Safety Protocols:
A big concern among contractors is keeping employees safe as they continue working or return to projects. To that end, general contractors, including like Suffolk Construction, start by following guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and then adjust them accordingly, said Mike DiNapoli, general manager of Suffolk’s Northern California operations.
“Our safety protocols, training and checklists will continue to evolve in response to new developments,” he said.
For example, Suffolk is staggering start times so that workers will be able to better adhere to social distancing guidelines. The company has also designated some stairways as one-way travel only and assigned workers to certain floors to reduce the chance that they will encounter each other.
Suffolk has also created the position of “COVID Ambassador.” The company will assign these individuals to Suffolk offices and job sites to make sure that the protocols meant to protect employees from exposure to the novel coronavirus are implemented and followed.
Jobsite Technology:
Technology could also play a role in worker safety, DiNapoli said, and Suffolk is considering outfitting workers with wearable Triax monitors to help them maintain a safe distance from each other. Something else the company is looking into is infrared-based temperature tech to make jobsite screening for COVID-19 more efficient.
“Our goal is to have the safest jobsites in the entire country, and our strong commitment to jobsite safety will continue long after the COVID-19 crisis passes,” he said.
Likewise, Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction recently implemented Feevr, a device that uses artificial intelligence to detect elevated temperatures in groups of people to determine if any workers might have a fever without having to come into physical contact with the individual.
And Managers at Thornton Tomasetti are considering a shift to more remote field options, according to Marguerite Pinto, associate principal and a leader of the engineering firm’s New York forensic practice. This could include drones and 360-degree cameras to limit the number of people they must send to each project in the future.
“If someone can get a whole lot more imagery walking through with a 360-degree camera, then maybe we don’t need to send three or four people,” she said.
Remote Work:
Offering more opportunities for remote work — when the position allows — is also something on the mind of construction leaders, many of whom have been pleased with their firms’ shift to telework since the pandemic started.
“We’ve seen employee engagement that is higher than when people are working in the office,” AECOM CEO Michael S. Burke said during a recent earnings call. “Our people are enjoying the additional flexibility of working at home.”
Thornton Tomasetti, Pinto said, already had people monitoring projects remotely, in addition to onsite visits, before the public health crisis, so the transition to working under stay-at-home orders has been relatively smooth. The company’s investment in technology that allows employees to work from anywhere was also in reaction to the staff’s desire to achieve a more satisfactory work-personal life balance.
“I do think that made it easier than if we were used to always going in and working at a desk,” she said.
There have been issues to overcome, however.
“The challenges come with making sure there’s still communication with your team,” Pinto said. “The one thing that is missing is … passing by people’s desks and talking and meeting face to face.”
To keep staff from feeling isolated, the company hosts running Zoom meetings so that anyone can connect any time if need be. This is in addition to the scheduled meetings that are held throughout the week.
“It doesn’t replace everything, but it’s just at least one way we’re touching base every day,” she said.
John Finamore, director of business development for Plainview, New York-based general contractor EW Howell Construction Group, said the framework that the company has established since the coronavirus hit the New York City metro area, forcing many to work from home, is a critical element in not only how the contractor can maintain operations now — 50% of the company’s work was considered essential — but how it will be able to respond to a resurgence of COVID-19 or any other significant disruption.
Granted, he said, there was a learning curve for those company employees not familiar with tools like Zoom, but he has the sense that everyone, including clients, designers and subcontractors are becoming more comfortable doing business this way.
Most importantly, he said, the company is now ready to react more quickly in the event of another mandated pause. Howell also has established a COVID-19 task force and modified its safety plans.
“It would simply be a matter of reactivating something that we would then keep adjusting,” he said.