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PRESSURE IS GROWING on the construction industry to down tools and clear sites for fear of workers being infected with Covid-19.
Right now, there are over 100,000 people still involved in construction across the island.
In the capital alone, there are certain sites where over 1,000 workers are employed. They have been instructed to continue coming in to work but to adhere to HSE guidelines.
Workers at sites at the new National Children’s Hospital in Dublin 8, the huge development of the Grangegorman technical university site in Dublin 7, as well as the construction of Ireland’s tallest ever office building, The Exo, are all still working.
There are around 4,000 workers between these three sites.
Locals in Dublin 7 and Dublin 8 have contacted TheJournal.ie to say they are concerned about social distancing guidelines being being adhered to on the sites, saying they see workers packed into local shops to get their lunches.
Similarly, one worker at a site in Dublin told this publication that staff have pleaded with their superiors to allow those who can work remotely to do so.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said: “I can work for home for sure. They haven’t let any of us off at the minute. I have told them that I have kids with asthma and that my partner is also in an at-risk group but I’ve been told to keep coming in.
“It’s a bit off-putting when I am coming home from work, not going out, doing everything the HSE is telling me to do but then I could be bringing [the virus] into my home when I get in and putting people at risk. I don’t think it’s fair at all.”
Brendan O’Sullivan, general secretary of the Builders and Allied Trades Union (BATU) told TheJournal.ie that the thousands of members who he represents have been told to minimise their contact as much as is possible, but that it remains a challenge.
He said: “The HSE has issued guidelines to employers on how to control close contact between staff. We are listening to them. A lot of sites have already introduced measures to help reduce how often people are in close contact with each other.
“That’s been done by limiting the number of people in canteens or when people are on tea breaks. A lot of the guys have ended up eating their lunches in their cars. There are also a lot of sites which have replaced the stiles you have to go through to enter the site. Others have also replaced fingerprint signing in technology which means that all staff won’t touch the same device to sign in. We’re trying to minimise risks.”
While O’Sullivan acknowledged that a lot of those who can work from home ought to do so so long as it is accepted by their superiors, he warned that there are members of BATU who cannot make a living from working remotely.
“Our members are craft workers, using timber and stone and bricks and blocks. You can’t put the roof of a house on when you’re at home. You can’t build a wall at home and then bring it in to work. It’s just not going to work.
“We are waiting and watching the HSE to see if they change their advice to construction workers. As things stand, that has not happened.”
The Construction Industry Federation has echoed O’Sullivan’s statements and says it stands ready to adapt if the HSE changes its guidelines.
A statement issued to its members reads: “The Construction Industry Federation is constantly advising its members in relation to all HSE Guidelines and Chief Medical Officer recommendations pertaining to Covid-19. The federation has issued guidelines for actions to take now to provide for health and safety for management of construction sites and behaviours for construction site personnel.
“Industry is continuing to deliver on contractually agreed commitments for public and private sector clients while adhering to HSE and Chief Medical officer requirements/ recommendations. The industry and its 147,000 employees are critical to both the economy and wider society as essential emergency works, housing, hospitals, roads, schools and other projects are delivered.”
The CIF said construction companies are doing all they can to keep their workers in employment in the safest possible environment.
The statement added:
Many companies have now embedded social distancing into their daily routines including measures such as staggered work, social distancing in canteens, employees taking lunch individually. They now run induction talks on entry to work and hold regular ‘toolbox’ talks to constantly reinforce new safety guidelines. Building sites are complex workplaces and employers and employees are working together to addresses any issues of concern that arise.
“The CIF does not condone any behaviours that contradict the HSE’s guidelines. Any such behaviour should be reported to employers so the issue can be addressed.”
A number of contractors and development agencies were contacted for comment.
A spokeswoman for the National Children’s Hospital said: “Construction work is continuing on the site of the new children’s hospital and the main contractor has informed the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board that HSE working practice protocols and guidelines regarding Covid-19 are being adhered to. The main contractor has responsibility for all health and safety matters on the construction site.”
Contractors
A spokesman for SISK said:
“John Sisk & Son continues to closely monitor the rapidly evolving situation relating to the global spread of the Coronavirus, Covid-19. At all times, our primary concern is the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, supply chain partners, clients and the wider community in which we operate.
“We will keep working as long as we can maintain the safety of our people with social distancing and the other measures we are taking to protect them. Many of our employees who can, are working from home and numbers have been reduced on sites and in offices and arrival times and breaks staggered to reduce numbers in canteens and common areas.
“We continue to follow the advice and direction of Government and public health authorities and will continue to modify our response daily in accordance with official guidance as the situation evolves. We thank all our staff and supply chain partners for their commitment at this challenging time.”
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So Minister Naughten if some one is attempting to take their own life every 9 minutes what exactly are you and your government doing about it?
@Kerry Blake: Nothing. Pieta House are doing all the work. And admirably so. TFF Pieta House
Being poor in the countryside is far worse pressure than being in towns and cities where you usually live along with poor peers & so have less stress trying to pretend your coping & in the countryside u have to pay school “voluntry” contributions etc as to not embarrass your kids and yourself among your better off neighbours & thus doing without proper food & clothes for a while. Plus the poor urban school would also have “disavantaged” gov status & more gov funding. Snobby society needs to stop putting so much pressure on everyone to be perfect in every aspect of life. Exams, relationships, housing, careers & car types etc. If people are allowed live their life in their way u will see a huge suicide reduction.
