The changing face of building sites in a COVID world

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed everyday life for so many people over the last several months. As we all increase our awareness of hygiene and distancing, our engineers are fully up-to-date with the ever changing requirements for accessing building sites.

Here are three observations from site and how construction companies are managing the changes.

No more shared surfaces

One of the first changes we witnessed being on site was the removal of fingerprint scanners and signing in books. Surfaces that are touched by multiple people can be breeding grounds for the virus, so these facilities which have become commonplace in recent years, were quickly removed.

Changes to hours

Another method of reducing contact between workers are staggered start and finish times. This helps eliminate bottlenecks at site entrances and canteens at the start and end of the day, as well as in break out and welfare areas at break times.

Increased security

With a reduction in access checks, many sites have increased security in other ways.

Online sign in and health checks have become the new normal. These need to be completed before attending site, to ensure visitors are expected and safe for work. More stringent ID requirements, such as the request for passports, are often required before access to site is granted. In addition, we’re seeing Induction meetings being held online, via various online portals, reducing contact between contractors, to help implement social distancing.

The construction industry has displayed a strong commitment to combating the control of COVID-19, and we at Edincare, take this commitment extremely seriously with policies in place, which are constantly reviewed and updated to reflect government guidelines.