A Project Superintendent’s Take on Hurricane Safety
When it comes to construction crisis management, hurricane season is one of the most critical times of the year to plan for. From June to November, hurricane safety is a top priority for construction professionals and jobsite owners across the country. Creating and following a strategic disaster management plan can save time and money while also ensuring the safety of the employees involved in the project and the surrounding communities. Through proper communication, ample planning and immediate clean-up efforts, jobsite managers can protect and salvage construction sites after experiencing a hurricane.
THE PLAN
In the construction industry, planning is everything. Communicating and working with trade partners, property owners and local agencies is the key to implementing a successful disaster management plan for hurricanes. Once a job is awarded to a general contractor, the planning should begin. In the midst of planning, trade partner bidding and jobsite layouts, disaster management needs to be a major part of the discussion. Creating a proper plan depends on the type of project and should consider what could happen at various stages of completion. For example, sites that do not yet have proper drainage will need to be prepared for heavy flooding and water damage, but projects with incomplete high-rise buildings may have more high-speed wind damage than those with single-story buildings.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
When even a small storm forms, it is important to remember its potential to become a stronger force or to shift its projected path for landfall. Therefore, meetings should be held even in the beginning stages of a potential storm threat. Once a storm has reached maximum sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour, it is officially a hurricane.
At this point, teams must hold a mandatory hurricane meeting to set the parameters of how they are going to prepare the site. The jobsite superintendent should create plans to keep teams informed on the strategies for each time window leading up to a storm’s arrival from a 72-hour plan up to an eight-hour plan. It is especially critical to communicate with trade partners and owners who live outside of the area or who have never gone through a hurricane before. Teams may have anywhere from a week to three days to prepare a jobsite, and the trade partners and owners need to be aware of the steps being taken to ensure as little damage as possible to the site.
All parties should stay up to date on all FEMA announcements as the storm approaches. It is wise to designate one radio channel or news station for everyone to tune into to ensure that all team members are receiving the same updates consistently. News about the jobsite should be communicated during the storm if a superintendent is present and able to monitor the site safely. As long as everyone has power, the communication needs to stay open and frequent.
FIRST RESPONDER CLEARANCE
Becoming an official first responder for a jobsite is a crucial part of hurricane preparation that is sometimes overlooked. This will ensure that designated workers can get clearance to the site after the storm passes. Being named a first responder can make the difference between assessing the damage as soon as the storm passes or having to wait much longer, creating an opportunity for damage to worsen. First responder clearance is given through the National Guard, and general contractors need to work with the property owners to receive this. Overall, mitigating damage as a first responder can facilitate clean-up efforts, saving money and time for a post-hurricane jobsite.
CLEAN UP PROCESS
The assessment and clean-up process of a jobsite should begin once the area is declared safe from a designated superintendent with first responder clearance. If it is not safe, there should be a clear communication procedure in place to ensure the superintendent knows who is qualified to handle the specific dangers that are present onsite to ultimately resolve each issue. For example, if there is a leaking gas line, the site superintendent should know which specific trade partner is available to help with that effort, before allowing any other partners onto the jobsite. Executing these plans properly will ensure the safety of every worker involved.
Water pumps and generators become the most important part of clean-up if flooding has occurred, which is why they need to be tested and prepared prior to the storm hitting. Water damage is one of the biggest concerns for general contractors, and tends to get worse over time. Getting temporary fixes in place, like tarps for roofs, is key to minimizing damage. Once the temporary fixes are in place, trade partners can continue working on a site according to their original or modified plans.
Original Article: http://www.constructionexec.com/article/plan-communicate-and-clean-up
