New technologies are keeping construction projects moving through the pandemic. Even in markets like Southern California, where construction was deemed an essential industry, worker safety was crucial to construction job sites. To ensure safety and defend against outbreaks, contracting companies like Suffolk have leaned on tech tools, from touch-less thermometers to monitors that track social distancing.
"Our main priority is the health and safety of our workers. Suffolk was quick to adapt and adhere to safety guidelines, which was crucial to our continued operations," Tom Donohue, president and general manager of Southern California at Suffolk, tells GlobeSt.com. "We added hand-washing stations with hot water, which you typically don't see on project sites; held meetings with trade partners in more open, spread-out spaces rather than in tight quarters and moved all other team meetings virtually to Microsoft Teams to reduce contact.
Suffolk installed infrared cameras on all Southern California job sites to take temperatures quickly and efficiently. "It reduced the time it took to take temperatures and also cut down on the cost of having an onsite technician, since it could be done by someone who was trained that was already onsite," Donohue says. Now, Suffolk is adopting Triax monitors, which attach to workers hats and sound an alarm when another worker is within six feet. "This helps workers follow social distancing protocols while working on jobsites," adds Donohue. In addition to these technologies, workers are regularly questioned if they are experiencing symptoms or if they have been exposed to anyone with symptoms.
Developers are absorbing the costs of these new technologies, but the alternative is either to shut down construction or to have onsite technicians to monitor workers. Both of those alternative options would be more costly. "In comparison to having technicians on-site for temperature testing, the infrared camera pays for itself within two months," says Donohue. "So although the upfront cost may seem substantial, it eliminates costs elsewhere and increases efficiency overall. The developers will get to keep them, which will also be helpful especially for the hospitality developments, where the technology can someday be used as guests check in." As a result, developers have been very flexible and open to bringing on these tools during the pandemic. "There was some hesitancy originally due to the costs, but they've realized the value it provides in keeping jobsites open and workers healthy," says Donohue.
The rapid adoption is especially impressive considering the construction industry's aversion to change. "Change doesn't come easily to the construction industry, so it's been impressive to see how flexible and open workers have been to adopt these tools," says Donohue. "They know it's important to keeping a project site operational and their teams healthy, which in turn allows them to keep their jobs and reduces any health risks when they go back home to their families at the end of day. These new safety tools and protocols and showing our teams that we care about each other's health and safety has really brought our teams closer together." While it is challenging to tell how the pandemic will impact the market in the long term, Donohue expects that these new policies will become the norm for the near future. "For the near-term, I think we can expect temperature testing, improved cleanliness with hand washing and enforcing the six-foot barrier to be the norm while we try to keep everyone as safe as possible," he says.
However, he does imagine that some permanent changes will emerge from this event, particularly in people working from home. "When we think about long-term and remote working, I think developers are starting to see the potential efficiencies that teams can maintain while working from home," says Donohue. "Traditionally, developers have only wanted to pay for people they can "see," but we've proven that we can be just as—or even more—productive working remotely as if we were onsite at our trailers."
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Kelsi Maree Borland
