Coronavirus (COVID-19)

If you, a member of your workforce or any contractors working for you, meet any one of the following criteria, they cannot return to work:

• If you/they are experiencing coronavirus symptoms, however mild including a high temperature, persistent cough, or loss of taste or smell.
• If you/they are considered to be a vulnerable person due to age, underlying health or clinical condition or if they are pregnant.
• If you/they are living with someone who is self-isolating or a vulnerable person.

In applying this guidance employers should be mindful of the need to treat everyone in their workforce equally. It is breaking the law to discriminate, directly or indirectly, against anyone because of a protected characteristic such as age, sex or disability. Employers should therefore consider whether they need to put in place any particular measures or adjustments to take account of their duties under the equalities legislation.

• Carry out a risk assessment: As the responsible contractor and employer, your risk assessment will be your starting point. It is vital that the risk involved in each job is assessed and documented, and that key considerations to do with health, safety and welfare are the primary concerns for any work you undertake. Legally, only employers with more than five employees are obliged to produce a written risk assessment, but the FMB would encourage all members to keep a written note of their assessment of the risks involved in the work. This will mean that you can more easily share your findings with others, including workers, and that you can demonstrate the steps you have taken if there are any incidents that could lead to an investigation or insurance claim in the future. No one can completely eliminate risks, but it could be very important for you to show how you have done everything reasonably practical to minimise the risks, using sensible measures and following advice and guidance.

• Keep following existing legal obligations: Carrying out a COVID-19 risk assessment does not supersede any legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment, or equality law, and it is important that you continue to comply with these.

• Include your workers in the process: It is important to take a collaborative approach with workers when assessing risks and proposing measures to mitigate them. Employers must engage with workers, or workers representatives in order to agree any changes in working arrangements. Your workers are able to choose their own representative, employers cannot decide who the representative will be. The aim is to have clear and consistent communications, to achieve understanding and compliance. It is good practice to have workers confirm in writing that they have received and understood information about such changes.

• Resources to assist in assessing risks: To help, you can download the FMB's basic risk assessment Word template or find more comprehensive templates in our Document library (available to FMB members only).

• Some actions to consider: In producing your risk assessment you should follow the commonly used hierarchy of risks:

  • Eliminate the risk – can the risk be eliminated, for example by not carrying out a particular task?

  • Reduce the risk – for example by using social distancing and good hygiene.

  • Isolate the risk – for example by limiting work to very small teams who stay together.

  • Engineered controls to reduce risk – such as physical barriers.

  • Administrative controls to reduce risk – such as staggered breaks or start times.

  • Using PPE to reduce risk, which should be the last resort, not a substitute for other measures.

Once you have completed your risk assessment, you should regularly review and update it as the situation changes. 

• If either party becomes unwell: Clients have a responsibility to inform their builder if they or any other occupant at the property become unwell, and vice-versa, so that the risk of spreading the virus can be minimised. Do not delay in passing on information if anyone begins to show symptoms or has been in contact with others who have the virus and follow the official advice about self-isolation.
  • General health advice for individuals is available on the NHS website. 
  • Information about the Government’s response, including latest announcements, advice on social distancing, and its action plan is available on their website.
  • You can also consult the 111 Coronavirus Service online.
• Your health and your workers’ health: No work should be carried out by any tradesperson who is showing coronavirus symptoms, however mild. No worker should be pressurised into coming to work if they have concerns about risks to their own health or that of family members. While the FMB supports the return to work of the building industry, we are clear that this must be done safely. No one should be made to work in an unsafe workplace.
• Workers wellbeing: Make sure you look out for your workers at this time. Further support is available via the Lighthouse Club Construction Industry Helpline.
• Call ahead each day to check the health of the household: Call ahead on the day each day you intend to be on site to check that no one in the household has started to show symptoms of the virus, has been diagnosed, or is self-isolating. No work should be carried out in households which are self-isolating, are shielded, or are showing coronavirus symptoms unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the household, such as emergency plumbing, heating or electrical repairs, or other safety risk, and where the tradesperson is willing to do so, taking all possible precautions. 
• Maintaining your reputation: It is important that neighbours and other third parties who are aware that work is re-starting on a domestic site are informed that the work is being carried out in accordance with official guidance on safe operations. This will help to safeguard your reputation as a responsible contractor for the future.
• Avoid unnecessary face-to-face contact: You and your clients should communicate as much as possible via phone, email and video call, in order to minimise meetings and all face-to-face contact, including any signing of documents or provision of certificates. Remember not to shake hands, this is often instinctive.
• Stick to all health and safety regulations: Ensure your client and you as principal contractor are complying with your respective obligations on the health, safety and welfare of anyone on the site under the CDM Regulations.

• Travel alone when possible: The safest way for workers to travel to site is to go alone using their own transport. 
• Hygiene: Vehicles should also be regularly and thoroughly cleaned, paying particular attention to frequently used areas such as door handles. All workers must wash hands thoroughly on arrival and regularly throughout the day in line with Public Health advice.
• Avoid public transport wherever possible: If this is not possible then employers should discuss options with workers, such as staggered start times so that rush hours can be avoided. When travelling on public transport, you must wear a face covering.

