Construction

Construction sites see huge reduction in COVID-19 breaches

Safety & Health Practitioner

There has been a 41% decrease in the number of COVID-19 breaches occurring on construction sites in the last three months, according to the Building Safety Group (BSG).

A report from the BSG, based on 4,400 independent construction site inspections carried out between 1 June and 31 August 2020, has shown a huge decrease in the number of COVID-19 breaches.

The reduction has been put down to the number of firms adapting to the relevant coronavirus guidelines and adapting to new working practices on construction sites. BSG says this trend is likely to continue as the construction industry becomes more accustomed to operating under the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus.

The most common types of COVID 19 ‘non-compliances’ reported by BSG Safety Advisers over the last three months have included:

• Management and operatives not following social distancing guidelines;
• Inadequate welfare facilities on site with insufficient cleaning regimes;
• Too many people in the canteen area with insufficient segregation;
• Not enough hand sanitizing stations on site;
• PPE not available when required;
• Outdated Site Operating Procedures found on site.

BSG’s Managing Director, Stephen Bell commented: “Now is not the time to become complacent, so it is vital that our industry remains vigilant and continues to follow government Site Operating Procedure (SOP) guidelines.

“BSG’s position will be to continue to advise construction companies on how best to avoid COVID-19 transmission as well as mitigate against all other hazards which can occur on site.”

Download your free COVID-19 construction site risk assessment template here.

Related Topics