On 11th May 2020, following the Government’s announcement that the lockdown as a result of COVID-19 was to be lifted to allow those who could not work from home to return to work, guidance was produced to assist with that return.
Many sites were closed completely as a result of or even before lockdown others have continued to operate, albeit at reduced levels. Nevertheless the vast majority of people working in the construction industry have not been able to work from home, so this slight shift in emphasis to encourage returns to site is welcome.
However, the extensive guidance and recommendations produced by the Government for the construction/outdoor workplaces can appear at first glance onerous in terms of considerations and requirements ahead of re-opening any site.
The guidance contains recommendations and highlights issues for employers/site operators to consider. The aims are to reduce the risk of the transmission of the COVID- 19 virus to the lowest level possible enabling workers to return to site with some degree of confidence that they will be safe.
It is therefore important that all construction companies and site operators consider the guidance and ensure that they take appropriate steps tailored to the circumstances of each site to reduce the risk of the transmission of COVID-19 as far as practicable, enabling site based workers to return .
So, in a nutshell, what does the guidance say?
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The guidance is still that if you can work from home then continue to do so. Therefore employers should continue to monitor the well-being of people who are working from home and provide equipment to facilitate safe and effective working from home.
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For those workers who cannot work from home systems of work should ,if possible, maintain social distancing (keeping people 2 metres apart).
Contractors/site operators therefore need to undertake a specific COVID-19 risk assessment in relation to each site and put in place appropriate steps and measures and enable their workers to return to site.
The guidance refers to a number of issues that need to be considered in the context of producing a risk assessment and makes suggestions as to how social distancing can be maintained.
The workplace issues / areas covered include arriving and leaving work, moving around buildings and worksites, making the main workplace safe for people who work statically, handling equipment, materials, waste and on site vehicles, workforce management, meetings, common areas, managing customers, visitors and contractors, work-related travel, deliveries to other sites, inbound and outbound goods, and providing communication and training.
- Following on from the above, where social distancing is not possible because of the very nature of the work, which will be the case where workers are undertaking their roles in close proximity to each other, further guidance is provided.
The further guidance recommends mitigating actions such as arranging for workers to work side by side or facing away from each other, using screens to separate people, increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning, using consistent pairing systems, and keeping the activity time as short as possible.
Other factors that the guidance suggests will also need to be taken into account when preparing a COVID-19 assessment, is the protection of clinically vulnerable and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals, people who need to self-isolate, and the provision of PPE. Vulnerable people should not be allowed on site. PPE is an obvious means of mitigating the risk of transmission of infection where workers are operating in close proximity to one another.
Recommendations have been made for providing guidance to the workforce once a risk assessment has been completed, and places emphasis upon communication going forwards in particular with regard to social distancing and hygiene for site based workers, as well as those visiting the site.
Finally, the guidance provides recommendations with regard to cleaning the workplace both before and during return to work to prevent transmission as far as is reasonable practicable.
As stated above, the guidance provides helpful recommendations, but it can only be general guidance and the mitigating steps suggested may not be possible in all circumstances. Each site will have unique features requiring the risk assessment and operating procedures to draw on the guidance but be tailored according to the individual site. Maintaining social distancing, or where not possible mitigation, will be the greatest challenge on most sites. It requires careful consideration of the features of the site which may well change as the project progresses. The introduction of one way pedestrian systems in confined work areas and keeping the number of visitors to site to the bare minimum can be useful ways of making sites as safe as possible. In these times the safe operation of a construction site is not a straightforward matter requiring thorough assessment, careful planning and constant review. As ever the can do approach of most who work in the industry will be heavily relied upon. It will be little consolation that there is one task that is probably even more challenging, namely the safe restart of professional football as in Germany and which remains under discussion in England. Scotland has taken a different approach to football mirroring the independent line taken by the Scottish government in relation to restrictions.
It goes without saying that the COVID 19 related changes come on top of general health and safety law. The news that the HSE will receive a 10 per cent increase to its budget suggests that at the very least there will be no letting up on site visits and follow up action if required.
