Tradies take extra care
Most building and renovation work can be carried out during Covid-19 alert level 3 if precautions are taken.
This means trades businesses need a Covid-19 control plan in place with appropriate physical distancing and health and safety measures for staff and a building’s occupants. Otherwise work cannot begin.
On a construction site, workers must be at least one metre apart from people who share their ‘‘work bubble’’ and at least 2m from others.
The 2m rule applies when working in someone’s home or workplace, and to play it safe some tradespeople insist on being the only ones in a room when doing their work.
Where practicable, sites should be separated into zones to keep different crews/ trades separated.
Homeowners can help by staying out of the way but they should still expect projects to proceed slower than usual due to the more onerous requirements for workers.
A business’s control plan needs to show how hygiene requirements are being met, such as washing of hands and equipment, and there must be measures in place for contact tracing. This includes signing in with contact details when arriving at a site and signing out when leaving.
For each work site, trades businesses need to make sure commonly used areas and surfaces are cleaned and sanitised at the end of each working day.
Work vehicles must also be cleaned if used by different people, and in many cases fewer people will be able to ride in a vehicle at the same time.
Travel by workers must be within their region. However, crossing into neighbouring regions is allowed if the boundary is local.
Upon a worker’s arrival at a site or before they begin work, employers should have a way of evaluating their health. So much as a sniffle warrants a day off.
Supplies shouldn’t be a problem, because level 3 rules allow tradespeople to shop again if orders are placed online and contactless delivery is arranged. However, items ordered from overseas may take longer than usual due to many parts now arriving by ship after the mass cancellation of flights.