On 24 March 2020 a further protocol illustrating the guidelines for the construction sector was signed by Anas S.p.A., RFI, ANCE, Feneal Uil, Filca CISL and Fillea CGIL, the social partners in the building sector (ANCE, ACI-PL, ANAEPA CONFARTIGIANATO, CNA COSTRUZIONI, FIAE CASARTIGIANI, CLAAI-DEPARTIMENTO EDILIZIA, CONFAPI-ANIEM, Feneal Uil, Filca CISL and Fillea CGIL) following the enactment by MIT of the shared protocol for the regulation of measures to combat and contain the spread of the COVID 19 virus in the workplace.

The document, which derives from the Protocol of the Confederal Social Partners and implements the MIT Protocol, has been integrated with other elements of detail typical of the construction sector, bringing further measures necessary to ensure the protection of workers' health and safety in order to prevent contagion from Covid-19.

These new safety measures are valid, pursuant to and for the effects of current and future government decrees related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, for the duration of the pandemic.

The construction companies, therefore, adopt the above mentioned Regulatory Protocol within their construction sites and workplaces and without prejudice to the rules set out in the government decrees, and apply the precautionary measures listed below to protect the health of people within the company and ensure the healthiness of the working environment in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

What are the rules and actions foreseen in the COVID Safety Protocol in practice?

1. INFORMATION

The employer, also with the help of bilateral training / construction safety bodies that adopt support tools useful to companies, informs workers about the basic rules of hygiene to prevent viral infections, through the most appropriate and effective ways. In the case of foreign workers who do not understand the Italian language, Employers are invited to provide material in their mother tongue or to use information leaflets with graphic indications.

The employer must also inform workers about the obligation to stay at home in case of fever (over 37.5°) or other flu symptoms and to call their family doctor and the health authority (number 1500 or 112, following the instructions).

It will be the employer's duty to expel the worker who presents flu symptoms and promptly declare him/her to the competent authorities if, even after entry, dangerous conditions exist (flu symptoms, temperature, or contact with people positive for the virus in the previous 14 days, etc.) allowing him/her to stay at home;

2. CONTROL

Personnel will be checked for body temperature before entering the workplace/yard. If this temperature exceeds 37.5°, access to the workplace/yard will not be permitted. Persons in this condition will be momentarily isolated and provided with masks, they will not have to go to the Emergency Room and/or to the infirmaries on site, but they will have to contact, as soon as possible, their doctor and follow his indications.

The employer informs the staff in advance, and those who intend to enter the company/yard, of the foreclosure of access to those who, in the last 14 days, have had contact with people who have tested positive to Covid-19 or come from areas at risk according to WHO instructions.

3. HYGIENE PRECAUTIONS

It is mandatory that people on the construction site or in the company take all hygienic precautions, especially for the hands. The company provides suitable hand cleaning agents. Frequent hand cleaning with soap and water or hydroalcoholic solution is recommended where soap and water are not present. In the absence of soap and water, hydro-alcoholic solutions can be located in places such as the entrance to construction sites or near the entrance to barracks, canteens, common areas, etc...

4. INDICATIONS FOR SUPPLIERS AND SUBCONTRACTORS

For the access of external suppliers, it would be necessary to identify entry, transit and exit procedures, using predefined methods, routes and timing, in order to reduce the opportunities for contact with the personnel on site or in the offices involved. Where possible, drivers of means of transport should remain on board their own vehicles. For the necessary loading and unloading activities, the haulier shall comply with the strict distance of one metre. If this is not possible, disposable gloves and mask must also be used for the possible exchange of documentation (where telematic exchange is not possible). For suppliers/transporters and/or other external personnel, identify/install dedicated toilets, where possible, and prohibit the use of those of employees by ensuring adequate daily cleaning.

5. CLEANING AND SANITATION

The company ensures the daily cleaning and periodic sanitization of rooms and enclosed spaces (e.g. construction site barracks, changing rooms, refectory rooms), of parts in contact with the hands of the operators of the equipment and fixed work stations (for example, the button panel of the circular saw, the iron-bending machine, the concrete mixer and the handles of hand tools and power tools). Employers are encouraged to organise their teams so that these tools are used by the same people during the shift. In any case, specific detergents should be provided or made available for the cleaning of individual tools. The company also ensures the daily cleaning and periodic sanitisation of push-buttons, control panels, steering wheel, etc. of the workstations of operators operating machinery and equipment (e.g. telehandlers, excavators, AWPs, lifts/loaders, etc.) and company transport equipment. Cleaning at the end of the shift and periodic sanitization of keyboards, screens, mice, beverage dispensers, with appropriate detergents, where present, must also be guaranteed.

6. SAFETY DISTANCE AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

The adoption of the hygiene measures and personal protective equipment indicated in the Regulatory Protocol is fundamental and, given the current emergency situation, is clearly linked to the availability on the market. For these reasons:

a) the masks will have to be used in accordance with the World Health Organisation's indications

(b) given the emergency situation, in the event of supply difficulties and for the sole purpose of preventing the spread of the virus, masks of the type indicated by the health authority may be used.

The employer must require workers to respect the distance of 1 metre during work. In case it is not possible to maintain this safety distance, it will be necessary to examine with the coordinator during the execution phase, where present, with the works management, with the client/responsible of the works, and with the RSL/RSLT the tools to be put in place, including, where possible, a possible different organization of work and/or a new time schedule of the works, in order to facilitate the temporal and spatial displacement of the works, avoiding critical situations due to the presence of several companies or teams of the same company.

Where it is not possible to respect the interpersonal distance of one metre as the main containment measure, it is essential to adopt suitable personal protective equipment: disposable masks and other protective devices (disposable gloves, glasses, overalls, gowns, etc.) that comply with the provisions of the scientific and health authorities.

It is necessary to require workers to respect the distance of 1 meter, avoiding groups in rooms for washing, changing rooms, refectories, shelter and rest rooms, dormitories, commonly called barracks.

In case it is not possible to maintain this safety distance, examine with the coordinator during the execution phase, where present, with the works management, with the client/work supervisor and with the RSL/RSLT the tools to be put in place, including, where possible, a possible different organization in the use of the barracks, including the rostering of the work teams' breaks.

Where it is not possible to respect the interpersonal distance of one metre as the main containment measure, adopt suitable personal protective equipment: disposable masks and other protective equipment (disposable gloves, goggles, overalls, gowns, etc.) in accordance with the provisions of the scientific and health authorities.

10. MANAGEMENT OF A SYMPTOMATIC PERSON

If a person present on the farm or on the construction site develops fever and symptoms of respiratory infection such as coughing, he must immediately report this to the personnel office, he must be isolated in accordance with the provisions of the health authority and that of others present on the premises, the farm shall immediately notify the competent health authorities and the emergency numbers for Covid-19 provided by the Region or the Ministry of Health.

The farm must also cooperate with the health authorities in defining any "close contacts" of a person present on the farm who has been found positive for the Covid-19 swab. This is to enable the authorities to apply the necessary and appropriate quarantine measures. During the investigation period, the holding may ask any possible close contacts to leave the establishment cautiously, as directed by the health authority.

 

Source:

National Joint Commission for Accident Prevention, Hygiene and Work Environment Via G.A.Guattani, 24 - 00161 ROMA - C.F. 96372520583 - Tel. 06.852613 - Fax 06.85261600 [email protected] - [email protected] - www.cncpt.it