Health, safety and environment

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Setting up and operating a safe construction site during a pandemic

Last updated: 19 August 2020
Grant code: GET2757

Overview

The purpose of this standard is to enhance knowledge to support in the planning, management and supervision of a construction work environment during a medical pandemic in line with current government and HSE advice.

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Duration

Minimum 1 day of 6 learning hours

Purpose/scope

The scope of this standard includes:

legislation
understanding a virus
social distancing, self-isolation and shielding
risks
safety measures on site

Occupational relevance

Training delivered against this standard would be relevant to the following occupational group(s):

supervision
management and leadership

Candidate pre-requisites

There are no candidate pre-requisites as part of this standard.

Instruction/supervision

As a minimum, course instructors must be able to demonstrate that, in relation to this standard, they have:

a train the trainer or instructional techniques course certificate
successfully completed training to this standard
at least 2 years relevant construction experience
a verifiable CV.

Delivery

Delivery may be in an on or off the job environment.

All materials and equipment must be of a suitable quality and quantity for candidates to achieve learning outcomes, and must comply with relevant legislation.

The class size and candidate to instructor ratio must allow training to be delivered in a safe manner and enable candidates to achieve the learning outcomes.

The following delivery methods may be used in the delivery of this standard:

classroom
e-learning
remote delivery

This standard is considered to contain 51 per cent or more theoretical learning.

This standard is considered to be set at a basic level.

Assessment

Methods of assessment considered appropriate for training delivered against this standard are:

For the successful completion of training, delegates must complete an end of training knowledge test that measures competence of all learning outcomes and has a pass or fail criteria.
Where this training is assessed using multiple-choice questions, delegates are required to achieve an overall pass mark of at least 80%.

Quality assurance

Assured

Quality assurance against this standard will require initial approval of the training organisation and their content mapped to the standard.

CITB will also conduct an approval intervention, either desk-based or centre visit, to ensure the training organisation can meet the requirements of the training standard.

Approved training organisations (ATOs) will be required to present information on records of training and assessment upon request to CITB for desk based analysis. They will also be visited annually by the CITB quality assurance team.

Renewal/refresher

Recommended renewal as required, or every 5 years as a maximum

Approval date

December 2019

Review cycle

On request or in 3 years from approval date.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes
The candidate will be able to:	Additional guidance to support learning outcome
Identify and understand current relevant UK legislation and regulations for working in construction in a pandemic	Content could vary depending on the devolved Nations requirements / guidance but must give an overview of the differences. This should always be the most up to date guidance available.
Describe what a virus is, how it is spread and the impact this has on site	Discuss how it is spread including: if it is airborne hard surfaces residual contagion R-value
Identify safety measures relating to travelling to and from work and parking facilities	Including but not limited to: identifying most appropriate method of transport, mitigating risks when sharing transport or using public transport how someone taken ill would get home adjusting parking arrangements to allow for additional vehicles and bicycles providing facilities such as lockers and showers in addition to hand cleaning stations
Identify safety measures relating to driving on site	Including but not limited to: drive alone where possible where not possible maintain ventilation, increase hand washing, avoid physical contact clean site vehicles inside and out
Identify safety measures relating to site access and egress	Including but not limited to: appropriate signage stop non-essential visitors consider staggered start/finish times plan access and egress points to enable social distancing one-way pedestrian system consider reduced number of site inductions, meetings and toolbox talks and hold outside where possible avoid use of entry systems that require skin contact accepting or processing deliveries and collections, including waste disposal
Describe and understand self-isolation	Including but not limited to: what self-isolation is who should self-isolate why self-isolation is important NHS information available
Explain Social Distancing, why it is important and associated risks	Delegates should understand the need to follow the government guidance on Staying Alert and Safe (Social Distancing) and Staying safe outside your home .
Identify the risks to health and the wider community and how this can be mitigated on site	Delegates should be able to identify vulnerable persons and understand the need for shielding where the local community around the worksite could be affected.
Explain actions that should be taken if someone falls ill on site	Understand the need to evaluate First Aid and emergency response plans and make any appropriate changes.
Identify safety measures relating to hand washing	Including but not limited to: provide additional hand washing facilities or hand sanitiser where this is not possible, facilities should be regularly cleaned allow for regular breaks to wash hands
Identify safety measures relating to site facilities and cleaning	Including but not limited to: restrict number of people using facilities and common areas such as toilets, showers, drying rooms and canteen/rest areas enhance cleaning regimes for common areas, hard surfaces and touch points stagger break times configure seating to reduce face to face interaction monitor compliance
Recognise the need to plan works on site to avoid close working and maintain social distancing or mitigate risk where this is not possible	Sites and work need to be planned and organised to avoid crowding and minimise the risk of spread of infection by following Government guidance and advice.
Understand why use of additional RPE not usually required for the task is not appropriate mitigation and other controls should be utilised	Hierarchy of controls (eliminate, reduce, isolate, control, PPE, behaviours). The Government has provided information on Face Coverings in section 6.1 of its guidance Working safely during coronavirus (Covid-19) - Construction and other outdoor work.

Additional information about this standard

GOV.UK COVID-19 guidance:

Construction leadership council CLC guidance:

https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/news/clc-site-operating-procedures-guidance-v5/