Contractors answer stand down call

Contractors including Homrich Wrecking, JR Ramon and New England Yankee Construction were among the companies who backed the US National Demolition Association (NDA) call for a nationwide health and safety stand down last month.

The stand down, which took place on April 24, was a joint initiative between the NDA and the Construction Industry Safety Council to reinforce the extra importance of following health and safety procedures during the Coronavirus pandemic.

It encouraged employers to talk directly workers about the need for safe working practices, while observing social distancing requirements of 2 m (6 ft 6 in) between individuals and limiting group sizes to a maximum of 10 people.

The NDA also invited feedback from participating organisations and comments received so far included:

• “We salute the NDA for initiating this programme and look forward to future programmes”
• “The construction and demolition industry has provided us with decades of opportunities and it is our hope to give back with awareness and safe practices”
• “We are continuing to practice social distancing on all of our current projects. Thank you for the continued guidance from the NDA”.

The association, which represents around 500 demolition and recycling companies, has made a range of resources available on its Covid-19 webpage as well as lobbying President Trump and federal government departments on behalf of members.