{"id":26690,"date":"2020-11-23T11:54:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T11:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=26690"},"modified":"2020-11-23T14:52:35","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T14:52:35","slug":"stricter-measures-needed-to-combat-covid-on-construction-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=26690","title":{"rendered":"Stricter measures needed to combat Covid on construction sites"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite is calling for the creation of separate site operating procedures to cover both indoor and outdoor construction work following revelations by Professor Calum Semple that confirm Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s belief that stricter measures are needed to combat Covid-19 transmissions on constructions sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince the beginning of the pandemic, Unite has warned that construction workers were at considerable risk,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jerry Swain Unite national officer for construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Professor Calum Semple told Sky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sophie Ridge programme on Sunday (22 November) that, \u00e2\u20ac\u015byou would have thought working outside wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a risk but many people in construction are actually working inside before buildings are made Covid-safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo the construction industry has turned out to be a risk that I was surprised to see.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Huge amounts of the industry operate through bogus self-employment or agency labour where workers have no employment rights and engagements are short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The union is also highly concerned that many construction workers remain unable to self-isolate due to financial reasons as they do not qualify for the job retention scheme, self-employment grants or extra payments for self-isolating. Unite believes this is an additional factor in the increasing construction transmission rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn these circumstances and with unemployment growing, workers fear that if they raise concerns they will have their contracts terminated and will struggle to find new employment,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe professor is right that a great deal of construction work is undertaken inside, often in poorly ventilated areas. The risk of transmission is further increased in poor weather as workers seek protection indoors from the elements,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The situation has been made worse by the inadequacy of the site operating procedures published by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government feeds into this body so it must be aware of the failure to address the need for the compulsory wearing of masks where workers can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work in a socially distanced manner,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Unite has demanded this repeatedly warning that it was central to getting transmission in the sector under control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis failure is likely to have contributed to the high transmission rate and has seriously undermined the social distancing messages vital to the protection of workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 added Jerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 While larger sites, particularly where Unite has been actively involved, have been better in ensuring Covid safe working practices are enacted, such measures on smaller sites and in the domestic sector are either weak or non-existent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince the beginning of the pandemic, Unite has argued that construction employers need to ensure that workers are protected from when they leave home until when they return home at night. The increased level of transmission in the sector demonstrates this is simply not happening,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 warned Jerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The union is operating a confidential email \u00e2\u20ac\u201c construction@unitetheunion.org<\/a> and hotline (0207 622 2442) for construction workers concerned about Covid-19 safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnless the government and construction employers ensure that there are strict rules on mask wearing, that social distancing and cleaning regimes are being followed, and workers can afford to self-isolate, transmission rates will continue to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite remains fully committed to working with employers and the government to address these issues and improve Covid safety for construction workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barckley Sumner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite is calling for the creation of separate site operating procedures to cover both indoor and outdoor construction work following revelations by Professor Calum Semple that confirm Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s belief that stricter measures are needed to combat Covid-19 transmissions on constructions sites.  \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince the beginning of the pandemic, Unite has warned that construction workers were at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1],"tags":[167,1295],"wps_subtitle":"Unite calls for separate procedures to cover both indoor and outdoor construction work to stop virus transmission","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26690"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26696,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26690\/revisions\/26696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}