Amid the looming resumption of construction projects nationwide, the Department of Public Workers and Highways (DPWH) released its guidelines to ensure the safety of construction workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Monday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced DPWH finally completed the protocols that should be complied with by construction sector so they could resume their operations in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and general community quarantine (GCQ).
These include ensuring social distancing would be followed in the worksites by conducting break times in staggered manner and banning gatherings, liquor and merry-making.
“Clustered and staggered deployment of employees within the construction site shall be observed,” Roque said.
The guidelines also minimized the movement of workers outside the worksite by requiring contractors, subcontractors, and concessionaires to provide them sleeping quarters, adequate food and drinking water within or near the worksite.
“Number of personnel running errands [outside the construction site] shall be limited, properly disinfected, and closely monitored for symptoms within 14-days upon re-entry [in the worksite],” Roque said.
Meanwhile, non-essential personnel will not be allowed entry in the construction site.
To ensure this is followed, strict logging in and out would be required of all personnel entering the site to ensure they are free from Covid-19.
Designated personnel will also check if the the workers within a worksite are following safety and hygiene protocols such as wearing of personal protective equipment, regular hand washing, and disinfecting their equipment and work area.
“Proper waste disposal shall be provided for infectious waste such as PPEs and other waste products coming from outside and the construction premises,” Roque said.
All construction works are already allowed in GCQ areas, while in ECQ areas, they said projects will only be on the criteria set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’s (IATF).
Image credits: Bernard Testa
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