Corona Virus: Latest Site Operating Procedures

By Sylwia Wolska | April 20, 2020
Industry Bodies publish risk management guidance Version 3

Site Operating Procedures – Version 3 which has now been published by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and is available on the Build UK website.

The Public Health England (PHE) guidance on the construction sector and travelling to work have been incorporated into what is now “industry-recognised guidance” supported by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

Key changes in guidance

The key changes in Version 3 include:

  • Regulator  – confirmation that the HSE is the enforcing authority for PHE guidelines;
  • Monitoring – the need for sites to monitor the implementation of the procedures;
  • Travel – further details on who should not travel to work;
  • Transport – guidance for those who have no option but to share transport to work;
  • Distancing – information on the hierarchy of controls which should be implemented to reduce the risk of transmission where social distancing of 2 metres cannot be achieved; and
  • Emergency – information on first aid and emergency service response.

Build UK has requested further clarification from PHE on:

  1. PHE guidance for construction states that “where face-to-face contact is essential, this should be kept to 15 minutes or less wherever possible”; and
  2. the use of RPE on construction sites as a means of reducing the transmission.