Associated General Contractors (AGC) East Tennessee members are joining thousands of construction companies across the country Thursday to hold coronavirus Safety Stand Downs at their job sites. These Safety Stand Downs show the commitment of workers on job sites to follow all relevant safety guidelines provided by public health and safety officials.
“AGC’s National Stand Down demonstrators commitment of construction companies across the country to go above and beyond to ensure the safety or our workforce” said Nic Cornelison, chair of AGC East Tennessee and vice president of P&C Construction. “AGC has built a robust package of safety tools to help educate and prepare everyone on construction jobsites. With pre-screening tests, toolbox talks, job site posters, and checklists we are able to incorporate new COVID-19 safety standards in our daily safety routines.”
The US Department of Homeland Security included construction on its list of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers to ensure community and national resilience in COVID-19 response. While the construction industry continues to work, allowing more than 6,000 families to remain employed in and around Hamilton County, AGC East Tennessee companies are doing what they can to ensure the safety of the community and its teams. The construction industry is fortunate in that the nature of the work allows it to practice proper social distancing, and already has PPE and safety requirements in place as outlined by OSHA and TOSHA standards, said officials.
“When you work in construction, safety is always a top priority. Nothing is more important to us than making sure that our team is protected,” said Drew Lewis, president, and co-founder of L Squared Construction. “We realize that new safety procedures we’ve put into place during this crisis extend beyond protecting our team; now, we’re doing what we can to protect our families and community.”