Follow safety protocols to protect workers’ health

How compliance with Covid-19 norms can be ensured at construction sites?

Standard operating procedures of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), OSHA, state/territorial, and local guidelines should be followed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. Training for employees can be arranged on the spread of the disease in the geographic areas in which they work. Labour inspectors should do frequent patrolling to ensure the safety of residents as far as possible.

Priyanka Chawla

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Call workers in shifts

Number of Covid-19 patients are on the rise in the district. We must take some extra precautions at construction sites. We must prepare a plan to ensure that social distancing and proper hygiene is followed at these sites. If possible, one must call workers in shifts. We must use personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and glasses, depending on the task they are assigned to. All construction material must be disinfected prior to starting the construction work.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

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Take proper precautions

The local administration should keep a strict check on various construction activities to ensure that the Covid-19 norms such as physical distancing, use of masks, limited number of masons and labourers are followed in letter and in spirit. This will surely help in controlling the spread of Covid-19. Surprise checks by the Municipal Corporation authorities should be conducted and if any contractor is found flouting the norms, stringent action must be initiated against him. We must remember that Prevention is better than cure. So, we all must work together to prevent the spread of the disease.

Bir Devinder Singh Bedi

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Adopt precautionary compliance management

Amid the Covid-19 crisis, minimising the spread of the virus should be the top priority. This, however, becomes a daunting challenge in case of construction projects as field workers often have to work in close proximity to others. To ensure that precautionary measures are being followed properly, it's imperative to conduct regular surveys to know the familiar measures such as wearing of a mask, social distancing, limiting gatherings, limiting tool-sharing, and staggering shifts, regular thermal scanning to check the fever of all those entering or exiting a work site. While construction site safety is usually the responsibility of the contractor but the civic body also needs a Covid-19 Compliance Management so as to designate a person responsible for ensuring that employees comply with Covid-19 requirements and best practices.

RAVI CHANDER GARG

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Appoint vigilant officials

After Unlock 1.0, construction work is being carried out in the city. It can been seen that workers at construction sites don't follow the social distancing and other Covid-related norms. This shows the "chalta hai" attitude of the public. It is the duty of the contractor to guide the workers and make sure that all norms are being followed there. Daily checking of workers before starting the work should be made mandatory. A register should be maintained where arrival and departure time is recorded. The contractor must have ID proofs of workers. The civil authorities must appoint vigilant officials to conduct surprise checkings on these sites.

Ritu Priya

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Take undertaking from builders

The administration/civic body must ensure that Covid-19 precautions are being followed during the construction of buildings or houses in the city. The construction falls in two categories: one funded by the administration/civic body itself and the other funded by private owners. In the first category, ensuring precautions can be easily done. The civic body must put a person on duty there who should ensure that all precautions are followed in letter and in spirit. This will also mean creating more jobs. The top three precautions that need to be followed include social distancing, compulsory use of mask, washing hands, besides sanitising hands and all tools before start of the work and after the work is over. In case of construction by private owners, the condition of following the precautions at the construction site must be ensured at the time of passing of the building plan and an undertaking should be taken from the owner that he/she will ensure compliance of all these precautions and arrange for supply of soap, masks and

sanitiser at any construction site. The civic body staff must check these during their visit and defaulters must be punished.

Gautam Dev

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Tackle violators with iron hand

Construction sites tend to be crowded places as different workers are engaged in different jobs according to their expertise. To complete the construction process in time, all these jobs are being done simultaneously. But in the present scenario, workers and engineers must be vigilant enough to take proper precautionary measures. The administration should ensure that not all jobs are been done at a construction site altogether. For that purpose they can send one person in a particular area for conducting surprise checking at construction sites. Wherever norms are being flouted, the construction should be halted for a week or 10 days and fine should be imposed.

Simran Kaur

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Conduct free testing of suspected workers

In this crucial period, spreading awareness and implementation of various guidelines play a vital role in curbing infection. As far as, keeping up to the precautions at construction sites are concerned, the civic body must collaborate with construction supervisors to ensure norms are followed in letter and spirit. They should make sure that they provide labourers with masks and sanitisers. They should call workers on alternate days to follow Covid-19 guidelines and ensure that their wages are not deducted. They should be screened at the entrance and testing of suspected workers should be conducted for free.

Harkirat Singh Shankar

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Distribute sanitisers, soaps among workers

To lower the risk of Covid-19 at some construction sites, the administration can take steps such as thermal scanning of workers and providing soaps and alcohol- based sanitisers to workers. Sick workers should be told to stay at home. Supervisors must give exhaustive information of the hazardous disease. I feel that, these steps will be really effective to tackle Covid-19.

Bimalpreet Kaur

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Impose heavy fine, raise awareness

The pandemic is spreading its tentacles day by day. People are behaving in a careless manner. Some people don't wear masks properly. Though they put on a mask, they don't cover the nose. Such actions increase the burden on the government to control the spread of the pandemic. The need of the hour is that the administration and civic bodies should ensure that Covid-19 precautions are being followed during the construction of buildings and houses in the city. This is possible if they carry out regular patrolling and impose heavy fine on defaulters. Awareness about the disease should be raised among the masses. Strict actions such as deduction in pay of those not following the precautions will help in curbing the spread.

