FEATURE
How the pandemic
has changed
business routines
TBy Martin Charlton Communications
he COVID-19 pandemic has altered traditional means of
doing business, for those who are fortunate enough to still
go to work.
Some have embraced technology to find efficiencies and smarter ways
of working. Others have been creative and found unconventional ways of
functioning all while adhering to new health and safety guidelines.
Allan Barilla of Morsky Construction never imagined installing shower
curtains inside company vehicles. But in the age of physical distancing,
the temporary dividers make it possible to travel safely to and from
job sites.
In some vehicles, a curtain divides driver from passenger, while other vehicles
have a curtain dividing front seat from back seat.
“Some companies are renting or buying more vehicles and just having
one person per vehicle,” Barilla said. “We couldn’t afford to have 25 extra
vehicles here. I’m not sure how many people could afford that. This is one
way of doing things that works and it’s safe.”
Working with a crew of 25 on a stretch of highway near Indian Head,
Barilla said each person on the site is screened at the start and conclusion
of each workday.
As well, each person on site has an N-95 facemask, hand sanitizer and
surface cleaner with them and in their vehicles.
Additional signage for flagging personnel reminds drivers passing through
orange zones to maintain proper physical distance of at least two metres.
“We’re doing a lot of extra cleaning on our own equipment and trucks
and we’re typically six feet apart or more when working,” Barilla said. “And
there’s more administrative paperwork that needs to be done as well.”
That’s where Allan Goldstone, safety director with the Heavy
Construction Safety Association of Saskatchewan (HCSAS), comes into
play. He and his safety training staff normally train approximately 2,000
people during the winter months.
This year, however, has been different thanks to the coronavirus.
“In the 20-plus years I have been with the HCSAS, I’ve never seen
it as busy than what it was during that first month of COVID-19,” said
Goldstone. “With all of the new rules and regulations that were being introduced,
contractors didn’t have anything in place that met those requirements.
No one did.”
So, instead of teaching and auditing, Goldstone and his team created
documents and templates for contractors to corroborate health checks for
daily and weekly toolbox meetings.
Barilla says they document everything from where their crew has been,
where they stop for gas and use a restroom.
“We’re hoping this is only temporary, but we’re planning to stick with
this routine for at least the entire season this year,” he said. “When our guys
go home, they are told to stay home unless they have to go out for the necessities
or for groceries.
“You have to expect that everybody that you’re going to talk to is infected.
Do what you have to do to not get infected. It doesn’t matter of it’s a coworker
or someone you’re going to talk to on the highway.”
Public spaces like restaurants and bars re-opened in early June after they
had been closed for several weeks. This forced Barilla’s crew to make minor
adjustments for meals when working remotely.
He said rural restaurants were starving for business, so they stayed
open and provided take-out meals for lunch and supper for Barilla’s crew.
Eating on the job site rather than indoors at a restaurant was a slight
change of routine.
Goldstone says safety training during the summer months, which
they’re doing this year, is rare. But it’s the reality they’re faced with during
these times of alternative measures.
A big reason why training sessions are still being conducted into June is
because class sizes have been significantly reduced in order to meet proper
physical distancing.
Classrooms shrunk from holding between 20 to 30 students to eight at
maximum. As a result, what would normally take one day of training is now
three days of training.
“Unless we’re renting a ballroom, we’re going to be stuck with training
eight people at a time because of social distancing guidelines,” he said.
“Either we rent a bigger space to do the bigger classes, which is going to add
NATALYA ROZHKOVA / 123RF
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