OHIO CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION
COVID-19 RECOMMENDED PRACTICES FOR CONSTRUCTION JOBSITES
Updated: March 26, 2020
Personal Responsibilities
• It is critical that individuals NOT report to work while they are experiencing illness symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, body aches, chills, or fatigue.
• Individuals should seek medical attention if they develop these symptoms.
Social Distancing
• Do not host large group meetings. CDC recommends that we avoid gatherings of 10+ people; and when meeting, that we keep a 6-foot distance between people. Perform meetings online or via conference call whenever possible.
• To limit the number of people on a jobsite, allow non-essential personnel to work from home when possible.
• Discourage hand-shaking and other contact greetings.
Jobsite / Office Practices
• Communicate key CDC recommendations (and post signage where appropriate) to your staff and tradespeople:
How to protect yourself
If you are sick
COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions
Place posters that encourage staying home when sick , cough and sneeze etiquette , and hand hygiene at the entrance to your workplace and in other workplace areas where they are likely to be seen.
• Identify a workplace coordinator who will be responsible for COVID-19 issues and their impact at the workplace.
• Supervisors should ask the following questions to all employees prior to entering the jobsite. If they answer “yes” to any, they should be asked to leave the jobsite immediately. Anyone asked to leave should not return to work until 24-hours after they are free from a fever or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medication.
Have you, or anyone in your family, been in contact with a person that has tested positive for COVID-19?
Have you, or anyone in your family, been in contact with a person that is in the process of being tested for COVID-19?
Have you, or anyone in your family traveled outside of the U.S. within the last two weeks?
Have you been medically directed to self-quarantine due to possible exposure to COVID19?
Are you having trouble breathing or have you had flu-like symptoms within the past 48 hours, including: fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, body aches, chills, or fatigue?
• Be aware that some employees may be at higher risk for serious illness, such as older adults and those with chronic medical conditions. Consider minimizing face-to-face contact between these employees or assign work tasks that allow them to maintain a distance of six feet from other workers, customers and visitors.
• Instruct employees to clean their hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95% alcohol or wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.
• Provide soap and water and alcohol-based hand rubs in the workplace. Ensure that adequate supplies are maintained. Place hand rubs in multiple locations or in conference rooms to encourage hand hygiene.
• Do not congregate in lunch areas.
• Do not share tools or any multi-user devices and accessories such as iPads, laptops, hand-held radios, remote controllers, computer stations, etc.
• Limit the exchange/sharing of paper documents by encouraging use of electronic communication whenever possible.
• Do not share personal protection equipment (PPE).
• Sanitize reusable PPE per manufacturer’s recommendation prior to each use.
• Ensure used PPE is disposed of properly.
• Utilize disposable gloves where appropriate; instruct workers to wash hands after removing gloves.
• Disinfect reusable supplies and equipment
• Identify specific locations and practices for daily trash such as: paper, hand towels, food containers, etc. Instruct workers responsible for trash removal in proper PPE/hand washing practices.
• Provide routine environmental cleaning (doorknobs, keyboards, counters, and other surfaces).
• Do not use a common water cooler. Provide individual water bottles or instruct workers to bring their own.
• Utilize shoe sanitation tubs (non-bleach sanitizer solution) prior to entering/leaving jobsite.
• Instruct workers to change work clothes prior to arriving home; and to wash clothes in hot water with laundry sanitizer.
• Don’t stack trades if possible. (The stacking of trades describes project conditions where multiple tradespeople are working simultaneously in a single work area. Stacking creates congestion and crew interference and can also negatively affect productivity.)
• Utilize disposable hand towels and no-touch trash receptacles.
• Request additional/increased sanitation (disinfecting) of portable toilets.
• Avoid cleaning techniques, such as using pressurized air or water sprays that may result in the generation of bioaerosols.
Jobsite Vehicle / Transportation Issues
• Clean and disinfect surfaces of service/fleet vehicles, steering wheel, gear shift, instrument panels, door handles, etc., use aerosol sanitizers inside closed cabs.
• When transporting crews or shuttling employees, “Social distancing” is the key to slowing the spread of the virus by breaking the chain of transmission. If there are two employees in a vehicle, the passenger should be encouraged to sit in the back seat to practice a degree of social distancing. Fleet policy guidance is recommended when multiple people or work crews drive together to a job site. Some companies are temporarily limiting the number passengers in single vehicle. Contractors may consider encouraging employees to provide their own individual transportation where possible.
• Personal Use: Consider whether to modify personal use policies to gain tighter control as who is riding in the vehicle. When companies allow spouses and children to use company vehicles, it loses control over who is a passenger in a corporate vehicle.
• Sanitizing Pool Vehicles: Instruct drivers to wipe down every touched surface in a vehicle – first when entering the vehicle and second, when they return it. The coronavirus can survive for 72 hours on a surface before dying if the surface is not cleaned.
• Refueling: Instruct drivers to wipe down the fuel pump handle and keypad prior to inputting their odometer and driver ID. If you don’t have wipes, then consider using a paper towel to grab the fuel dispenser handle. Ask drivers to wipe down fuel cards, especially if it is a shared card. Consider assigning a fuel card to each driver to avoid sharing. If drivers wear gloves when refueling, be sure to instruct them to dispose of them before re-entering the cab.
• Public Vehicle Interaction Guidelines: Establish procedures on how your vehicle drivers interact with another party if involved in a street accident. Also, should there be a vehicle accident on the project involving the traveling public, immediately call 911 for assistance and instruct crews to maintain social distancing of approximately 6 feet from involved personnel, unless critically impossible.
• Establish and utilize telemedicine services where practical for jobsite injury consultation and triage, as well as COVID-19 issues.
Managing Sick Employees
• Actively encourage sick employees to stay home. Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are recommended to stay home and not return to work until they are free of fever (100.4° F [38.0° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants). Employees should notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick.
• If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19 infection, employers should inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The fellow employees should then self-monitor for symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath).
• Separate sick employees. CDC recommends that employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms (i.e. cough, shortness of breath) upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately.
• Communicate your company’s Human Resources practices for managing sick time related to COVID-19.
• Post the Department of Labor (DOL) Jobsite Poster in a conspicuous location so as to advise employees of their rights under the FFCRA.
Union Communication
• If you are a union employer, OCA’s Heavy Highway Unions and the Ohio Building Trades are working in concert with the industry to advise, educate and reassure their employees in the wake of COVID-19 Coronavirus concerns. If you must contact the union for employee referrals during this time, it is advised that you provide this policy to the Union Local or Business Representative having jurisdiction over your project. The policy will serve to advise union employees of their responsibilities at work, as well as reassure them that your company is following all recommended medical and industry protocols designed to keep employees safe and healthy in the performance of their job duties.
Government Resources
• OCA has assembled general guidance and links to information from our federal and state agency partners and health organizations. Click Here to Access
• For OSHA standards and directives and other related information that may apply to worker exposure to COVID-19, visit their website:
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html
Additional Questions or Concerns
If you have additional questions or concerns about your construction jobsite operations, please contact:
Ohio Contractors Association
Mark Potnick
Director of Labor Relations and Safety Affairs
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (614) 488-0726
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