Last month, Construction Superintendent featured best practices—compiled by The Builder’s Association—to help protect the safety and well-being of the industry, including your crews, trade partners, clients and the general public. While countries all over the world continue to enact and update policies and procedures to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease, as essential workers, contractors remain on the frontlines each day. And for this issue, Construction Superintendent asked general contractors how they’re dealing with the COVID-19 climate in light of what is presently known about the disease. The response was overwhelming. Here’s what respondents had to say:
Kraus-Anderson
Shifting priorities & determining next steps
“In some instances, Kraus-Anderson has been able to start work early or access jobsites more fully because of the owner’s pandemic response,” said Douglas Jaeger, vice president, director of project development for Kraus-Anderson. “We are currently performing an extensive tenant improvement office project for an owner who has given us full access to their site, as their office team is now working entirely from home. They are even willing to pay overtime to get us ahead of schedule, so that by the time their office team returns, we’ll be past the point that our work will impact their operations.”
“The sudden shift from frenetic activity to a slower pace or temporary closure of some facilities is allowing some owners in our various market sectors to take a much more thorough evaluation of their assets and proactively plan for their near-term futures,” said Tim Kittila, Kraus-Anderson’s facilities assessment manager. “While some are postponing major construction work for the near term, items on their deferred maintenance lists may be rising to priority status.”
TDIndustries
Mental health checks + modifying delivery policies
TDIndustries always preaches ZERO Harm. During this pandemic, TD is taking it a step further.
“Before COVID-19, we held pre-task safety meetings every morning but an all-partner safety meeting only once a week,” said Shawn Price, a project superintendent based in Dallas, Texas. “Now, we’re holding lengthy safety meetings every day before getting to work.
“We’re adding a mental health check, as well. We want to know how our work family is doing at home, how their loved ones are handling this crisis and make sure everyone has their head on right. We care about our teammates, and we don’t want any harm to come to them. Distractions can lead to serious injuries, quality issues and so much more, so it’s important to minimize them.”
TD and its project partners provide temperature checks at entrances and requires masks for all its employees once onsite. Hand sanitizer is readily available, and all tools, owned or borrowed, are disinfected before and after every shift. When other contractors or facility employees interact with TD employees, they are offered masks if they do not have one.
“Everyone’s willing to accommodate if it means ending this pandemic sooner.”
Common water coolers have been prohibited, and all meetings have been limited to 10 or fewer people. TD is increasing the number of meetings to make up for this requirement.
Elevator usage has been limited to observe the six-foot distancing rule, and partners who have a task that requires a team lift are asked to find alternatives or use machinery to limit exposure.
TD has implemented a no-contact delivery policy. When Price receives a material shipment, the driver is instructed to unload the material and return to the truck. Price puts on latex gloves to inspect the shipment, then signs the electronic tablet and leaves the area. Price removes his gloves; the driver packs up and heads on his way.
“Everyone’s generally on the same page with us. If we ask someone to change their work routines, they’re complying. We all just want to stay safe and finish off this virus.”
Haselden Construction
Thinking outside the ‘safety box’
“Keeping our team members that are working on jobsites safe during this outbreak has definitely required us to think of safety in new ways,” said Haselden Director of Environmental Health & Safety Travis Weber. “We’re learning new things about this virus all the time, so constant communication and education are an important part of what we’re doing. At project sites, we’re taking as many precautions as possible to make them safe working environments. We had HRS Disaster Restoration – our sister company – come in to do full disinfections of each site just as a precaution. Each project has assigned sanitation teams to clean areas like trailers, portalets, break areas and even some scaffolding rails before, during and after shifts. We also make sure construction equipment is wiped down with disinfectant after each use.”
Other measures the Haselden Safety Department employs are restricting the use of elevators on projects to transport materials and a maximum of two people to move the materials, designating one-way staircases on projects with multiple stairwells to ensure people don’t have to pass each other on the stairs and can maintain social distancing, providing face sleeves for all workers and posting COVID education posters designed specifically for their teams.
HOAR Construction
Keeping committed + current
“HOAR Construction’s thoughts are with those affected by the outbreak of this widespread virus and with the healthcare and scientific communities that are working tirelessly to help mitigate the impact,” said HOAR Construction President Turner Burton.
“We are always committed to the safety and well-being of our employees and trade partners. We have been actively monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and, as a result, enacted specific operating procedures for our projects across the country to accommodate the recommendations of the CDC for social distancing and hygiene, while continuing to move our projects forward. We are encouraging remote work and meetings whenever possible.
“Additionally, we are instructing employees to stay home and not report to work if they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. As needed, we will provide additional sick paid time off to all employees impacted during this time.”