@abcyz: sadly much of this pressure is self inflicted
@George Beckett: No it is snobby peer pressure pure and simple. Snobby people judging and blaming their poorer less well off neighbours
@Kerry Blake: Nothing Kerry they are too busy holding meetings about the dress code and prayers in the Dail …anything other than what they are paid to do.
@abcyz: you are right with that too. I guess we have to control the controllables and ignore them. Easier said than done however.
@Kerry Blake: They’re closing down beds for child mental health. That’s the government’s response to this epidemic. If Leo becomes taoiseach, we can only expect it to get much worse
@Kerry Blake: raise more taxes make life more unbearable make more unreachable deadlines out the blue for people to despair over take their homes sell to vulture funds leave the unemployed with no way out make the working poor skint so they can either eat or pay some bills not all because is unattainable. Cause more despair isn’t that what ALL plastic Tory governments do.
Ah yeah and help the rich who have no real worries three meals a day and credit and a brand new car to look good in their business exploiting the poor so that the so call recovery seem to be real .
@George Beckett: no it is not self inflicted to fear the bills on the post that you cannot make it and the deadlines you cannot afford is not self inflicted
Massive issue with suicide in Ireland? Solution- close off 50% of the beds and don’t recruit psychiatric nursing positions for adolescent mental health services. Very fcuking Irish that is
Maybe the minister would look at funding the systems that help his faux cause. This is a serious matter, one that all of us folk have been living ( we’ve nearly all seen a suicide). We don’t need a minister to reiterate what we have been through. We need a minister that will be able to offer hope, a future, a reason.
Everyone listen rte radio 1 now for Leo and Simon debates
And FG’s policies are behind many of those suicides. They couldn’t care less about ordinary people who have been thrown under a bus to protect wealthy & influential people who are their friends / associates & backers.
@Setrakian: absolutely. I’ve seen many friends loosing everything I seen people all ages worry about everyday I live in fear myself is all Bills and worry . Any simple thing become a massive problem like fix the car to nct if it doesn’t pass you stress extremely as neither you could afford this extra bill and now you didn’t pay your mortgage and there is other three bills coming and if you get stopped they take your car and you can’t afford another and without it you can’t work and you will lose your home for not paying by then you can’t afford food put the money into parts in between getting it fixed you worry about getting it taken away by police . Rich people hasn’t a clue what that is like . That’s just an example I seen happen 3 people this year
Self harm and completed suicide are two completely different things. The minister is demonstrating the irresponsibility he espouses to avoid.
@Ian Moloney: Self harm is a cry for help. Suicide is someone who is beyond all reasoning with…..
@Kerry Blake: only in a few cases. If help is available people can change their mind.
The important message here is if you are reading this message and feeling suicidal please seek help.
There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Google how did it feel to commit suicide on Internet forums and you will see how thankful those people are that they failed.
There is no shame in seeking help.
It rips families apart, with knock on effects on the following generation. I know from experience sadly.
That is an incredibly high number. Quite shocking. How are these statistic gathered? If accurate this is actually the greatest crisis the country is facing.
That’s right minister, our suicide rates (especially among young people) are among the highest in Europe. Never mind reporting, what is YOUR government going to do about it? Not enough Jigsaw type projects. No funding to implement whole school approaches to youth mental health and suicide prevention in schools. Disgraceful lack of Children & Adolescent Mental Health services and beds. That is YOUR responsibility. Saying you can’t recruit staff without paying them more is not good enough.
Do your job and ensure that our children and young people have the services they need to support their mental health and help them when they are suffering from mental health difficulties. It is a national tragedy and shameful that are statistics are so appalling. You must do whatever it takes to change it.
Can we please stop using the term ‘committed suicide’…it is no longer a crime in this country, thankfully…we seem to be so caught up on being PC about everything except this…when in fact it is quite important to families…
Mr Naughten seems more concerned with the perception of information around the issues, than the addressing of the issues themselves. Just another talking head political prop, suggesting the blame for uploaded material is with the chosen platform, not the uploader & the particular incident he referred to can hardly be said to be that. Dail privilege will still be applicable though so the only concerns there are with “fake news” is from the media sources that propagate it
Cant comment on seanie. Comment on next one up. How can i also get a slice of the taxpayer cake.
Who owns this wknr ok a news site
Defence Forces have a known suicide problem since an “independent third party” study in 2005 showed a higher than expected suicide rate. So the military authorities are aware of the problem as is the Department of Defence.
So imagine the surprise when, in a response to a Parliamentary Question by Aengus O Snodaigh, the Minister for Defence Paul Kehoe admitted the Defence Forces DON’T BOTHER keeping suicide statistics.
So much more needs to be done honestly it goes so much deeper than organisations as someone who suffered from suicidal ideation a lot we need to provide people with the tools of self awareness
Talk therapy , meditation reiki get successful survivors involved who have made their way out of it. I don’t see a lot to praise with current system I’m sorry to say.
have your say