WSCC investigating Iqaluit Northmart over air quality complaints

The Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) is investigating Iqaluit's Northmart after an employee filed a complaint about air quality on Monday.

The WSCC was at the grocery store on Friday to conduct a safety inspection, eight days after fire destroyed a large section of the store.

The commission said the store was safe to open. It did not test the store's air quality, as it does not have the equipment to do so, said WSCC president and CEO Dave Grundy.

"It's up to the employer to ensure safe work quality. What we do is ensure safe workplaces," he said.

"When we went to inspect … we were only looking for safety hazards," said Grundy.

Safety hazards include things that could fall on employees, for example.

Now, Northmart will have to hire a third-party company to do air quality testing.

'Heavy' smoke smell

Grundy said it's the employer's responsibility to make sure the store is safe, and that includes health concerns like air quality.

"From a safety aspect, there was no fear that any of the workers would be hurt from anything that could happen inside the store as a result of the fire," said Grundy.

But that doesn't account for the way the store smelled.

Grundy said he was at the store this weekend as a customer, and he thought the company had done "a nice job cleaning it up."

"It's the smell and it's really tough to get smoke smell out of a building," he said.

Grundy said there is a "heavy" smoke smell, and when they received the complaint from an employee, they started investigating right away.

"Going forward with the complaint, they will want to interview the person that complains, and if there are any other complaints."

North West Company working with officials

The North West Company, which owns the Northmart store, said in an email to CBC News that it received approval to reopen "following thorough inspections by the Fire Marshal's Office and the Department of Health."

"We take the welfare and safety of our employees and customers seriously, so we will continue to collaborate with local officials to ensure that we offer a safe and welcoming environment in the store," the company's statement reads in part.

CBC News has requested an interview with a health inspector to provide an update in the Northmart case, but the territory's Department of Health has not approved the request to date.

As well, CBC News has requested the department's report from Friday's inspection of the store, but that has not yet been provided.

With files from Nick Murray