The impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry continues to challenge contractors as they strive to keep their job sites safe for employees while also battling delays in completion times and higher than anticipated costs, mainly due to labor shortages and material costs.

The 2021 Construction Outlook National Survey Results reports that 84 percent of the building industry respondents consider the pandemic's continuing impact on construction projects, workers, or supply chain their most significant concern in 2021. Specifically, contractors report several specific challenges in sanitizing their job sites for the continued safety and health of their workers.

• Contractors find it challenging to limit the spread of COVID-19 at the job site by subcontractors and third parties.

• Due to labor shortages, contractors must rely on young, inexperienced, and less cautious workers who may be less apt to follow COVID-19 protocols. OSHA reports that workers 25 years old and younger sustain injuries twice as often as more senior workers.

• Builders report issues with low quality and available safety and health training to implement the steps to minimize the risks of COVID-19.

Construction Job Site Sanitation: 10 Tips for Keeping Your Workers Safe on a Job Site

Essential construction projects still carry on throughout the pandemic, challenging contractors and developers to ensure a sanitary and safe job site for their employees. A difficult task since much of the work occurs in close quarters and poorly-ventilated areas. Please consider these tips from Fox Blocks and Houseace for the protection of your workers for keeping your workers safe on the job site.

It’s essential to refer to OSHA’s COVID-19 GUIDELINES for all workers and employers with potential occupational exposures to COVID-19.

1. Provide Training on Safety Protocols for Your Job Site

Provide up-to-date training on safety measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the symptoms of the illness to your crew and all subcontractors and third parties. Display posters in prominent areas that list COVID-19 safety rules for your job site, mask-wearing, social distancing, staying home when sick, washing hands, etc.

2. Mandate Social Distancing

Limit close contact between your crew, subcontractors, and third parties, by implementing a social distancing plan of at least six-feet of separation and installing shields and barriers where possible. Restrict access or limit capacity in enclosed areas like trailers, elevators, shared vehicles, and break rooms.

3. Install Hand Washing Stations with Paper Hand Towels

To prevent infection, encourage everyone on your job site to regularly wash their hands and face with soap and water, and use disposable paper hand towels.

4. Mandate Masks for Everyone on the Job Site

Crew and visitors should all wear clean masks over their noses and mouths to prevent contracting/spreading the virus.

5. Provide a Supply Changing Room with a Shower and Paper Towels

To protect your employees and their families, provide a designated space for workers that wear protective clothing to change and shower before leaving the job site.

6. Hire a Professional Sanitizing-Cleaning Crew

Hiring a professional sanitizing and cleaning crew adds another layer of assurance that you are doing all you can to create a COVID-19-free work site. It also frees up your crew from the responsibility of sanitizing the site. It is vital to ensure that the cleaning company uses a disinfectant on the EPA List N: Disinfectants for COVID-19, specifically designed to kill the COVID-19 virus when used according to the label directions.

7. Double Up on Sanitizing Common Areas

To limit the spread of COVID-19 in commonly used areas, like portable toilets and hand-washing stations, double up on the frequency of sanitizing these areas.

8. Limit Crew’s Exposure to Equipment

By limiting the handling of equipment and materials to a particular crew on the job site, you can significantly reduce the virus's potential spread between crew members.

9. Use Cloud Technology

Cloud technology allows construction site supervisors to virtually attend meetings, handle paperwork, document safety issues, and more﹘eliminating virus exposure from contact with people and paperwork. Cloud technologies' availability and security can also tremendously improve communications between contractors, subcontractors, and clients.

10. Stagger Work Schedules

To limit contact between the crew, subcontractors, and third parties, reduce the number of employees on a job site at any given time by staggering work schedules or providing alternating workdays and extra shifts.

A Building Boom is Coming

The anticipated boom in home construction in 2021 offers contractors a tremendous opportunity to grow their business. However, skilled labor shortages may limit their ability to benefit from the boom. Therefore, keeping their crew safe from COVID-19 by implementing job site sanitation may make the difference between a successful building year and a disappointing one.

To help keep your crew healthy and your work on schedule, Fox Blocks suggests training and mandating job site safety measures, professional and routine disinfecting of the job site, cloud technology, and staggered work schedules.

Quick and easy-to-install Fox Block ICFs all-in-one wall systems can also help you stay on schedule, if not accelerate your delivery time, by eliminating the need to coordinate multiple trades, saving money and ensuring a happy client.

Contact Fox Blocks professionals today to help you with your busy 2021 building schedule.