Work Safety in Commercial Construction: It’s up to All of Us
Written By: JoAnne Tobias
Many of you may still be working remotely, planning and connecting with colleagues over Zoom. Some of you have onboarded new employees virtually and are staggering people back into a real-life office. As general contractors and commercial builders in San Francisco, Source has already been working onsite for a while now. In our last blog, we talked about the safety protocols we enacted for tenant improvement and how we’re following or exceeding guidelines from OSHA and CDC for commercial construction in San Francisco.
You may or may not be back onsite yourselves, but you already know from going out in the world that there’s a huge range in attitudes about wearing a mask. For us, it’s mandatory. Not only is it the right and safe thing to do, but job sites can get shut down if not everyone on-site is wearing a mask.
Tenant improvement and commercial construction in San Francisco. How do you get both compliance and camaraderie?
From general contractors to commercial builders, the employees of Source have a great time working together. People often say it feels like spending time with friends, only you’re constantly building things. When doing tenant improvements and commercial real estate, how do leaders of general contractors keep that great vibe going if you also have to come down on people each time they slip up?
These mask-wearing and social distancing habits are new for all of us and because there are conflicting opinions around risk, not everyone is always on the same page. Our initial answer was to remind the general contracting subs directly, then to write them up per regulation so and so. But, ultimately, it wasn’t reprimands that worked, it was consideration.
The Source Way brought us together. Turning commercial builders into a single, mask-wearing, team.
“In commercial construction, safety meetings are key,” said Miguel Garcia, Source Superintendent and Safety Manager, “I ask everyone to look at the person to their left and to their right. I tell them that’s who you’re wearing the mask for. That guy is not just a general contractor. He could have grandparents living at home. They could be terrified of bringing home the virus. I even tell them about my little girl. She’s got a compromised immune system and even without the pandemic, my wife is afraid for her health. I make sure that it really sinks in for them that it’s not just about you and yours. I tell them - you have an effect on our brothers and sisters. It’s about all of us.”
Once people understood why, they got back to work with their hearts full and their masks intact.
You may or may not be back onsite doing tenant improvement yourselves, but you already know from going out in the world that there’s a huge range in attitudes about wearing a mask. For those of us in commercial construction, it’s mandatory.
Not only is it the right and safe thing to do, but mask wearing keeps commercial builders employed. In commercial construction in San Franciso, job sites for tenant improvement can get shut down if everyone on-site isn't wearing a mask.
Contact us with any questions about safety on the job site or about your next project!
