BCM Additional Labor Costs Due to Covid

required additional time to clean their hands with sanitizer prior to retrieving water from a central location, consuming the water, and defogging safety glasses. After using the latrine, workers had to clean hands with sanitizer, again. Each of these new, added tasks required additional time that employees would have otherwise spent performing job tasks during pre-pandemic conditions. Mental Fatigue Added Time to daily tasks The COVID pandemic was, and continues to be, an unprecedented social, health, and economic disaster not only affecting the world at large, families, and individuals, but also construction workers, specifically. No one could have predicted the impact the pandemic would have on worker shortages, supply chain disruptions, or the stability of workforce psyche plagued with fears of contracting the virus, potentially exposing family members, or the financial implications of work stoppages or shutdowns. The Elsevier study, Impact of Covid-19 on Field and Office Workforce in Construction Industry, indicates that across the construction industry, workers experienced increased anxiety and trauma as a result of fear of exposure to the life-threatening virus, particularly when multiple subcontractors were working on site near one another. Throughout the course of this project, test sites and test kits were in high demand with limited supply. Medical experts grappled not only with finding the most effective and reliable treatment but also for space to treat the sickest patients. Deaths skyrocketed every month. • This project site was conducive to spreading the virus by nature of working indoors, with no windows, or outside ventilation, amongst multiple tradesmen. Spearhead had an average of six workers on site each day. Other trades had a similar number of workers, all in close proximity. The jobsite lacked a handwashing station and workers had to rely on personal hand sanitizers. Without a vaccine, the only tools workers had to combat the spread of the virus was relentless vigilance in wearing a mask, personal hygiene with hand sanitizers, and daily cleaning of tools, materials, and equipment. • Meanwhile, Spearhead leadership had to closely monitor worker health, review daily questionnaires, and take steps to remove workers who had potentially been exposed to the virus or who presented with symptoms of the virus. • Workforce mental fatigue caused by the virus and additional precautions resulted in increased callouts. Locating additional labor in a timely manner proved difficult for Union leaders. Workers who remained on site experienced increased stress and anxiety for fear of exposure or infection by those who did not always wear a mask, required testing, or tested positive. Mental fatigue led to increased exhaustion and required additional time that workers would have otherwise spent performing job tasks during pre-pandemic conditions.

Spearhead Construction, LLC PO BOX 575 Fort Montgomery, NY 10922