The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted most business sectors, including construction. Business activity will gradually resume as governments lift restrictions and stay-at-home orders. However, some experts believe there could be a second wave of COVID-19 and that construction companies should have a strategy in place. Even if there is no second wave, companies can take steps to become more resilient against future pandemics.
Architecture, engineering and construction firms can reduce the risk of coronavirus infection with a combination of safety protocols and technology. COVID-19 also has legal implications for the construction sector, as the disease is not directly addressed in many contracts. Additionally, coverage under many insurance plans is unclear for coronavirus-related losses.
Manage your construction project efficiently and comply with COVID-19 prevention protocols.
Some construction projects are considered critical: they have been allowed to continue during the COVID-19 outbreak under strict safety protocols. Therefore, coronavirus prevention measures are already in high demand.
Combining Safety Protocols with Technology in the Workplace
Working from home is one of the most effective measures against COVID-19, for the simple reason that employees do not interact in person. Construction projects can be designed and approved with remote collaboration, but contractors and their staff must be physically present to continue beyond this point.
Even during the construction phase, working from home is possible for many roles. A learning curve can be expected, as this may be the first remote collaboration experience for some employees. However, the security benefits of working from home far outweigh the management challenges that come with the transition.
Social distancing measures and personal protective equipment (PPE) can be applied on construction sites. However, construction workers must stay close to each other for some tasks, making social distancing impossible.
- Workers must have PPE in these cases, but construction managers can also limit the number of people in a specific area.
- Project schedules can also be edited so that teams work at different times, further reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Wearable technology has promising applications on construction sites. Workers can wear sensors that detect if they are not maintaining a safe distance and can be warned immediately with audiovisual signals.
With data collected by wearable sensors, construction managers can also identify which activities make social distancing difficult. They can reschedule these activities or change their layout to minimize COVID-19 risks. For example, they can designate one-way routes to minimize head-to-head interaction between workers.
Construction companies can also deploy surveillance drones and 360° cameras to monitor project sites with minimal interaction. For example, supervisors can fly a drone through a construction site instead of conducting an in-person inspection. Infrared sensors at project entrances can also detect workers with fever, tracking COVID-19 cases more effectively. Not everyone develops a fever when exposed to the virus, but a fever is a warning of potential cases.
Facing COVID-19 in Insurance Contracts and Plans
The coronavirus outbreak has created new responsibilities and costs in construction projects. Ideally, these issues should be resolved amicably between owners and contractors, but some cases can lead to litigation. To avoid legal conflicts associated with COVID-19, the best solution is to cover them explicitly in future contracts.
Construction contracts must now include coronavirus-specific provisions, such as mandatory safety protocols. In existing contracts, coronavirus may be covered by force majeure clauses with broad definitions. Specific definitions may exclude coronavirus, even if the disease was not mentioned by name when the contract was written.
Insurance coverage may also fall into a gray area regarding COVID-19.
- Some insurance plans explicitly exclude viruses and other infectious diseases, but others are not as clear.
- General liability insurance can cover a contractor if someone on their team becomes infected due to another party's negligence.
- Contractors should monitor all official communications from state governments as they may introduce mandatory coverage for some COVID-19 issues.
- Pandemics are typically excluded from business interruption coverage. However, businesses may be eligible if there is physical damage, such as a fire.
Keeping workers healthy should be a top priority for every company. This is the socially responsible thing to do and can also save you from legal and financial issues. A company's public image could also be seriously harmed if it allowed an internal outbreak of COVID-19.
