The Wyoming Department of Transportation and the Associated General Contractors of Wyoming recently crafted several new safety rules to help reduce COVID-19 exposure among road construction crews.
[Above photo by the Wyoming DOT.]
The new rules emphasize the need to maintain six feet of social distancing while working on projects. Additionally, employees and crews will be asked to clean and sanitize their equipment, stay home if they’re sick, use virtual meetings, keep groups to 10 people or less, use outdoor spaces for meetings, only allow necessary employees in work trailers and laboratories if used, minimize the direct hand to hand exchange of contract documents, and stagger breaks.
The Wyoming DOT also said project engineers and contractors are tasked with documenting any delays or work stoppages that arise due to a COVID-19 situation; documentation that will help determine possible time extensions for construction projects.
“Our construction season is underway, and we wanted to consider ways to help prevent our employees and contractors from getting or spreading the coronavirus,” explained Shelby Carlson, chief engineer of the Wyoming DOT, in a statement.
“State government is open for business and highway construction is essential,” Carson added. “This created the need to continue working during our short summer season and develop non-traditional methods to keep everyone safe while we achieve the necessary interaction between parties that must occur to construct a highway project.”
“Our partnership goal is to take great care of our employees and contractors while we accomplish our mission of providing a safe and effective transportation system in a coronavirus environment,” noted K. Luke Reiner, the Wyoming DOT’s director. “We are confident that these measures will ensure we have a successful construction season so the people of Wyoming will continue to receive a high-quality transportation product.”
“During these challenging times there is no margin for error when it comes to protecting the safety and health of every construction worker and the traveling public from the spread of coronavirus,” added Katie Legerski, AGC of Wyoming’s executive director.
“Contractors and WYDOT are working hand in hand to ensure everyone understands, and follows, all relevant safety guidelines provided by public health and safety officials,” she said.
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