Construction industry advocates argue that the traditional use of personal protective equipment in construction during normal times has made compliance with its adoption during the pandemic easier than in other industries . Paired with staggered work shifts , regular site disinfecting and social distancing , they have argued , those steps have successfully mitigated COVID-19 spread on jobsites .
But there is no national clearinghouse that tracks COVID-19 infections by occupation , and data from studies like this one point to construction ’ s role in coronavirus spread .
In addition , public health departments in Washington state , Michigan and Nashville , Tennessee , have found construction to be among the top three occupational settings where outbreaks occurred , while a CDC study in Utah found construction to have the second highest number of cases among all industries studied .
Another recent study from the University of Texas concluded that construction workers were five times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than workers in all other industries , including those who can work from home .
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