More than 100 workers pulled off TfL construction sites due to Covid isolation rules

More than 100 construction workers on Transport for London (TfL) projects are currently self isolating after either testing positive for Covid-19 or being pinged by the NHS test and trace app.

The 110 workers, which are involved in construction projects as well as repairs and maintenance, are currently at home self isolating either having tested positive for the virus or have been informed that they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.

A TfL spokesperson said: “We are closely monitoring both isolations and infections across our construction sites and have robust measures in place at our sites to minimise both as much as possible.

“We are working closely with our suppliers and contractors to minimise non-essential site visits and to restrict any spread of the virus on our sites. Like in many other industries, the number of staff needing to self-isolate has increased in recent weeks, but we are doing all we can to mitigate the impact of this on the delivery of our projects.”

News that large numbers of TfL staff are self isolating comes a day after the £4.1bn Thames Tideway project also revealed that it had been hit by a number of workers self-isolating.

As well as a rush of confirmed cases of Covid-19 on London’s super sewer scheme, more workers have been ordered to stay at home by contact tracers.

A spokesperson for Tideway told NCE: “Over the last couple of weeks we have had several cases of Covid-19, and a number of people needing to self-isolate due to contact tracing. We continue to urge our staff to keep themselves safe, which includes following the official advice on isolation.”

Build UK chief executive Suzannah Vickers has said that the government should consider bringing forward changes to the policy on self isolation for fully vaccinated people from late August due to the increasingly high rates of workers across all sectors of the UK economy being told to self isolate.

She said: “The current policy on self-isolation is a significant issue for businesses across all sectors including construction.

“Whilst everyone understands that in the event of a positive COVID-19 test self-isolation is crucial to combatting the virus, it is essential that as many people as possible can go to work in order to keep the economy moving.

“To minimise disruption to business, Build UK supports the CBI’s call for fully vaccinated individuals identified as a close contact to be made exempt from self-isolation as soon as possible, rather than waiting until 16 August, following the success of the vaccination programme and the availability of daily testing.”

Source https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/more-than-100-workers-pulled-off-tfl-construction-sites-due-to-covid-isolation-rules-22-07-2021/

Department of Civil Engineering https://www.ibu.edu.ba/department-of-civil-engineering/