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 current construction codes have different Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for each job. Image credit: Pexels
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.
