We have already talked on different occasions about how he is affecting the coronavirus pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) to operators of construction works «in situ». These heights, all architecture firms should already have a action protocol against COVID 19 well defined.
Large architectural firms or companies construction companies with resources have had no problem creating a Detailed contingency plan , but, speaking with peers, in small businesses or studios architecture, is being another topic.
The professional associations of architects, surveyors, engineers etc They are releasing supporting documentation for facilitate the creation of an action plan that respond to a possible contagion of COVID 19 quickly and effective.
Obviously, everything can be improved, and we have found some models to create good action protocols (they are aware of end of the article) but first, we need to understand the importance of the document, and it is important! So let's go to the mess!…
Content menu:
Directly and without nonsense... CONTINUITY OF THE BUSINESS ! Be it for the construction sector, shops, industry, etc. Companies must be prepared to prevent, protect, and react to events that could impact their business.
It is necessary to protect yourself with a set of tasks – actions that allow the company to recover after an incident in a period of time that does not compromise its continuity. to see more Of course, the following scheme…
A lot of plan and scheme, but... What happens in a construction site? construction when we are not ready? …
We must commit to protecting and caring for health of workers before the possibility of contagion of COVID-19 which is closely related to the continuity of the business. As we explained in the article on how to understand the construction before the coronavirus, for the duration of the works, we are a very vulnerable sector.
In construction sites we know what it costs an operator a day, the value of the materials, how much it costs put them, etc, and a factor that everyone prays that they don't changes: The time in which the work will be executed .
The "execution periods" that were initially indicated in the project are decisive and are closely related with costs and resources; among them, humans (operators of the work) but... When does the relationship of human resources and costs in a work? (Know more in a PDF document of the life cycle of a project HERE)
Of course, when we are executing the work "in situ" it is the time when we need the most workers, but it is also the more it influences the cost that comes with the time.
The imbalance of human resources due to an infection of COVID 19 not stopped in time and resolved with little efficiency, we can lead to negative economic values.
Not counting that, if the infection is from several operators, come management and send them all home problem multiplied by a hundred! Completely disassembling the deadlines execution.
You have to commit to the fight against COVID 19 not only commits the promoter or the optional management, from the lowest operator to the highest manager. Taken together, the company will be more effective in the fight, but, of course, the who "command" must be the most responsible, so remember:
For Spain and within the regulatory framework, the protocol of containment and the measures to be adopted must be consistent with the provided by the Ministry of Health, and, in particular, in what risk situation are the works:
The creation of the protocol affects and implies the entire production chain linked to the industry construction . We just want to provide a small outline so we don't miss any points when creating the report:
If I don't already have a prevention plan for coronavirus created… Where can I start? Here You must understand that most of the actions that are being taking inside the works to prevent contagion, 95% are the same in Spain as in the other part of the world, for example, in South America.
Getting started guides:
The above documents are guidelines for good practices for writing a protocol, action guides, as well as you should draft the protocol document, etc. But they are not neither templates nor a real case of a protocol.
The templates and examples on the protocol of action under construction in the face of the pandemic are very scarce on the net, I don't get it! given the utility it could contribute to professionals in the sector ( Note: If someone If you want to provide a written and real example, you can leave comment that we will add to the article ).
Watch out! It is not worth copying and pasting the following documentation, it is They must be adapted to each company and its characteristics. individuals…
The best example of a contingency plan against to SARS-CoV-2 at a construction site in Internet, well explained and detailed. It is the one written by Ramón Pérez Merlos (Very active on Linkedin and advisable to follow him), José Miguel Grau Pastor and Carlos Montero Gutiérrez.
A document, which in our opinion, represents a true jewel of 42 pages that creates school. Can find in the Occupational Risk Prevention blog of Ramón Pérez Merlos accessing this article (If you click on the image at the end of the article opens the PDF). With images as representative as:
As we can see, in that document, there is an important part signage and signaling that we will need in the works and corresponding dependencies.
We have an article about risk information posters very useful work It has been updated with signage of prevention for COVID 19 in work that we can see HERE and where we indicate how you can get them in a very easy. Examples…
From INVASSAT (Valencia Health and Safety Institute in el Treball) have published a technical guide for the preparation of the contingency plan and continuity of work during COVID-19 .
An extensive document that we can also download and view more documents from HERE. There is a lot of helpful information; technical, training and signage documents.
Since the administration of Aragon they have launched a Word document as a template to create a plan of action in an easy way. Although it is generic, it is full of schemes that will be very useful. We can download from HERE.
From the company Europreven (Risk Prevention labor) also have a document that we can take note of. An 18-page contingency and action plan well explained. We can consult it from HERE.
So that we don't miss anything when creating the report, we have searched for tools that, like a checklist, allow us to do a quick tour of the document:
Note for Spain: Changes are continually being made legislative, although punctual and more without being related to the construction sector. Remember that from HERE they are all the documents that the administration publishes.
