Although several cities in Massachusetts have shut down all construction jobs, a full crew of 30 to 40 people is still at work on Harvard’s new elementary school. Phil Conroy, project manager for Shawmut Construction, said in an email that, as of Tuesday, COVID-19 had not had any direct impact on the project’s schedule.
Boston was the first city in the nation to stop construction work, with Mayor Marty Walsh calling a halt as of March 17; Cambridge and Somerville quickly followed suit. Gov. Charlie Baker has since refused to order a statewide construction shutdown, but he did require a “safety stand down” March 27 as a new set of state guidelines for safety on building sites took effect. This week, the Massachusetts Building Trades Council called on the governor to suspend nearly all construction as of April 3, but as of press time, Baker had not responded.
The governor’s safety guidelines require all workers, at the beginning of each shift, to “self-certify” that they do not have a fever, a cough, or trouble breathing, nor have they been in contact with anyone who has COVID-19. Everyone is to wear gloves, to maintain social distance whenever possible, and to wear masks and eye protection when distancing is not possible. Shaking hands is banned, and the guidelines suggest that workers bring their own food from home.
In his email to the Press, Conroy said, “To date, no active workers have tested positive for COVID-19 on the Hildreth Elementary School site, and crew sizes have remained steady. … In fact, we are actively enforcing a 100% stay-at-home-when-you-are-sick policy across projects.”
Gov. Baker set guidelines for employers as well as workers. “There’s no question that if people are going to be working on construction and job sites, they need to have access to sinks, warm water, hand sanitizer, and a commitment to implementing the physical distancing and the social distancing that we’ve all been talking about,” he said in his March 26 press conference.
Harvard’s School Building Committee Chair SusanMary Redinger said in a March 31 email that Shawmut was adding hand-washing stations at the building site this week. She said Shawmut had also arranged with Front Line, a construction service company in Hopedale, to clean and disinfect the worksite office trailers, wiping down tables, chairs, commonly used surfaces, and restrooms.
PPE supplies ‘adequate’
Shawmut’s office personnel are working from home, and Conroy said on-site meetings have been switched to virtual ones. Asked if Shawmut had enough personal protective equipment (PPE), Conroy replied that the supply was adequate for the present. And Shawmut is apparently confident enough of a continued supply to make donations to places where the need for PPE is urgent. “We’ve been fortunate to be able to partner with other projects throughout the region,” Conroy wrote, “to identify supplies that could be donated to local hospitals and health care facilities to support the ongoing battle against COVID-19 on the frontlines.”
While some of the measures mandated by state guidelines will add to expenses, they are less costly than a prolonged shutdown would be. “There will be additional costs to accommodate the guidelines,” Redinger wrote, “but we are happy that construction can continue and hope that remains to be the case.”
