CPA Bulletin

24 CPA Bulletin > May 2020 www.cpa.uk.net Site Operating Procedures - Plant Occupations The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) produced guidance through a Site Operating Procedures (SOP) publication on protecting the workforce during the coronavirus- COVID 19 pandemic to minimise the risk of spreading the infection, based on the Government’s recommendations on social distancing. Based on the CPCS document, the CPA has written a supplementary guidance publication for plant occupations. This is in light of the fact that a number of sites have now re-opened up again and that social- distancing requirements in the workplace will be in force for the foreseeable future. The publication is focussed on plant and equipment-based occupations and interprets the core requirements of the CLC-based procedures and outlines a tailored set of additional requirements for a range of plant-based occupations. These include plant operators and supporting personnel such as slinger/signallers, traffic marshals and maintenance staff, as well as plant delivery drivers. Plant operations would normally have exclusion zones between the machine and operator, and others, around the machine with the exception being platforms for transportation or accessing (MEWPs, Hoists etc.) which are covered within the CLC SOP. Therefore it is more important that these exclusion zones are maintained. The CPA publication consists of four pages with a number of topics such as preparation, operating, direct support activities, communications and maintenance activities. The main message of the publication is the organising wherever possible a one person- one machine policy to minimise infection spread and ensure that where plant or equipment is shared, that thorough cleaning or sanitisation of all touch points such as levers, handles, switches, etc. is undertaken. When handling equipment such as lifting accessories, the guidance is that gloves should be worn at all times and checked regularly for signs of damage. The guidance further advises that communication between operators and supporting personnel is undertaken through hand signals or radio communication. If radios are being used, the guidance advises that each radio is allocated to a single user as the unit has a higher risk of being infected as they are close to the user’s mouth when transmitting messages. One section outlines considerations over rescue operations should for example, tower crane or MEWP operational emergencies occur and supports the CLC message in that rescue teams and emergency service response may be limited and that rescue team and first aid response means working within the required two metre distancing requirement. As official advices changes, continual updates will be made to the document. The guidance can be downloaded free of charge from the CPA website at www.cpa.uk.net/news-events/ cpasplantoccupationsspo/ Enhanced Pre-operational Checks for Re-commissioned Plant The CPA has further released a technical document entitled ‘Guidance for Enhanced Pre-operational Checks on Plant Following Post COVID-19 Site Lockdowns’ . With construction sites now returned to work following a close-down or restrictions due to the Coronavirus spread, some items of TECHNICAL: 1 Technical New CPA Guidance Publications to Assist with Coronavirus Issues in the Workplace