Masks or no masks? How often should you disinfect? How do you practice social distancing on the roof? With all the information and recommendations about good jobsite hygiene, it’s hard to know what steps to take to help keep employees and customers safe during the coronavirus outbreak.
Combing through information from the National Roofing Contractors Association and surveying our own TAMKO customer base, we have compiled a number of roofing-specific recommendations that business owners can put into place during this time.
Roofing jobsite-specific best practices
Here are some commonly-recommended practices:
- Consider closing jobsite access to visitors, including outside sales reps, vendor reps, customers and delivery drivers.
- Either arrange to have materials dropped off at the jobsite during a time the roofing crew is not present or at a staging area like a driveway that is appropriately distanced from the crew.
- Bring any additional equipment to the jobsite that is needed to not have to enter the structure being roofed. This could include additional ladders, scaffolds or lifts.
- Provide external bathroom facilities on the job site to eliminate the need to enter the structure being roofed or other nearby businesses.
- Divide roofing crews into shifts to have fewer people on the roof at a time in order to maintain the recommended social distancing of 6-feet between people.
- Provide and consider requiring employees on the jobsite to wear appropriate medical respirator masks.
- Suspend practice of multiple employees riding together in company vehicles.
CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is constantly updating their site as the situation is changing rapidly, but provided an Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to help guide decision making during this time.
In that document, the CDC recommends the following general advice that can be applied to any type of business:
- Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.
- Separate sick employees.
- Emphasize staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all employees.
- Perform routine environmental cleaning.
- Advise employees before traveling to take certain steps.
Getting Your Workplace Ready for COVID-19
Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has created a document called Getting Your Workplace Ready for COVID-19 and in it recommends:
- Make sure workplaces are clean and hygienic
- Regularly wipe down and disinfect surfaces, including desks and tables, and objects, like telephones and keyboards
- Promote regular and thorough hand-washing by employees, contractors and customers
- Provide hand sanitizer dispensers in prominent places around the workplace. Make sure these dispensers are regularly refilled
- Communicate that people need to stay at home even if they have just mild symptoms of COVID-19
- Assess the benefits and risks related to upcoming travel plans, based on the latest information available
- Develop a plan of what to do if someone becomes ill with suspected COVID-19 at one of your workplaces
These are suggestions that may help, but we recommend you keep up with the latest news, including regulations and health guidance from reputable sources.
Disclaimer: The information provided does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites and TAMKO is not responsible for the availability, content or accuracy of those other websites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter.