On-site health and safety #1 priority for Ottawa’s new-home builders

On April 3, the provincial government announced restrictions to residential construction and renovation – essentially ordering that current builds/projects could be finished, but no new ones could be started.

Why is it so important that current new home sites be allowed to stay open and be completed?

An average of 500 to 600 families a month move into a new home in Ottawa. Most often, they are leaving a home that another family is moving into, or leaving an apartment that will be filled by someone else. Many don’t have alternative accommodation available if they aren’t able to move into these new homes.

So, there are a lot of people across the city who are relying on local builders to deliver the housing they will use to shelter their families during this difficult time.

That’s why protecting employees and trades is the number one priority for Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) members while they continue to deliver the keys to the families waiting for their homes.

Members of the GOHBA pride themselves on having clean, organized and safe job sites. But absolutely, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic presented a challenge for new-home builders and renovators in Ottawa.

They had to figure out how to step up their game even more. And they’ve come through for their employees and trades.

Here’s what we’re seeing and will continue to see as builders complete already-started projects:

• Staggered starts and breaks, minimizing the number of people at any given time (typically one trade at a time) and enforcing physical separation of those who are on site.
• Enhanced sanitation – more washroom facilities, more hand-washing stations, temporary sinks with running water, and frequent sanitizing of common areas like hoists, site trailers, door handles, and equipment. More gloves and masks are being used, and there is very limited sharing of tools.
• Members are also communicating with their employees and trades every day to ensure they are well-informed on the latest measures that are in place to prevent transmission and protect everyone who comes on site. This is happening verbally, by email and with increased signage onsite.
• There is also enhanced tracking and monitoring of every individual who comes onsite, including information on where the employee has worked as well as contact information.

Members have completely supported the government’s increased inspection activity during this time, and they endorse shutting down sites that do not meet Ministry of Labour requirements and place everyone on the job site at risk.

The residential construction industry in Ottawa and across the province is committed to this motto: We all want safe job sites. Let’s keep each other safe. We are all in this together.