safety-guidance.pdf?ext=.pdf