Should The Coronavirus Crisis Bring Contract Work To A Halt?

On the Health and Safety Executive forums, poster Bill Sowerbutts raised a question on safety at work vis-a-vis the Coronavirus crisis: "Why doesn't the HSE close down all construction sites to protect workers' health?"

To date, they haven't. Why not?

Complacency

One of the stand-out features of Boris Johnson's regime during this crisis is the lack of leadership and guidance. The Government is notoriously slack in dealing firmly with health and safety, preferring a laissez-faire approach in which industry is expected to regulate itself. It only steps in when an egregiously dangerous event takes place and lives are lost. Even then, the best it seems to manage is a set of recommendations that inevitably get watered down. We can see this in action in the Grenfell case, where the investigatory body is reluctant to lay down the law where the installation of flammable cladding is concerned. The story is the same with regard to the Coronavirus.

The health and safety of workers remains paramount. Employers must continue to provide workers with information about risks to their health and the actions their employers must take.
 
Social distancing is a key public health measure introduced by Public Health England to reduce the spread of infection. Most employers are going to great lengths to ensure social distancing wherever possible. The HSE, CBI and TUC wish to publicly support these efforts. Firms that can safely stay open and support livelihoods should not be forced to close by misunderstandings about government guidance.
 
But If it comes to the HSE’s attention that employers are not complying with the relevant Public Health England guidance (including enabling social distancing where it is practical to do so), HSE will consider a range of actions ranging from providing specific advice to employers through to issuing enforcement notices, including prohibition notices. - Coronavirus: A joint statement between HSE, the TUC and the CBI - Press Release dated 03/04/2020

Social distancing means keeping at least 6ft away from other people, which isn't always possible when working on a building site or repairing a roof, etc. Where two or more people have to work together to get the job done, they will inevitably get closer together when carrying a heavy object, etc.

All the silly claims made about how we can keep workers 2 metres apart (carrying a lintel, passing a tube of scaffolding, eating in the canteen , using the toilet or smoking shelter, signing in/out) are just not true. Saying "we've improved cleanliness" may be true, but it's well short of a normal head office canteen or shopping mall toilet cleaning regime, and most of these places have been shut down long since. - Is This the Moment When Construction Workers Say "No More"? - Bill Sowerbutts post on HSE forum

The Coronavirus threat isn't being taken seriously

Those members of the public who aren't wearing masks or otherwise taking precautions are unfortunately flouting government guidelines. I've seen people gathering together in public; I've had to chase people away and ask them to keep their distance because they keep creeping closer in the line at the till when I'm shopping. As it is I've got to clamp a hankie over my nose and mouth when I'm out because people just won't stay back. That's just shopping for groceries — imagine what it's like on a building site when two friends sit together in the canteen because they seem healthy enough. Those are the ones we should worry about, per the New Scientist.

The study concluded that 86 per cent of cases were “undocumented” – that is, asymptomatic or had only very mild symptoms (Science, doi.org/ggn6c2). The researchers also analysed case data from foreign nationals who were evacuated from the city of Wuhan, where the first cases were seen, and found a similar proportion of asymptomatic or very mild cases.
 
Such undocumented cases are still contagious and the study found them to be the source of most of the virus’s spread in China before the restrictions came in. Even though these people were only 55 per cent as contagious as people with symptoms, the study found that they were the source of 79 per cent of further infections, due to there being more of them, and the higher likelihood that they were out and about.
 
“If somebody’s experiencing mild symptoms, and I think most of us can relate to this, we’re still going to go about our day,” says Shaman. “These people are the major driver of it and they’re the ones who facilitated the spread.” - You could be spreading the coronavirus without realising you’ve got it, by Graham Lawton for the New Scientist 24/03/2020

Sowerbutts laments the lack of hygiene standards on building sites — welfare provision, when it's not available on site already — tends to be pretty basic, and as poster Glenn Manners points out in response, smaller companies tend to work on a casual basis and narrow margins. They can't afford a full time cleaner and better facilities. Meanwhile, contractors are demonstrating a worrying lack of concern in the projects they're working on where Sowerbutts lives.

I have twice complained about a project in my own village where the contractors are in and out of their vans on the main road (even though there is a gateway and they could park on site) - all of them from the City - coming out out here into our village, crossing the footpath, with no PPE, no welfare.  I tackled them about "staying at home" and they just derided and abused me. 

 I have photgraphic evidence and phone numbers - HSE have never requested them though I have reported them twice (and could have done so again today). Today an even larger job has started in the same village - starting with ground works for a private new build. None of these projects are urgent, none have social distancing and none seem to have any regard that they are mixing and mingling with potential Covid 19 from other places - they just have no concept of hygiene, santisiation or the enormity of the crisis we are in. - Is This the Moment When Construction Workers Say "No More"? - Bill Sowerbutts post on HSE forum

At this point the forum moderator hops in with a link to the press release, which the TUC and CBI have partnered with the HSE in producing. It basically says, "If you observe social distancing, there's no reason to stop work."

Okay, but per Bill Sowerbutts and my own personal experience, people aren't really bothered with social distancing because they seem to think they won't be affected. Meanwhile, over a hundred thousand people have died from this worldwide so far, and the death rate is rising.

What can we do?

The building where I work has been closed down and I've been furloughed because Savills takes health and safety seriously. If we had a project on, we'd have shut it down. Why won't everyone else follow suit? As Bill Sowerbutts pointed out in his forum post, this ridiculous complacency is going to create a perfect storm of compensation lawsuits. In my opinion we should shut down all non-essential work.

On essential projects, contractors should issue PPE to every worker that includes

• a mask
• a bottle of hand sanitiser
• a pair of gloves — there will be times when keeping two metres apart won't be practicable

Toilets with handwashing facilities must be made available where they are not extant. Contractors should also arrange for parking facilities, keep their workers away from the local population as much as possible, and enforce social distancing on site.

Until we take the Coronavirus seriously and practice hygiene and social distancing effectively, it will continue to spread, continue to kill, and lockdown will have to be extended. Since I would very much like to be able to return to my job, can everybody please take note of this?