Building sites / construction

[OhHiya]

What do you all think of these being kept open during a lockdown?

People still need to earn a living

I work on building sites and they are very covid secure. PPE worn temperature checks etc. I currently hire nearly 50 men and not one of them has come down with covid.

What @Scaryprospects said (I’m also in construction).

We need the infrastructure that a lot of these projects are delivering. They can be delivered safely. Let the industry crack on.

I’m furious I’m the director of a construction company in Scotland and we were closed from March until July, they say numbers are worse since then but it’s ok for my guys to van share and show up on site with hundreds of others from all over the country

Construction and manufacturing are not essential- they should be closed and individuals furloughed.

This lockdown needs to be a proper lockdown- no one leaves home unless a key worker.

@LoudTree what about construction in healthcare environments to increase capacity and infrastructure? This isn’t black and white.

I work in manufacturing and we are still going to work. We have never been so busy. The more people who are able to work the better, we need the money for the NHS more than ever.

I think they should stay open if they can operate safely, which it sounds like they can. Closing down huge swathes of the economy necessarily doesn’t do anyone any favours.

Sorry, that should be unnecessarily.

There are a lot of keyworkers.

Shutting down sites in winter is a very different proposition to shutting them down in spring or summer.

The rain/frost/snow can have a massive adverse impact on part built and empty properties - damp issues & mould, timber damage, frost/freezing temperatures killing concrete and mortar, for example

They shouldn't be. DH is in a construction related role and if they continue the way they have been it's not conducive to reducing cases. They're not essential and therefore should close. If it's a lockdown it should be a proper lockdown

Van sharing is a big concern.
If you think building sites are COVID secure then you’re dreaming. I take it the people who claim to work on site here are only doing flying visits?

@LoudTree we are essential we are currently building council homes and working in schools as well as hospitals.

@LoudTree there are keyworkers in the construction industry you know...

@OhHiya no actually I am on site full time and don’t do flying visits! Yes I would say we are covid secure, more so then a supermarket! 2 of our sites have been expected by the councils they are under and passed with flying colours.

Can never understand why construction get such a bad name!?

I’m happy enough that the site is covid secure but unfortunately in order to get bodies onsite they all have to van share which worries me

@TheMawisbraw not all van share. Many of ours have to travel on public transport as they are working in the heart of London where it’s too expensive to travel in everyday with a vehicle.

@Daisysflowers that’s probably worse then because at least my guys can pair up and stick to the same crew in each van. In Scotland all but construction on hospitals stopped for 4 months during the first lockdown so I’m baffled why it’s allowed this time round, financially hit us really hard but I’d rather take another financial hit than risk anyone getting ill

I'm hoping tradesman/builders can continue to work as it's the only income coming into my house at the moment. Im slightly scared.......not going to lie........theres bigger issues than covid at the moment

@3littlewords Yes, they can continue to work.

@TheMawisbraw it is no worse then any other key/critical worker travelling by public transport.

I Was aware that construction did stop in Scotland the first time lockdown happened, it was baffling to us when at the time we were receiving Letters from Boris and co thanking the construction industry for carrying on and helping the economy 🤷🏼‍♀️

DS works in a related industry and spends a lot of time on site at major projects. Things were really unsafe on a lot of sites in March and there was plenty written about it. See for example:

www.constructionnews.co.uk/agenda/investigations/construction-coronavirus-villain-or-saviour-of-the-economy-02-04-2020/

The government were bigging up construction workers as essential in press conferences, repeatedly mentioning them before other sectors like retail, delivery or manufacturing. Alok Sharma wrote them a special letter paying tribute to them for continuing to go out to work:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-letter-to-the-construction-sector

TBH the whole thing seemed dodgy as fuck.

I haven't asked DS lately about conditions on site. I hope they've substantially upped their game because they weren't closed last time and they won't be closed this time.

Actual construction and infrastructure I completely understand still working.

Trades like gardening are in no way an essential and shouldn’t be considered under the same umbrella in this instance. It’s a luxury to have a gardener and it’s not the same as, for example, a vulnerable person needing a cleaner.

@CaptainVanesHair surely common sense comes into it.

I've cancelled my cleaner tomorrow as she'd be in my home even though I'm out.

If the gardener is allowed and happy to work I'll keep her. I don't need to go within 20m of her in a windy garden that I don't need to touch anything in for weeks. She doesn't go through the house or use the loo.

Those of you saying how amazing construction is I believe you for the big sites. But on those big sites I think often when the big wigs aren't around the rules are ignored. We live v close to some big building sites and the men sit in their vans having breaks etc. One way system to get to it maybe but when the boss isn't looking they're warm and toasty for 30 mins with that van heater on.

I also think a lot of smaller companies don't have the resources to implement a lot of these things. I know a lot of less than 10 people outfits and they are nothing like what you describe on this site.

Lots will have to stay open. Eg the bearings manufacturer I went to today. You might think we can live without bearings but the thousands of animals I feed everyday based on those bearings would think otherwise.