ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
The new corona construction worker
By Doug Potter
In 2019 we never dreamed that we would be in a worldwide lockdown and how that might affect our way of doing business . We have extra fears of that package labelled made in China , or the person coughing in our proximity .
The current construction codes have different Personal
Protection Equipment ( PPE ) for each job . For electrical work , rubber-based tools might be required for example , to hard hats and leather gloves in building construction .
When the consumer hires a contractor , they do not stop to think what planning took place for him / her to even leave their driveway with newer regulations requiring Bakkies with back up alarms , specialty tools and training to staff . Now the newer regulations require more training on Covid-19 for the contractor to do their basic job .
Construction companies that want to do work currently in South Africa need to comply with the Workplace Preparedness
Covid-19 document outlined by the department of labour that which can be found on their website at www . labour . gov . za .
The guide outlines everything the employer must do to protect workers and their customer regarding the coronavirus . On certain jobsites , the government requires a Code of Practise ( COP ) to be completed in regard to Covid-19 and this can be found on the Government Gazette website or www . gov . za . This is a very in-depth document making the worker create a flow diagram of how the workers and the public can be kept safe .
The truth is many construction companies are challenged to keep their companies running , with little or no income coming in .
PEXELS
The current construction codes have different Personal Protection Equipment ( PPE ) for each job .
26 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2020 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www . saaffordablehousing . co . za