Why is Covid-19 transmission more prevalent in construction than many other industries?
10/09/2020
10/09/2020
Covid transmission is a concern for any industry, but for construction, the risks are higher than most – why is this?
There are several challenges in play here, including track and trace effectiveness, the nature of work activities making social distancing harder, sharing of living accommodation and use of public transport/vehicle sharing to commute to site. Moreover, when we consider the sheer size of this industry (10% of UK employment is in this sector), construction workers have the potential to become a key source of Covid transmission.
A specific challenge in this sector is the difficulty in deploying effective track and trace processes to help stop transmission at source. This is driven by the complexities in contacting the high volume of workers who are on zero-hour contracts, employed via agencies or are self-employed contractors.
So, what can employers do to help control transmission amongst this vulnerable group? Not surprisingly, there is a raft of Government and HSE guidance for the construction sector, as well as support and advice available from various trade and industry bodies regarding how to properly plan works that allow for social distancing, and enable workers to follow PHE guidance.
In addition, employers should ensure that they have robust health surveillance processes in place, including regular Covid health assessments that ideally, extends to assessing the workers household situations. This will enable managers to properly assess the risk of transmission at an individual worker level.
What types of solution should employers be looking for to help them have a real-time view of the health status of their workforce?
Utilising a simple and effective daily health status check could prove vital in identifying potential coronavirus carriers and help safeguard vulnerable employees.
Find out how Safe2Day from Riskex supports businesses in helping to control Covid transmission at source and restore employee confidence in returning to the workplace. Register to attend a webinar or book a demonstration at: https://www.riskex.co.uk/covid-19-health-assessment-using-assessnet/
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