How Dangerous are Construction Sites?
06.21.2020
By: Safran Staff
On June 15th, an article from the News and Observer reported from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services considered construction sites as high-risk settings. The director of the NCDHHS, Dr. Betsey Tilson, relayed that they were “seeing more and more clusters in construction.” The article also noted that the state does not publicly report specific locations of construction sites with outbreaks.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article243550137.html
How risky are construction sites in regard to the spread of coronavirus?
*This data included is only what’s publicly available.
As Coronavirus continues its spread across the country, industry-specific data is beginning to emerge. Here are three sample reports on the occupational risks with Coronavirus:
· “The 50 Most Dangerous Jobs for Contracting COVID-19”
o Listing was based on (1) how much the job requires contact with others; (2) how much the job requires tasks to be performed in close proximity to others; and (3) how often the job requires exposure to hazardous conditions.
o Construction Workers were outside the top 50/unlisted.
· “The Workers Who Face the Greatest Coronavirus Risk”
o The risk levels of various jobs were calculated using O*NET, a database maintained by the Department of Labor that describes various physical aspects of different occupations. The database assigns dozens of scores to each occupation for things like how often a telephone is used to how often a job requires you to bend your body. (Housekeepers rank highest in this metric.)
o Construction workers were listed in the third quartile for physical proximity to others (Avg. 62.3), yet first quartile for exposure to diseases (Avg. 8.3).
· “The Most Dangerous Jobs You Can Have in the Age of Coronavirus”
o Based on a Center for Economic Policy and Research report, with qualitative data from economists, epidemiologists, occupational health experts, and workers across the country to measure what “jobs pose the greatest risks.”
o Construction Workers had a COVID-19 Risk Score of 36.2.
1) Racial demographics of covid-19 infections
a. As of June 18th, 45% of coronavirus cases were from the Hispanic population (https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/cases ) while accounting for 9.6% of the state’s population (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/NC)
b. With 316,244 construction workers in the state (6.8% of the population) https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?d=ACS%205-Year%20Estimates%20Data%20Profiles&table=DP03&tid=ACSDP5Y2018.DP03&g=0400000US37&hidePreview=true&tp=false
2) Worksite data that is available on construction sites
a. https://www.yahoo.com/news/50-most-dangerous-jobs-contracting-221156019.html
b. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/15/business/economy/coronavirus-worker-risk.html
3) Construction sites were deemed essential
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