As many states are starting to go back to work, employees are expressing concern about their safety. In fact, 54% of U.S. employees say they are worried about exposure to COVID-19 at their job, according to a new poll by Eagle Hill Consulting.

The survey, which included 1,000 respondents from a random sample of employees, was conducted from April 22-27, 2020.

Workers indicate that several factors would make them feel safe going back to work; the availability of protective protections like masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer (58%) mandating employees with symptoms stay home (55%) and making COVID-19 tests available (53%).

Fifty-six percent say that employers have the right to know if workers have tested positive for COVID-19, while 43% support employers testing for symptoms. Few employees (17%) believe their jobs would be impacted by their test results. Click here to read the entire article.

New construction safety guidelines will not just focus on wearing hard hats or mitigating falls but checking workers temperatures before they enter job sites, staggering start hours and making sure masks are worn at all times due to the coronavirus pandemic, panelists said.

Experts who spoke on the Commercial Observer’s Second Annual Construction Safety Forum said that measures taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on the few job sites allowed to remain open now will likely impact future construction safety guidelines. Click here to read the entire article.

In the span of two months, the coronavirus crisis has demanded sweeping changes from the U.S. construction industry, and experts say many of them will remain in place even after the outbreak recedes.

As contractors prepare to return to work on sites that have been shut down by shelter-in-place initiatives, they will face an industry that has been drastically changed by the both public health and economic effects of the pandemic.

“There are new factors coming into play now that you or I never thought about,” said Joe Natarelli, leader of Marcum LLP's national Construction Industry Group​. “And people need to plan now to be prepared for the long term.” Click here to read the entire article.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued interim enforcement guidance to help combat supply shortages of disposable N95 filtering face piece respirators (N95 FFRs). The action marks the department’s latest step to ensure the availability of respirators and follows President Donald J. Trump’s Memorandum on Making General Use Respirators Available.

Due to the impact on workplace conditions caused by limited supplies of N95 FFRs, employers should reassess their engineering controls, work practices and administrative controls to identify any changes they can make to decrease the need for N95 respirators.  Click here to read the entire article.