A bridge that will carry Green Line trains across commuter rail tracks behind the Cambridge Crossing development is seen under construction on Oct. 19, 2019. Photo courtesy of MassDOT

Public construction projects statewide will be brought to a temporary halt Friday while contractors review site-specific issues, develop mitigation strategies and communicate to workers about new state guidelines for construction work during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Baker administration is requiring adherence to the safety stand-down as part of a sweeping set of guidelines provided to the construction industry Wednesday. Those new state rules require, among other things, all workers to self-certify before each shift that they are not sick and that certain construction workers have their temperatures taken daily.

While some municipalities have shut down construction sites as the coronavirus spreads and COVID-19 patients begin to inundate hospitals, Gov. Charlie Baker has been adamant that construction work should continue, despite the public health emergency, with some new precautions built in.

“There’s no question that if people are going to be working on construction and job sites, they need to have access to sinks, warm water, hand sanitizer, and a commitment to implementing the physical distancing and the social distancing that we’ve all been talking about,” Baker said Wednesday afternoon after the guidance was issued. “There’s a lot to those guidances and those recommendations and those requirements, and local communities have made clear to us that they look forward to ensuring that the sites in their communities that are engaged in that activity live up to those standards, and if they don’t, they’ll do something about it, which is exactly as it should be.”

Zero-Tolerance Policy

The guidance imposes a zero-tolerance policy at work sites. If a worker is sick, they are to remain home. If a worker begins to feel sick on the job, they are to go home. And if a supervisor sees a worker who appears sick, they are to send the worker home.

Before starting each shift, every employee will be required to self-certify to their supervisor that they do not have a fever of 100.3 degrees or more, that they do not have a cough and that they do not have difficulty breathing. Workers must also certify that they have had no close contact with someone who has COVID-19 and that they have not been asked to self-isolate.

“Employees exhibiting symptoms or unable to self-certify should be directed to leave the work site and seek medical attention and applicable testing by their health care provider,” the guidance advises. “They are not to return to the work site until cleared by a medical professional.”

Employees who work in confined spaces or inside a closed building envelope “will have to be temperature screened by a Medical Professional or Trained Individual provided that such screening is out of public view to respect privacy and results are kept private,” according to the administration’s guidance.

Protective Equipment at Issue

Handshakes are to be banned on job sites, every job site is to develop and post cleaning and decontamination procedures, each worker must wear gloves at all times, all workers “shall drive to work site/parking area in a single occupant vehicle,” large gathering spaces like break areas and shacks are to be eliminated and replaced with smaller break areas, and the administration suggests that all workers bring their own food from home.

Job site supervisors are told to “keep all crews a minimum of 6 [feet] apart at all times to eliminate the potential of cross contamination” and when a six-foot distance is not possible due to the work being conducted, the administration wants construction companies to give each employee “PPE including as appropriate a standard face mask, gloves, and eye protection.” At the same time, the administration has been urging construction companies to donate their masks to hospitals and health care workers.

The new rules also require all outdoor construction sites that don’t already have access to an indoor bathroom install “wash stations with hot water, if possible, and soap at fire hydrants or other water sources to be used for frequent handwashing for all onsite employees.”

Though the new rules are sure to require some adjustment period for workers and contractors, it’s Baker’s decision to keep construction work going through the pandemic that has irked some municipal and union officials and exposed a rift between the state response to the spread of COVID-19 and how it’s being handled at the local level. Officials in Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and Watertown held firm on their local construction freezes after Baker attempted to overturn them Wednesday, raising concerns about worker safety and public health.

“I’m as confused as anyone about the different approaches to construction projects being taken by @marty_walsh and @MassGovernor,” Lou Antonellis, business manager and financial secretary for IBEW Local 103 tweeted Thursday. “What about #SafetyFirst don’t you understand!”