An earlier article discussed the dilemma the US and our industry is facing when deciding what essential services are. Some construction is without a doubt essential but some is not. Recently, a construction worker on the 3,000 person SoFi Stadium project tested positive for COVID-19. In spite of this, not much has changed on the jobsite. Craft pros want to keep a regular pay check coming and the NFL likely wants to have the facility ready for football this fall so work continues to progress without much change in workforce management. While keeping as much of the economy going as possible is a good thing, should we reconsider things on projects that might not be as "essential" as life sustaining infrastructure like water, power and medical facilities. Shutting down projects could be avoided by reducing staff, implementing rotating work schedules and resequencing work to maintain social distancing. These options aren't optimal but they, and others, can keep projects progressing forward and pays staff with at least partial pay checks. Whether you agree with the actions our political leadership is taking in response to COVID-19, the only way we get back to normal is to reduce and eventually stop number of daily infections. If we reorganize a bit, or even press pause, on some things, we can do our part in controlling infections numbers and help get the US and our industry back to normal as soon as possible.
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