Page - 476 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE476 as are the regulatory ramifications of indirect OHS issues that arise because of home-based work.8 Aside from a small percentage of fed- erally regulated industries, laws governing the prevention of occu- pational injuries and disease and workers’ compensation fall under provincial jurisdiction9; here we focus primarily on Ontario and Quebec. What Are the Relevant Regulatory Issues Relating to OHS in a Pandemic? Protection of workers’ health is governed by OHS legislation, while access to compensation for disability arising out of and in the course of employment is governed by workers’ compensation. The federal government temporarily provides the Canada Emergency Response Benefit10 which, as we shall see, is of relevance to the understanding of workers’ options to protect their own health and that of their families during the pandemic. OHS legislation throughout Canada provides that employers have a general duty to protect workers’ health11 and workers have the duty to protect their own health and that of others in the work- place (OHSQ, s. 49; OHSO, s. 28). The key foundation of Quebec legislation (OHSQ, s. 2) is the elimination of the hazard at source; workers have the right to information and training and the right to refuse hazardous work, and the employer is obliged to provide per- sonal protective equipment (PPE) in the event that hazards cannot be eliminated at source. In Ontario, three basic health and safety rights include the right to know, the right to participate, and the right to refuse unsafe work. Based on dozens of pages of information summarized in a Superior Court injunction,12 a decision of the Ontario Labour Relations Board 8. Sylvie Montreuil & Katherine Lippel, “Telework and Occupational Health: Overview and Reflections Based on Empirical Research Conducted in Québec” (2003) 41 Safety Science 331. 9. Katherine Lippel, “The Future of Workplace Health and Safety Law in the Context of Globalisation” (2016) 47:2 Ottawa L Rev 535. 10. “Canada Emergency Response Benefit” (last visited 8 May 2020), online: Government  of  Canada <https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-appli- cation.html> [Government of Canada]. 11. In Ontario, Occupational  Health  and  Safety  Act, RSO 1990, c O-1, [OHSO] s 25; in Quebec, An  Act  Respecting  Occupational  Health  and  Safety, RSQ c S-2.1, [OHSQ] s 51. 12. Re  Ontario  Nurses’  Association  et  al  and  Eatonville  Care  Centre  Facility  Inc  et  al, 2020 ONSC 2647 [Eatonville].