2022-05-15_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - M1981286

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 jil; COVI D- 19 TM MULTI-INDUSTRY • • GUIDANCE Introduction Construction worksites, projects and companies are not exempt from Social/Physical Distancing Requirements, even if compliance means added cost. Hygiene protocols are strictly required. Moreover, people who are sick or at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 must not travel to work, even if they work for a critical business. This guidance clarifies how social and physical distancing requirements should be applied to the construction sector during the "Safer-at-Home" period, recognizing certain aspects of this workplace environment that make it unique from other sectors explicitly addressed in the Safer-at-Home public health order. Social/physical distancing on construction worksites Critical functions, including construction, work MUST comply with social/physical distancing requirements. The following practices are important for applying social distancing to a construction worksite setting: • Reduce size of work crews: Teams should reduce the number of people in each work crew to the minimum number of people possible to perform the task safely, even if the reduction of crew size means the job takes longer. • Minimize interaction between work teams: Even groups within the same project should avoid interaction across groups, to minimize possible viral spread if one worker contracts COVID-19. Approaches to avoiding contact between groups may include staggered shifts, compressed work weeks where different teams work different days, and maximizing geographic distance between different teams working on the same project. • Avoid contact with visitors: Visitors outside the typical work crew should avoid interaction with the team wherever possible. For example, if an inspector or materials delivery needs to enter the site, they should alert the work team (e.g. by honking the horn of their vehicle twice or through another established communication means) so that the work team can vacate the site while the external parties are present. • Maintain a 6-foot distance between employees wherever possible: Construction teams should make every effort to limit activities that cannot be performed within 6 feet of distance between workers. However, some core construction activities may require some proximity to complete (e.g., concrete pours, utility potholing, work in cranes, drainage pipe construction, among others). In these cases, construction crews must employ other aggressive measures to limit contact. Examples include requiring employees to face away from each other, the use of supplemental Personal COVID-19:MULTI-INDUSTRY CONSTRUCTION GUIDANCE 040120 1