The
Haliburton County Home Builders’ Association, along with the Ontario
Home Builders’ Association, says it’s supportive of the provincial
government’s decision to restrict construction activities in Ontario
amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

 

While a variety of construction
activities had been permitted to continue under the province’s first
list of “essential” business that was permitted to continue during the
pandemic, on Friday, April 3, Premier Doug Ford announced a revised and
shortened list that in particular put further restrictions on the types
of construction projects that will be permitted to continue for the time
being. While residential construction projects or renovations that are
underway are allowed to be completed, construction will then be limited
to only active sites on the essential businesses list – the construction
of a hospital or medical facility, for example.

 

Increased safety
standards for job sites have also been put into effect, and the Ministry
of Labour is heightening its inspection activity.
“The Haliburton
County Home Builders’ Association has been focused on the health and
safety of everyone on job sites by sharing information with our
members,” said HCHBA president Keith Thomas in a press release.
“Following the recent release by the Ministry of Labour of new health
and safety guidelines for construction sites during COVID-19, members
immediately went to work to improve site conditions including additional
requirements for sanitization, physical distancing, illness reporting
and limiting the number of workers on individual sites.”

 

Ministry
inspectors are looking at sanitary conditions of toilet facilities and
wash-up stations, as well as logs that keep track of who is on the
construction site and where they are. They are also looking for social
distancing protocols being undertaken on construction sites, as well as
the postage of social distancing signage. Workers are encouraged to
maintain a minimum distance of two metres from one another; wash their
hands frequently or use hand sanitizer frequently; wipe down and
disinfect surfaces regularly; avoid carpooling; and avoid coming to work
if they are feeling ill or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

 

“We all
want safe job sites,” Joe Vaccaro, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’
Association, said in a press release. “Across Ontario, industry members
have been enhancing their COVID-19 protocols as required by government.
With the new provincial restrictions on active job sites, members will
continue to focus on worker safety and delivering keys to the thousands
of families waiting for their homes to be completed. Let’s keep each
other safe. We are all in this together.”