As the Government is advising, the pandemic has now reached its peak, and a Covid-19 vaccine is still some way off, It’s clear there will be a need to maintain social distancing for the foreseeable future when construction activity resumes.
All contractors and subcontractors will need to factor new measures into their risk and method statements, going forward.
As well as considering our role as principal contractor, providing suitable health and welfare to sites as a whole, we will need to consider the co-ordination of activities between subcontractors.
These measures will require the cooperation of all parties and will take time and patience to implement, but we mustn’t lose sight of the main aim, that’s to keep everyone on our sites safe and free from infection.
It will become the norm for operatives to self-certify they are not suffering from the symptoms of coronavirus when they arrive for work.
Operatives temperatures may be taken by site supervisors, welfare facilities will be arranged to seat people 2 metres apart, break times will be staggered to reduce the number of people using welfare facilities.
These are just some of the measures that will be introduced to maintain social distancing and reduce the chances of exposure to infection.
Perhaps the biggest challenge will come when operatives can’t maintain the 2 metre distancing rule whilst carrying out critical activities.
The Construction Leadership Council has produced Site Operating Procedures ‐ Version 3 in an attempt to address some of these issues.
These necessary procedures will impact the way we think and work, but they are part of the new reality, so we need to embrace them in a positive and collaborative way.
Contract Services is also taking the advice of Public Health England who publish ongoing advice: Social distancing in the workplace during coronavirus (COVID‐19), which includes sections on Construction and the use of private vehicles and car pooling for travelling to work.
We all need to stay safe and Contract Services will do everything it can to play its part and make this happen!
