Ontario Food Terminal COVID-19 Protocol – Revised March 19, 2020

Ontario Food Terminal Board
165 the Queensway
Toronto, Ontario
M8Y 1H8
Phone: (416) 259-5479 Fax: (416) 259-4303
Email: info@oftb.com Website: www.oftb.com
Ontario Food Terminal COVID-19 Protocol
(Revised March 19, 2020 10:00 am)
Effective Wednesday March 25, 2020

The Ontario Food Terminal Board is closely monitoring communications from Toronto Public Health and the Ontario Chief Medical Officer for recommended precautions or actions regarding COVID-19. We are modifying our policies as events evolve. The Board would like to stress the importance of incorporating steps into your operations to minimize the threat of spreading the virus.

The Board has increased the number of hand sanitizing stations throughout the facility and have increased the intensity of its daily cleaning program. In addition, the Board has disinfected and applied a microbe shield to all washrooms and common areas of the facility. The Board has suspended all tours of the Ontario Food Terminal until further notice.

Actions Taken by the Ontario Food Terminal Board

The Board has implemented the following expectations from the tenants, buyers, and employees at the Terminal:
All persons who have a cough, fever, or difficulty breathing must contact their primary doctor, Telehealth Ontario, or the public health unit for clearance before entering the Terminal. If you have travelled internationally or have been in close contact to another person who has travelled internationally, except to the United States, you will not be permitted on the Ontario Food Terminal property for 14 consecutive days from the date of return to Canada.

All vehicles, other than tenant vehicles (tenant employees would have already been screened by their employer as a condition of their employment), will be required to stop at the entrance gates where they will be screened by an OFTB police officer who will ask the following questions:

• Do you have a cough, fever, or difficulty breathing? If so, you must contact your primary doctor, Telehealth Ontario, or your public health unit for clearance before entering the Terminal.
• Have you travelled internationally or have been in close contact to another person who has travelled internationally, except to the United States? If so, you will not be permitted on the Ontario Food Terminal property for 14 consecutive days from the date of return to Canada.

Actions That Are Required by Stakeholders Warehouse Tenants:
• Preventative measures must be taken to reduce the spread of any illness.
• Warehouse tenants must clean and sanitize all common areas and equipment within their warehouse frequently and will be audited by Ontario Food Terminal Board staff.
• All persons entering a warehouse are to use the hand sanitizer at the entrance.
• Tenants will be encouraged to stagger their workforce hours so that not all their workforce has the risk of common exposure at the same time.
• Tenants will be required to track interactions that their employees have with buyers and/or buyers’ drivers in order to enable a rapid assessment of ‘exposure’ to be made – it is expected that all buyers and their drivers make entries in a log of their arrival and departure with the name of the individual and contact information provided.
• Tenants must limit the number of business associates visiting their warehouse.
• Buyers are not permitted to enter the warehouse unit.
• The tenant is responsible for placing the produce order at the doorway of their warehouse where the produce order will be picked up by the designated delivery employee and taken to the buyer’s vehicle.
• The tenants will designate a limited number of their workforce for interaction with buyers.

Buyers:
• Preventative measures must be taken to reduce the spread of any illness.
• Be prepared to be screened and questioned by the OFTB police at the main entrance.
• Buyers will be required to stay with their vehicle at all times while on the premises of the OFTB.
• An exception will be made for individuals who require the emergency use of a washroom for which the individual will be permitted to proceed to the nearest common washroom.
• Buyers may leave the cab of their vehicle to verify the contents of the produce received and the loading of the vehicle. Buyers and/or their drivers are not permitted to enter the offices or warehouse space of the tenant.
• The use of dollies and ‘two wheelers’ will not be permitted.
• The tenant is responsible for conveying the produce to be loaded from the warehouse area, including the farmers’ market stall, to the vehicle of the buyer.
• The tenants will designate a limited number of their workforce for interaction with buyers.
• To facilitate the exchange of produce, buyers are encouraged to place their orders with the tenant in advance and, where that is not feasible, to place the order by digital means on the premises (phone call, for example).
• To minimize human interaction in paying for produce, buyers will be required to pay by digital means, using bank transfers (e-transfers) or such other means as agreed with the tenant.

