COVID-19 Health Emergency Management

Although the workers of the company Duci have been promptly trained and informed on the provisions and prohibitions relating to the COVID-19 emergency, the indications contained within the standard are very general  and never consider the real problems on a construction site. They very often pay little attention to the real problems of construction sites and to their actual functioning, resulting in difficult feasibility and generating confusion and disorientation among the workers.

Speaking of “social distancing” on construction sites turns out to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to apply and this encourages the disregard of the rule which is the most dangerous habit towards protecting people.
For this reason, it was very complicated to reorganize all construction site activities to be able to comply with this legislation and a conscious and constant commitment and effort was required by all employees of the company.
Regarding the use of PPE for COVID-19, we can talk about these categories of devices:
-those intended for the adoption of personal hygiene measures and aimed at protecting the most exposed parts (hands and face);
-those of more general protection that perform functions of adequate effectiveness even in the case of the risk of contagion (gloves, goggles, masks, headphones, helmets).

In the first case, an adequate frequency of washing face and especially hands with sanitizing substances is required. In the second case, the constant use of devices protecting the various parts of the body must be ensured.

In these first four weeks of activity, the company has provided a more than sufficient quantity of safety devices to ensure compliance with the standard.

every construction site and every vehicle of the company has been previously equipped with rolls of paper for cleaning, disinfectant spray and hydroalcoholic solutions for the disinfection of common areas and for the sanitation of hands and face; from the beginning of the health emergency, a FFP2 mask and a pair of latex gloves per day were delivered to each worker on average; on the sites with several involved company, each subcontractor/third parties has got his own chemical toilet.

In general, we’re experiencing an inevitable increase in the management costs and delivery times of construction sites, due to the necessary time for daily sanitization, purchase and supply of additional PPE, necessary to ensure safety within construction sites. The logistics has also become much more complicated, with necessary personal accommodation at hotels, etc…