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COVID-19 Jobsite Safety

Posted by | Jan 15, 2020 | | 0

COVID-19 Jobsite Safety

COVID-19 Jobsite Safety

FACE COVERINGS

Let’s lead our industry by example! Beginning April 20, face coverings are mandatory on all jobsites for our PDI and ITR team members. Power Design will be supplying all field teams with reusable face masks, however you can also make your own with this CDC tutorial.
 

JOBSITE POSTERS

You can download, print, and hang these posters on your jobsite:

 

 

PDILEARN RESOURCES

Check out these tips and best practices on PDiLEARN to help you stay safe and healthy on the jobsite:

 

 

TOOLBOX TALKS

We’ve developed new toolbox talk documents on COVID-19 that can be leveraged during your weekly safety meetings on the jobsite. Click here to access to COVID-19 toolbox talk docs.
 

JOBSITE SAFETY POLICY

The following is Power Design’s COVID-19 Jobsite Safety Policy. For a printable version, please click here.
The personal safety and health of each employee of our organization is of primary importance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 is now a pandemic, meaning a global outbreak of disease. On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared the COVID-19 outbreak a national emergency. All Power Design supervisors should incorporate COVID-19 transmission and prevention into all job hazard analyses (JHAs) and pre­ task safety planning for all aspects of the work. These Jobsite Practices will be continually evaluated the specific hazards at their job sites along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations to determine the most appropriate job hazard analysis for the project/task as it relates to the spread and/or transmission of COVID -19.

 

WORKER PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

  • If employees have symptoms of acute respiratory illness (i.e., fever, cough, shortness of breath), they must stay home and not come to work until free of symptoms for at least 72 hours, without the use of medicine, or as recommended by the CDC. Refer to CDC guideline: What To Do if You Are Sick.
  • Employees must notify their supervisors and stay home if they are sick. They must consult medical attention if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory illness. Refer to CDC guideline: What To Do if You Are Sick.
  • Employees need to take all necessary steps to protect themselves. Refer to CDC guideline: How to Protect Yourself.

 

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.
  • 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.

 

SOCIAL DISTANCING

  • Work in occupied areas should be limited to only those tasks that are strictly necessary.
    • Limit physical contact with others. Direct employees to increase personal space (to at least 6 feet, where possible).
    • When possible, limit out-of-office meetings and replace them with phone or online meetings.
    • Take breaks and lunch in shifts to reduce the size of the group in the lunch area at any one time to less than 10 people.
    • Supervisors should communicate with their general contractors about prohibiting large gatherings (currently no more than 10 people) on the job site, such as the all-hands meeting and all-hands lunches.

 

GENERAL JOBSITE / OFFICE PRACTICES

  • Communicate key CDC recommendations (and post signage where appropriate) to your staff and tradespeople:
  • 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 is in the process of being tested for COVID-19?
    • Have you, or anyone in your family traveled outside of the United States within the last two weeks?
    • Have you been medically directed to self-quarantine due to possible exposure to COVID-19?
    • 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?

 

ROUTINE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANING OF JOBSITE

  • Routine cleaning shall be performed of all frequently touched surfaces on the jobsite. This includes, however is not limited to, workstations, countertops, handles, doorknobs, gang boxes, shared tools and equipment.
  • The use of appropriate cleaning agents and directions shall be utilized to perform all cleaning. Ensure all exposed workers are trained on the hazards of the cleaning chemicals used in the workplace in accordance with OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard. Employers must comply with OSHA’s standards on Bloodborne Pathogens, including proper disposal of regulated waste, and PPE.
  • Portable bathrooms will be serviced at a frequent basis where we are responsible for the portable bathrooms. On jobsites where trade partners provide their own portable bathrooms, trades must also endeavor to have them serviced on a frequent basis.
  • Hand sanitizer shall be provided in/or around all portable bathrooms. When using hand sanitizer, wait until hands are completely dry before touching any surfaces to avoid potential burns.
  • Project trailers/offices need to be cleaned daily.
  • All common break areas, lunch and break rooms will be cleaned multiple times throughout the workday.
  • Do not congregate in lunch areas.
  • No communal food shall be permitted on the jobsite until further notice, i.e., donuts, pizza, buffets, etc.
  • All jobsite employees are required to wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty. If soap and water are unavailable, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95% alcohol can be used. When using hand sanitizer, wait until hands are completely dry before touching any surfaces to avoid potential burns.
  • Soap and water and/or alcohol-based hand rubs shall be provided in the workplace. Ensure that adequate supplies are maintained. Place soap and/or hand rubs in multiple locations to encourage hand hygiene.
  • Do not share tools.
  • 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.
  • Do not use a common water cooler. Provide individual water bottles or instruct workers to bring their own.
  • 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.
  • Utilize disposable hand towels and no-touch trash receptacles.
  • Avoid cleaning techniques, such as using pressurized air or water sprays that may result in the generation of bioaerosols.
  • Clean surfaces of service/fleet vehicles, steering wheel, gear shift, instrument panels, etc.; use aerosol sanitizers inside closed cabs.
  • In regards to shuttling employees, ensure distancing and encourage workers to provide their own transportation where possible.
  • When possible, designate stairwells as single direction (up or down) to promote social distancing.

 

JOBSITE VISITORS

  • Restrict the number of visitors to the job site, including the trailer or office
  • All visitors should be screened in If the visitor can answer “yes” to any of the following questions (without identifying which question applies), the visitor will not be permitted to access the facility.
    • Have you been asked to self-quarantine since December 2019?
    • Have you been in close contact with any person(s) who has been asked to self-quarantine since December 2019?
    • Have you experienced a recent onset of any illness-related symptoms, such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath?
    • Have you traveled outside of North America in the past 14 days?
    • Have you been in close contact with any person(s) who have traveled outside of North America in the last 14 days?
    • Have you been in close contact with any person(s) who has been diagnosed with COVID-19?

 

WORKERS ENTERING OCCUPIED BUILDINGS AND HOMES