Harleen Kaur

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Speed up testing to cut risk

As we all know that due to the pandemic the state of affairs of the country is not normal. To revive the economy, construction works were restarted. So, for the well-being of people, the administration must take some preventive measures such as ensuring social distancing, wearing of mask and use of sanitiser. Covid-19 test should be increased to minimise infection risk. If these precautions are followed strictly, one day our country would be free from the pandemic.

Bani Kaur

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Hold regular inspection for workers' safety

The construction sector has been one of the most hit sectors of the economy. Due to limited work and large population, labourers are forced to work in an unhealthy environment with meagre salaries. The workers who lost their jobs should be supported by the government. The MC should limit the construction of houses and buildings in the city to check the spread of the virus among the workers. Regular inspections must be conducted by civic staff to ensure the safety of the labourers and workers. They should terminate the license of those contractors who are exploiting their workers and are not able to provide them an hygienic environment to work.

Rishika Kriti

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Display preventive measures at sites

We must take care of following steps while taking the assignments of construction of buildings and homes. There must be an orientation of Covid-19 for all workers, including description of disease, symptoms, transmissibility, severity and World Health Organization's key prevention messages should be followed on site. These messages should be printed and clearly displayed at construction sites. Workers should be requested to maintain physical distance of at least two metres. They should wash their hands regularly with soap for at least 20 seconds. Workers should wear masks and gloves at the time of construction hours.

Farzana Khan

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Act responsibly

Workers, labourers and industrialists are responsible for their safety. They should ensure proper respiratory hygiene, including usage of masks, face shields and sanitisers. A minimum distance of two metres should be maintained at work. Civic bodies must screen workers and in case anyone shows any symptoms, the person should be quarantined and told to undergo testing. Proper ventilation of rooms should also be ensured.

Smriti Chaudhary

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Maintain a safe work environment

Keeping in view rising Covid-19 cases in the district, the focus should be on completing the work on time while following safety precautions. No one should be allowed to spit anywhere at construction sites. The sites must have proper ventilation. Workers should wear gloves as much as possible. Moreover, they should be called to work in shifts. Every employer and site owner must get a written permission from the administration to call workers on the site. A government official must be appointed to supervise the construction site so that proper precautions are taken along with doing work. Details of every employer and worker must be provided to that official.

Manmohan Kaur

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Inspect construction sites, conduct surveys

During the lockdown period, the construction work was stopped but now the government has given permission to restart the work. Labourers should be made aware about the precautions to keep Covid-19 at bay. They should maintain social distancing, wear mask and gloves at the workplaces. The administration and civic body should ensure that proper precautions are being followed at construction sites by checking or conducting surveys. By adopting such measures, we can check and control the spread of the pandemic.

Jagdeep Singh

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Disinfect common areas

Staff at construction sites have their own set of problems. Site managers and personnel all have a duty to take reasonable care of themselves and others’ health and safety. In practice, this means taking precautions to minimise health risks. Access to building sites must be limited to required people. If tasks cannot be accomplished unless two or more people are working close to each other, then consider the use of personal protective equipment such as masks. Break times and regulatory inspections also need to be staggered or scheduled to keep people separated. Any common areas must be cleaned and disinfected at least once in a day.

Tina Jain

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Ensure proper ventilation, use HEPA filters

Amid the Covid-19 crisis, the administration/civic body must ensure that proper precautions are followed near construction sites in the city. There are various immediate preventative steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of infection such as improved air ventilation, educating workers to repeatedly wash hands with soap for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Optimal ambient humidity must be maintained as the virus survives better in low-humidity environments. Research suggests that under certain conditions, using recirculated air with HEPA filters reduces particulate concentration for indoor air similar to full outside air systems.

Harshita Dhamu

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OPEN HOUSE COMMENT
Fix responsibility to ensure compliance of norms
Minna Zutshi

There is hardly any check on whether Covid-related precautions are being followed by labourers engaged in the construction of buildings in the city. Random observations show that masks are given a go-by and so is the case with physical distancing. Worse still, precautions such as handwashing are dismissed summarily by those engaged in the construction work. There is a lack of awareness and an unwillingness to follow the norms. The reason is simple: as there is no check, so no punitive action is taken against the offenders. Spitting is common. No respiratory hygiene is followed. Overall, a dismal scenario.

Until the responsibility is fixed, the labour and workers engaged in construction works will continue to throw all caution to the winds. The number of Covid cases are spiralling in Ludhiana. The only way to contain the spread of Covid-19 is to ensure that people follow precautions such as physical distancing, frequent hand washing, wearing of face masks and maintaining respiratory hygiene.

Why should owners of buildings not be penalised if the labour or the work force fails to take the mandatory precautions? Responsibilities have to be fixed.

OPEN HOUSE QUESTION

How can Ludhiana handle the spiralling Covid-19 cases?
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