Following a walk-through of the new police headquarters site, April 9, Public Building & Site Commission Chairman Robert Mitchell gave a big thumbs up to those continuing to work on the project, albeit with protections to prevent any coronavirus contamination taking place.

“The project is moving very well with controls in place for COVID-19,” Mitchell told The Newtown Bee the following morning.

Regarding the most recent walk-through, the PBSC chairman said, “I immediately noticed how well organized and clean the construction site is, and movement through and around the building provides clear access. This really helps with the construction activities and ability to monitor the staff, which is important with COVID-19 guidelines on construction sites.”

Mitchell observed that the metal interior wall studs are up, with sheet rock work scheduled to begin this week.

“You can now walk through the building and feel the spaces,” he said. “The new roofing is complete with roof replacement well underway on the existing building. That means the interior is weather tight, allowing work to continue.”

Most of the underground work for utilities is complete, and he said April is a major target date for the substantial completion of the mechanical and electrical systems.

“Critical deliveries for April include the detention area doors, building windows, and the rooftop equipment,” Mitchell said. “These were preordered to keep on schedule. This was a good approach since COVID-19 could have affected deliveries from manufacturers.”

The project schedule for Substantial Completion and Occupancy is still November 18, even with the coronavirus guidelines now in effect, he added. While the guidelines are affecting the construction progress, Consigli is actively monitoring the work and are resequencing construction tasks to maintain the schedule.

“Consigli continues to keep the town informed on their progress and any revisions to the schedule,” Mitchell said. “This has helped us anticipate and respond quickly.”

COVID Safety Criteria

Consigli Construction Co Safety Director Dan Della-Giustina informed town officials via a memo earlier last week that “to spearhead planning and response efforts, we’ve established an internal COVID-19 Response Team tasked with monitoring state requirements and guidelines, information sharing, implementing protocols, reducing exposure to the virus, and supporting our teams and operations.”

As conditions continue to evolve, Della-Giustina said his company, which is coordinating the refitting of a former Taunton Press administrative building at 191 South Main Street will work together with local officials and contractors to “plan for and respond to changes with the best interest of our people, our projects and our communities in mind.”

To that end, Consigli has created increased site specific COVID-19 safety protocols to follow to ensure the safety of everyone on the site and to serve three primary purposes: *Prevent people who are not feeling well from entering the site; *Minimize the spread of the virus if infected individuals do enter the site; *Provide Consigli project teams guidance in order to help make every decision along the way as safe, thoughtful, and appropriate as possible.

The Newtown site safety plan outlines that each day will begin with a “toolbox talk,” or gathering of on site workers that will outline or reaffirm COVID-19 related safety procedures for the day. Those talks will engage groups of ten or fewer workers appropriately distanced.

Workers arriving at the site after the daily stand down will be required to read and sign off on issues discussed at the daily Toolbox Talk prior to commencing any work. Consigli Site Superintendent or the Safety Professional is responsible for monitoring compliance with the COVID-19 safety protocols. Workers will need to self-certify a number of things, including they have no signs of a fever or a measured temperature above 100.3 degrees, no cough or trouble breathing in the previous 24 hours.

Site workers must also say they have not come in close contact with an individual diagnosed with COVID-19; are not living in the same house as a person who has tested positive; are not caring for someone testing positive or being within six feet of a person who has tested positive for greater than 15 minutes; have not come in direct contact with secretions (shared utensils, coughed on, sneezed on) by a person who has tested positive; have not been asked to self-isolate or quarantine by their doctor or local public official or their employee or Consigli; and have not traveled outside of the United States in the last 14 days.

Returning To Site

Any worker unable to self-certify or exhibiting symptoms will be directed to leave the site and seek medical attention. Workers removed from the site will not be allowed to return to the work site until they are cleared by a medical professional in writing, or meet all four following requirements: (1) Have had no fever for at least 72 hours (that is three full days of no fever without the use medicine that reduces fevers); (2) Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); (3) At least seven days have passed since your symptoms first appeared; (4) Consigli Human Resources confirms clear to return.

Consigli has also implemented a site cleaning plan that includes disinfecting multiple times per day including all hard/horizontal surfaces within trailers. Bathroom facilities will be cleaned every other day as well.

Shared equipment and tools will be wiped down before and after use with wipes provided, including equipment in common toolbox areas. Added signage will be created and installed (in both English and Spanish) that relays COVID-19 cleaning and decontamination procedures at highly visible areas throughout the site, including entrance gates, trailers, break area, washing stations, bathrooms, and other visible locations as needed.

In addition, all site offices will be configured to ensure compliance with social distancing guidelines, and all project meetings will be performed virtually as to minimize those on the project site. Project managers, assistant project managers, project engineers and all Project Services Group team members are working from remote areas and are to stay away from the project site.

All critical on-site meetings will be held outside or in large meetings rooms that can accommodate the team while respecting the ten-person meeting limit and six-foot separation rule.

Work activities requiring multiple personnel will be limited where/when feasible. Where not feasible, workers will need to wear eye protection, cut resistant gloves, and face masks.

A hand washing station has been established, and a hot water hand washing station is on order. Temperature screening is required to enter the site, and there are also mandatory reporting guidelines in place.