WorkSafeNB says it has had to issue only a small number of orders to employers to force them to comply with COVID-19 rules.

Two orders were aimed at manufacturing companies that weren't observing physical distancing guidelines and one was to a service-sector company allowed to remain open that wasn't putting out hand sanitizer for members of the public.

All three companies immediately complied with the orders, said WorkSafeNB CEO Doug Jones. "Even though they were issued, they didn't take very long to get resolved."

Overall, the Crown corporation had received 219 complaints by the end of the day Monday, most of them from employees concerned about working conditions.

WorkSafeNB CEO Doug Jones says the companies that have been ordered to comply have acted swiftly to make changes. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

There were 18 employees provincewide who contacted WorkSafeNB to initiate a refusal-to-work process, but none of those cases reached the point where the employee actually did not go to work.

In those cases, the employers made changes to comply with requirements.

"We've been so pleased with the co-operation that we've been receiving in general," Jones said. "It's been phenomenal. Nobody is really resisting any of this."

"The calls to us have been more about 'tell us what we need to do. Help us. How can we comply with this?' Everybody understands this is a serious issue."

WorkSafeNB has not levied any penalties and hasn't had to resort to ordering the shutdown of a company.

As the province's Crown corporation focused on workplace health and safety, WorkSafeNB is the destination for any employees who are worried their employer hasn't put in place measures to protect them from the coronavirus.

It would also process compensation claims from any workers who catch the virus at work and have to take time off, though Jones said there hasn't been a single case of that yet.

"We're sitting at zero," he said. "Nothing on that at all."

Swamped with calls

The organization has been swamped with calls, averaging about 70 to 80 a day, which is 10 times the normal rate.

There are 29 health and safety officers and all of them are working from home to process calls.

In most cases, they haven't had to visit workplaces.

"It's been a lot through education over the phone, understanding what the issue was and working with everybody to get it resolved," Jones said. "So the vast majority of them have been resolved very quickly."

On Sunday, CIBC confirmed an employee at its Fredericton call centre had tested positive for COVID-19. The company said it was doing "enhanced cleaning" of the site, which is in the Kings Place office building downtown.

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Another call centre company, Nordia, which has facilities in Moncton and Saint John, was moving to a two-metre physical distancing standard after initially keeping workers 1.4 metres apart — closer than Public Health guidelines.

Jones said so far WorkSafeNB has had no complaints about call centres, though some companies have called in for advice.

"We've had conversations with some different firms about how they do have to adjust their operations for distancing, but most of the ones we've had to engage with have acted fairly quickly," he said.

"We might have had a couple of follow-up calls with them as things evolved, but nothing of note."