CLC Publishes Site Operating Procedures For COVID-19

CLC Publishes Site Operating Procedures For COVID-19

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has just published Site Operating Procedures to guide construction companies through the COVID-19 crisis and help them implement the government’s social distancing recommendations.

Co-chair of the CLC Andy Mitchell made the announcement, saying that we are all now facing “exceptional circumstances” and the organisation is now doing its best to keep construction sites up and running where it’s both practical and safe to do so.

For the moment, construction sites of all shapes and sizes have to make sure they’re protecting their workers and minimising the risk of spreading the virus. Mr Mitchell called on companies to implement the CLC’s new procedures in order to ensure that a standard approach is adopted across the industry.

“It is also vital that the health and safety requirements of any construction activity must not be compromised at this time. If an activity cannot be undertaken safely due to a lack of suitably qualified personnel being available, or social distancing being implemented, it should not take place.

“We are aware that emergency services are also under great pressure and may not be in a position to respond as quickly as usual,” he went on to say.

The guidance emphasises the importance of reminding everyone at every opportunity of the procedures in place designed to protect them, their colleagues, their families and the general public.

For example, anyone with a high temperature or a new persistent cough should not come to site and should self-isolate, as should anyone considered to be a vulnerable person (because of their age, pregnancy, underlying health conditions or clinical conditions), or anyone who is living with either someone in self-isolation or a vulnerable person.

If someone falls ill, they should return home immediately, avoid touching anything, cough or sneeze into a tissue and bin it straight away or, if they don’t have tissues, use the crook of their elbow instead.

Wherever possible, people should travel to site by themselves using their own mode of transportation, while site bosses need to think about parking arrangements for surplus cars and bikes, other means of getting to work to avoid public transport, and providing hand-cleaning facilities at entrances and exits.

Close working should be avoided where possible, although there will be some circumstances where this isn’t possible or safe for people to distance themselves from each other by two metres.

General principles include avoiding work that requires skin to skin contact, as well as non-essential physical work where close contact between people is required.

All other work should be planned to minimise contact, while reusable personal protective equipment should be cleaned thoroughly after use and not shared between workers. Make sure you read the rest of the guidance so you know what your individual responsibilities are when working on construction sites.

For help with scaffolding in Leeds, get in touch with us here at Burflex today.

Contact Us

Ready to work together?

Get in touch