Burton adds that while the situation is changing on a daily basis, the company is “actively monitoring, speaking with our team, clients and partners to address questions they may have and adjusting our protocols as needed to accommodate the best interest of our employees, partners and clients.”
Barton Malow
Establishing safety & health best practices
As far as safety accommodations, according to Barton Malow Vice President of Risk Management Neal Morton, “As the COVID-19 situation evolved, our communications, risk management and safety teams established operations guidelines to ensure our ongoing operations and, where appropriate, remobilization activities are consistent with guidance and requirements issued by federal, state, county and municipal authorities. We’ve continued to update these guidelines as needed, often daily, and each project team has used the guidelines to customize a plan specific to their project.
“Additionally, our teams are practicing social distancing on jobsites, and we’ve added hygiene stations. For onsite tasks that are not able to achieve six feet of distance between team members, we require additional personal protective equipment, such as a Level 3 mask or N95 FFR.”
Other notable changes intended to allow project teams to work safely, says Morton, include “closing lunchrooms and break rooms on all our active jobsites and asking team members to take their breaks in their vehicles. We’ve designated stairwells on project sites as either up or down for use to avoid workers coming into contact in confined areas. All meetings are held either virtually or by phone. We’re rigorously and regularly disinfecting everything from pens to handrails. Those are just a few of the additional measures we’re taking on project sites.”
In addition, the company has cleaned and disinfected all its offices so they’ll be ready when core services staff is permitted to return from working from home. Morton says, “We’ve even gone as far as adding UV air purification systems at our Southfield, Michigan, headquarters.”
Morton adds that the company is grateful its project sites have largely embraced these additional measures; they’ve experienced significant improvement in its safety numbers over the last month. “We’re also grateful that none of our Barton Malow team members have tested positive for COVID-19.”
The company is also helping employees as far as mental health and well-being. Jennifer Sulak Brown, senior vice president of People + Culture says, “We have a long-established culture of team member support at Barton Malow, and various efforts have been kicked into overdrive during the pandemic, especially as our staff has transitioned to temporary work-from-home arrangements. Perhaps most significantly, from a financial standpoint, we’ve established the COVID-19 Relief Fund to support team members experiencing hardship related to the pandemic.
“We’ve also launched or emphasized a variety of other emotional or mental well-being efforts. Together with our Employee Assistance Program, we’ve held webinars on healthy sleep, stress management and how to cope with uncertainty. Our in-house psychologist has held chats on Zoom to present practical coping strategies. We have Care Partners standing by that can provide counseling to team members. And we’re launching a 16-week guided meditation program exclusively for our team members.
Brown adds that the company’s executive leadership has hosted regular Zoom meetings with all team members where they’ve updated staff on the status of the company’s projects and its COVID-19 response, and have included lengthy Q&A sessions.
“This constant communication has helped alleviate concerns and the mental health and well-being of our team members by feeling connected,” said Brown. “We continue to evaluate programs based on regular feedback solicited from employees on both their concerns and emotional well-being.”
DPR Construction
Collaborating with customers, project teams + being proactive
“Our crews tackle challenges in the field every day, and we know that we can find ways to work that keep everyone onsite as safe as possible,” said Michelle Gray, safety leader at DPR Construction. “Our primary concern is the safety and health of everyone on our projects. If we cannot safely accommodate work, we will pause until we determine a safe way to move forward. We understand the significant ramifications for our teams and their families when projects stop, and we want to take proactive steps to keep everyone in our communities healthy as we continue to perform essential work.”
Even in “normal” times, DPR Construction’s No. 1 priority is the health, safety and well-being of its employees, clients and trade partners. As the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, the company took quick action, forming a task force of leaders to monitor and respond to the evolving nature of the pandemic and its implications for the industry. Based on guidelines set the by Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, DPR has taken extra measures for prevention and to help keep workers and partners safe. These protocols address a range of situations from enhanced cleaning/social distancing practices at offices and jobsites to a full temporary pause of work.
While each project is different, DPR is actively collaborating with customers and project teams to identify the greatest risks and coordinate its efforts to prevent or mitigate impacts that may arise. Particularly for its healthcare clients, DPR is working to help increase their capacity to meet the needs for triage, ICU beds, testing and PPE. DPR supports the decisions of local and state governments to slow the spread of the virus, and in some areas DPR is educating local authorities about best practices for winding down projects safely when that has been required.
Construction Superintendent extends a collective thank you to all who contributed to this issue’s COVID-19 Response (Part 2), and to all who continue to work on the frontlines—and behind the scenes—to ensure the work not only gets done, but gets done safely. Keep checking back at www.consupt.com for more news and updates. And be well!
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