• Daily briefings: Carry out daily briefings with your workers to remind them of the additional health and safety measures that they must follow. Maintain a zero tolerance to breaches of the rules you put in place for this purpose. The aim should be to provide clear consistent and regular communications to improve workers’ understanding and compliance. 
• Nominate a coordinator to track reports of illness: Identify a coronavirus coordinator, who will be responsible for keeping records of who is on site and when, and any reports of illness or breaches of the guidance. Make workers aware that they should report any concerns to that individual.
• Keep a record: Keep a written record of measures that have been taken to comply with safety guidance on site, from the day you return to site and on a daily basis thereafter. This could be kept with your risk assessment document. 
• Separate building work from residents of the home: If the part of the home that you are working in can be divided off from the rest of the house, leaving the clients in residence with sufficient kitchen and bathroom facilities, this will enable any work to be carried out whilst still observing social distancing. Where this is not possible, residents should stay in a different room with the door closed. Keep rooms well ventilated at all times.
• Washing facilities and common areas: Separate washing facilities should also be arranged where possible. You are responsible for ensuring that paper towels are provided, along with hot water and soap. Whilst on site, continue to follow the advice on frequent hand washing when not wearing gloves, using hand sanitiser and not touching the face. Social distancing and good hygiene are the most effective ways of minimising transmission of coronavirus. Workers should be reminded of the importance of washing hands more often than usual for 20 seconds using soap and water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing their nose.
  
  Only establish common areas for refreshments and breaks if absolutely necessary. If common areas are needed, they should be cleaned regularly at least twice a day. Examples of items that should be regularly disinfected are door handles, ladders, taps, and toilets. This list is not exhaustive, and you should conduct your own risk assessment to identify areas of heavy use. Workers carrying out cleaning duties need to understand the required contact times of any disinfectants or other products they are using
• Hands, face, space: Keep your distance on site. Ideally keep 2m between you and another person, and where this drops to 1m, add in the following measures for greater security:
  • Increasing frequency of hand washing and cleaning.
  • Keeping the time taken to carry out the activity as short as possible.
  • Use screens or barriers to separate people.
  • Work back-to-back or side-to-side (rather than face-to-face) if possible.
  • Reduce the number of people each person has contact with by using small fixed teams.
  • If people must work face-to-face for a sustained period with more than a small group of fixed workers, then you will need to assess whether the activity can safely go ahead.
  • Wear a face covering, or the relevant PPE where the task at hand requires it, for example dust work.
• Washing your clothes: Any clothing worn on site should be changed as soon as you get home and washed so as not to harbour viruses. Any re-useable PPE (e.g. safety glasses) should be washed. Any wipes, disposable gloves etc should be bagged up and disposed of in accordance with local waste regulations. Check your Local Authority website for information on waste disposal. The Construction Industry Council has produced short video which includes information on this.
• Don’t share: Tools must not be shared between workers. If this is not possible, tools should be disinfected before and after use by one person, before passing them on to another worker. Under no circumstances should PPE, including facemasks be shared. Note that sharing mobile phones/ tablets/ pens etc may risk infection.
• Keep a tidy site: Good housekeeping and keeping a safe, tidy site is even more important than usual. Tools and equipment should be cleaned and disinfected, at the start and finish of any job, and all materials left tidily. There is information on the Government website about cleaning workspaces, but nothing specific to construction sites. All belongings from the work area should be removed from site at the end of the working day. If you are cleaning after a known or suspected case of COVID-19 then you should refer to the specific guidance.
• Take a break – alone: Workers should take their breaks separately, for example eating lunch in their own vehicles or well away from each other. Consider staggered break times.
• Splitting shifts if possible: Consider using a split shift pattern or compartmentalising sites between identified crews of workers who work inside their own compartment area to minimise physical proximity between workers.
• Keeping small teams together: It is best if workers work alongside the same people each day as far as possible to minimise risk of transmission. This applies particularly if working within a confined space. Consider using a fixed pairing system so that it is always the same workers who work in close proximity during a two-person job.
• Accepting deliveries: Maintain social distancing and hygiene measures when accepting deliveries, for example by requesting electronic copies of delivery notes. Collect materials in bulk to reduce the frequency of collections. Where possible and safe have single workers load or unload vehicles. If using pairs of people use the same pairs whenever possible. Ask delivery drivers to call ahead so that you can plan the unloading process.
• No visitors to site: Do not allow any non-essential visitors to access the site. Any visitors or inspectors who must be allowed access should follow all of the same rules as the workers on site.

• The first principle to apply is that health concerns take precedence over any other issue.
• Do not continue work if you show signs of coronavirus: If at any time a worker on site feels unwell, they should assess how to leave whatever they are working on in a safe state, contact their employer, and leave the site that day. Employers should make sure that workers are regularly reminded of this, and it should be clear to workers that they must not continue to work whilst showing any symptoms, or if they have been in contact with another person who has.
• Your responsibility to report coronavirus cases: Understand your obligations to report any coronavirus cases arising from your project to the HSE under RIDDOR and follow all other HSE Guidance. Seek advice from the FMB’s Health and Safety Advice Line (available to members only) before making any RIDDOR reports. The individual affected should also contact NHS Track and Trace.
• Next steps if coronavirus symptoms are displayed on site: If a worker, client or anyone who is on site shows symptoms of coronavirus, you should make a risk assessment and consider whether the site should be closed down. Workers who have been in contact with them should self-isolate, following the PHE Guidance.
• Accidents and other incidents on site: Consider whether you have adequate trained first aiders and fire marshals onsite, and have workers undertake further training if this is not the case. Consider using FMB’s e-learning platform for basic training (available to members only).
• Workers with safety concerns on site: Government advice is very clear that no worker who feels unsafe at work should be forced to continue to work. The FMB fully endorses this position. 
• Communicate changes to costs or length of project: Taking the actions above will be very likely to cause further delays and increase project costs, so again a collaborative approach between clients, builders and supply chain will achieve the best outcome.
• Keep a record: Keep written records of any of the above actions, including dates, times and names, which will be important for contact tracing.