By Jack Rubinger
The whole concept of right vs. wrong has changed since COVID and will likely keep changing after COVID — if the virus ever 100 percent goes away.
We’re all moving cautiously or recklessly in a sea of chaos and confusion — guidelines instead of laws, protocols instead of mandates, suggestions instead of requirements.
From a contractor’s perspective, what is ethical vs. unethical? Is it ethical to expect employees to work without adequate safety equipment and gear? Who should supply it?
Safety precautions are heightened because of real fear and paranoia, such as plumbers who must remove human waste from customers’ homes, explained Desiree Grosman who consults with HVAC and plumbing contractors. “Boots and gloves are standard, but the standard should be even higher now,” she said.
Internet Marketing Impacted
Access to technology has leveled the playing field for many contractors, which benefits customers, but relying on Google reviews for some has become risky business. At one point during the pandemic, Google dropped its review process, which many contractors used as a marketing tool.
A positive Google review puts you higher in the search rankings. After all, who wouldn’t want a positive review? Was this right? Doesn’t Google reserve the right to exercise its own rights about running a business? Maybe it’s time to consider other ways to generate positive reviews — which can be critical during a pandemic when consumer spending is impacted by high unemployment.
Paradigm Change in the construction industry
Deb Hilmerson, the owner of a construction firm in Minnesota, feels like she’s doing everything in her power to comply with the ever more complexing array and introduction of new rules, which can be difficult in the construction industry.
“We’re keeping it clean, compared to the days when we’d be sitting on buckets eating sandwiches with dirty hands,” she said. “This is a complete paradigm change, but we can now eat off the floor and be productive as well,” she said.
Explaining to workers that they can’t ride share now because of social distancing is a minor disappointment.
After all, when three guys live near each other, and they’re all going in the same direction, it makes sense to ride share.
Best practices that were once applauded because they were good for the environment, practical and even fun, are now either wrong or unethical.
Hilmerson was used to having 25 guys sitting in a construction trailer. Now there’s maybe five in the office, all meeting on Zoom. It’s a fundamental change in an industry when everyone spends most of their time outdoors.
Hilmerson gives kudos for the construction industry for managing daily changes and communicating changes to 3,000 people. “That’s difficult, but occupational health and safety leaders are doing a great job,” she said.
State Work Guidelines
New COVID-related requirements are negatively impacting construction workers’ livelihoods, arising from conflicting state rules, according to Victor Tyler who lives in Texas and has worked in many states, including Alaska.
Many professionals rely on applying for and accepting out of state jobs, but not every state has the same rules for hiring out of state workers. Some will do it. Some will not.
Where do you get up to the minute information about this? What if your home state doesn’t have any work despite your qualifications and training, but you can’t go out of state? Is that right? And states are changing their requirements daily, depending on infection rates. Some require 14-day quarantining for anyone entering from certain higher-infection states. Not many companies can afford to hire an out-of-state crew to hang out on their dime for two weeks.
More and more construction companies are also using third parties to hire workers and oversee temperature checks and COVID screening at job sites. While this practice may be practical, workers are impacted by less than qualified screeners, who may double as job recruiters. Some third parties even place sales people on site to pitch products like hand sanitizer.
OSHA
OSHA’s stance on acquiring and reporting COVID infections on the job site has shifted several times over the past few months. There hasn’t been a consistent approach about reporting and recording practices, like the OSHA Form 300, which is used by employers to record all reportable injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace, where and when they occur, the nature of the case, the name and job title of the employee injured or made sick, and the number of days away from work or on restricted or light duty, if any.
Certainly, OSHA has had to adapt but should it be up to individual EHS professionals to make judgement calls without OSHA? Is that right?
Also, if someone has to go home, there’s no law that requires the employer to pay that employee while he’s home. It’s not illegal to not pay the employee, but it might be wrong. How does that kind of decision impact employer/employee relations?
“I’m predicting that contractors and others will continue to cite COVID conditions to skirt safety issues in the future. It’s a troubling trend, especially since we’ve seen so much progress in the industry with respect to safety,” said Mark Briggs, Safety Management Resources.
The Stigma of Wearing Masks in Public
Jay Jamali has dealt with Ebola and SARS. With 30+ years of occupational safety consulting experience, sometimes it seems like he’s seen it all — until now.
“My family and I went out to Idaho and you’d never imagine the dirty looks we received from people who couldn’t believe we were wearing masks,” he said. “We went out for pizza, we tried a Chinese restaurant. No one wore masks.”
Costco was the only place in Coeur d’Alene that required customers and employees to wear masks. Is that ethical? Is Costco the only place that cares about the safety and health of the public?
There are also tremendous ethical and economic disparities between industries. While many have seen occupational safety up its game during the pandemic, ironically, the healthcare industry in some cases, seems to put the onus for infection control practices on the doctors, as some administrators are reluctant to spring for masks for doctors — citing expense and availability.
While we’re four months into the pandemic, the safety scene is still largely left up to individuals, companies and states. And not all necessarily agree on what’s safe. This makes for an ethical mess that may or may not be settled in the courts or further down the road from the federal government.
While many companies strive to “do the right thing,” how do you define, “the right thing”? It’s a moving target. At this point, OSHA rules. While they may not be enforcing safety standards, and while these standards may change in the coming days, weeks and months, companies and crew need to do everything they can to keep each other safe from infection.
But it will still be up to the individual to make sure that if the state, company, or fellow crew members aren’t adhering to prescribed safety protocol, they’ll just have to do it themselves. Meanwhile, lives are at stake.
About the Author
Jack Rubinger is a freelance writer, with more than 10+ years of workplace safety and construction industry research and writing experience. Looking for an article on a specific construction topic? Contact: jackrubinger814@gmail.com or call 503-964-4877.
