Ohio construction industry taking steps to ensure jobsite safety

        Associated General Contractors of Northwest Ohio (AGCNWO), which represents labor and management in the Northwest Ohio commercial construction industry, is taking steps to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of its workforce and the community during the COVID-19 outbreak.
        The Northwest Ohio Building Trades and the Associated General Contractors of Northwest Ohio employers and their skilled workforce are being urged to take specific mitigating strategies to combat the spread of COVID‐19. These strategies are derived from the CDC, OSHA and the Ohio Department of Health’s workplace recommendations.
        AGCNWO is promoting universal implementation of the following measures across the Northwest Ohio construction industry:
        • Enhanced worker education – Specialized communications and posters on the importance of frequent hand washing and hygiene and cough and sneeze protocols, along with the mandate to stay home when an employee is feeling sick or has an elevated temperature (100.4 degrees or higher). All employees must diligently observe these requirements.
        • Jobsite and equipment cleanliness - Jobsites should be kept clean, with frequent cleaning of any repeatedly touched surfaces on the site. Any tools or equipment that might be shared by workers should be cleaned before and after use.
        • Vigilant attention to jobsite restrooms and hand-cleaning facilities – All employers should make certain that these facilities are in clean, working order and stocked with soap, hand sanitizer or running water.
        • Social distancing measures - Construction jobsites are not densely populated work areas. Nevertheless, the following should also be taken across the industry:
        1. Workers should be instructed to observe a minimum distance of six feet between individuals to increase physical space between each person at the worksite. This includes pre‐work and post‐work events of all kinds.
        2. Employers should change their jobsite communications, planning, and schedules to shrink or eliminate group gatherings. This includes minimizing or the elimination of pre‐job conferences, communal break locations and activity that would bring a group of people together on the jobsite. Policies for material deliveries and other third‐party jobsite visits may need to be altered. These and other measures – which include remote work should be considered and implemented.