Farmers Market Tenants:
• Preventative measures must be taken to reduce the spread of any illness.
• All persons entering your stall are to use hand sanitizer.
• Tenants must clean and sanitize their kiosk and equipment.
• Tenants must limit the number of business associates visiting their stall.
• Tenants will be encouraged to stagger their workforce hours so that they not all their workforce has the risk of common exposure at the same time.
• Tenants will be required to track interactions that their employees have with buyers in order to enable a rapid assessment of ‘exposure’ to be made – it is recommended that all buyers and drivers make entries in a log of their arrival and departure with the name of the individual and contact information provided.
• Buyers will be required to stay with their vehicle at all times while on the premises of the OFTB.
• An exception will be made for individuals who require the emergency use of a washroom for which the individual will be permitted to proceed to the nearest common washroom.
• Buyers may leave the cab of their vehicle to oversee loading and verify the contents of the load but are not permitted to enter the offices or warehouse space of the tenant.
• The use of dollies and ‘two wheelers’ will not be permitted.
• The tenant is responsible for conveying the produce to be loaded from the warehouse area, including the farmers’ market stall, to the vehicle of the buyer.
• Tenants will designate a limited number of their workforce for interaction with buyers.
• To facilitate the exchange of produce, buyers are encouraged to place their orders with the tenant in advance and, where that is not feasible, to place the order by digital means on the premises (phone call, for example).
• To minimize human interaction in paying for produce, buyers will be required to pay by digital means, using bank transfers (e-transfers) or such other means as agreed with the tenant.

Office Tenants:
• Preventative measures must be taken to reduce the spread of any illness.
• Tenants must limit the number of business associates visiting their office.
• All office tenants are restricted to the second-floor office areas and contact with others by phone.
• All office doors must kept closed.

Ontario Food Terminal Board’s Cold Storage:
• Preventative measures must be taken to reduce the spread of any illness.
• Access into cold storage will be monitored and controlled by an OFTB staff member.
• Produce destined to be withdrawn from cold storage through the front door will be taken to withdrawal station room 2. Only a designated tenant employee will be permitted to enter the front entrance of cold storage to withdraw produce from the withdrawal station room 2 and will not be permitted access beyond that point.

Incoming Deliveries:
• Drivers will be required to stay with their vehicles at all times while on the premises of the OFTB.
• An exception will be made for individuals who require the emergency use of a washroom for which the individual will be permitted to proceed to the nearest common washroom.

Everyone Plays a Role
The Ontario Food Terminal Board would like to thank all tenants and buyers for working together to minimize the impacts of COVID-19.
Preventative measures that must be taken to reduce the spread of any illness:
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are
not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are ill.
• Emphasize to your employees and buyers to stay home when they have a cough, fever, or have difficulty breathing.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then immediately throw the tissue in the garbage and wash your hands.
• If you don’t have a tissue, sneeze or cough into your sleeve or arm.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Social distancing as recommended by public health authorities will be practiced, with distances of 2 metres being maintained at all times to the fullest extent possible, and no physical contact such as hand-shaking permitted.
• If you have travelled internationally or have been in close contact to another person who has also travelled internationally, except to the United States, you will not be permitted on the Ontario Food Terminal property for 14 consecutive days from the date of return to Canada.
• The use of disposable gloves and the use of face masks is encouraged by those who are interacting with other persons.

As COVID-19 continues to evolve, we will modify our protocol accordingly and respond to the latest developments while keeping you informed. The Terminal will remain open and will continue to provide a safe and reliable food supply to the people of Ontario. For more information regarding COVID-19, visit the websites listed below.

If you have any questions regarding the protocol, contact us at (416) 259-5479 or email us at info@oftb.com.

The Ontario Food Terminal Board: www.oftb.com

Toronto Public Health: https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellnesscare/
diseases-medications-vaccines/coronavirus/

Public Health Ontario:https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novelcoronavirus?_ga=2.184384934.1072155291.1583885458-954825015.1559313815

Health Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novelcoronavirus-
infection.html

World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

Canadian Produce Marketing Association: https://cpma.ca/docs/default-source/foodsafety/covid-19_information_for_the_canadian_produce_sector.pdf