Construction Sector Protocols

Prevent any employee who has a high temperature (38C or above) from entering the site.
Prevent transporting potentially infected individuals with other passengers.
All employees must wear personal protective equipment (masks and gloves) at all times during work.
Do not allow workers who are at higher risk of infection (as per the definition of individuals of higher risk in Appendix A) to come to work.
All queues locations should be clearly identified to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 meters between workers.
Designate areas in which workers who are at higher risk of infection can (as per the MOH guidelines) isolate themselves and stay away from other individuals.
Allow administrators to work remotely from home, if possible.
Ensure the recommended distance between workers is maintained for a distance of 1.5 meters in the places of external work, but in the case of working indoors, there must be no more than one worker per 4 square meters. If this is not possible, then the task time should be reduced and workers must wear cloth masks at all times.

Forklift and crane drivers must wear cloth masks or anything that covers the mouth and nose at all times.
Forklift and crane drivers must always wear personal protective equipment (gloves and face masks) during work.
Reduce the number of materials that workers share internally or dispose of them (e.g. shared pens used to fill in worksheets and shared devices such as drinking water devices, etc.).
Periodic disinfection of all frequently touched surfaces (after the end of each shift) and disinfection of equipment before/after use.
Provide trash cans and waste baskets that are used with no touching required, and the waste must be disposed of continuously.

Prepare a detailed daily record of the movement of workers and their health status, including the list of workers who are in quarantine.
Prepare a list with the name of workers who work together and their shift times.
Conduct random and scheduled audits to ensure compliance with the protocol.
If a confirmed case is registered among workers, the protocols approved by Weqaya Center and the MOH must be applied.

Assign an on-site protocol manager responsible for ensuring that all relevant protocols are applied.
Conduct mandatory health and safety training on Covid-19 for all workers.
Hang up clear signs at the entrances and common areas, to clarify health and personal hygiene instructions and display the latest developments related to Covid-19.
Urge workers to provide practical ideas at informal safety meetings to change work practices to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
Announce any new measures and changes to the established protocols.
Continuous training and correct behavior reminders.
Use social media, digital screens, text messages and other channels to raise awareness, preferably in several languages (such as: Arabic, English, Urdu, and others).

Prevent any worker who has a high temperature (38C or above) from entering the work site.
Do not allow workers who are at higher risk of infection (as per the definition of individuals of higher risk in Appendix A) to come to work and oblige them to work remotely from home.
Building operators and site managers should require maintenance personnel to follow preventive measures to prevent spread of infection:

Assign an on-site protocol manager or reconstituting a security team at the entrances to buildings if possible to conduct health checks for staff.
A security team can be formed to conduct checks in residential buildings.

In commercial buildings, a specialized team should be assigned to conduct health checks (inspection) on employees.
Restructure the security teams at the entrances of the buildings to conduct effective checks for workers.
Allocate one entrance for workers to enhance supervision over the course of their entry and facilitate inspection.
Maintenance workers are required to wear cloth masks.
The owner or tenant must not allow workers to start work without using masks in the absence of a security team in the building.
The building operators should inform workers before their arrival about the inspection procedures and policies followed to enter the facility.
Agree on a delivery protocol with suppliers and carriers; And make sure to inform them before their arrival to the residential buildings of the inspection and safety and prevention measures.

Ensure adequate ventilation at closed construction and maintenance sites.
Workers should not be permitted to sleep at construction and maintenance sites.
Lunch breaks should be spent inside the buildings and only open closed dining common areas in extremely hot weather with the application of restaurant protocols.

Conduct regular checks for workers in the sites.
Set the number of individuals allowed to use the elevators at the same time to avoid congestion [one person per 4m max].
It is recommended to ensure that the ventilation systems are operating well and to carry out routine maintenance regularly.
Clean and disinfect the work area after finishing the maintenance work.
Designate workers to clean frequently touched surfaces in common areas and to ensure regular disinfection.
Allocate bathrooms at the workers’ sites to avoid crowding in non-residential buildings.

Maintenance work may be resumed provided that there is good air ventilation or central air conditioning inside residential units.
Non-essential maintenance can be resumed also.
Social distancing (1.5 meters) should be ensured between workers and tenants/house owners when providing the services.
The provision of non-urgent construction services should be subject to the appropriate administrative approvals.

Inform the management or the employee responsible of the residential building of any positive cases among site workers who visited the site.
Maintain a record with the workers details of entry and exit to the site [name, identity, entry/exit times].
The supervisor should ensure that health checks and inspections are performed, and cases of non-compliance are detected.
Commitment to personal protective equipment protocols before entering buildings.
If a confirmed case is registered among workers, the protocols approved by Weqaya Center and the MOH must be applied.

Conduct mandatory health and safety training on Covid-19 and how to deal with building services for all workers (with the aim of preserving the safety of society).
Assign an on-site protocol manager responsible for ensuring that all relevant protocols are applied, and issuing warnings for any violations of Covid-19 protocols
Conduct random sudden audits at construction and maintenance sites to ensure compliance with the protocols.