One year after COVID-19 became prevalent enough in North America to shut down many construction projects and require new jobsite safety protocols, efforts are still ramping up in Canada and the U.S. to get more workers tested and vaccinated, whether employer generated or government mandated.

安大略省将在全省的建筑工地上推出Covid-19-Quid Antigen测试，以迅速确定Covid-19感染，建筑物承包商巨头Ellisdon去年年底在其现场进行了努力。

The Mississauga-based firm is now doing 8,000 rapid antigen tests a week at various construction sites across Ontario, including at The Well mixed-use project in Toronto, the province’s largest construction project, said Steve Chaplin, vice president for health, safety and the environment. It includes 1.1 million sq ft of office, 500,000 sq ft of retail and 1,700 residential units in six buildings connected to a 3-level retail base and is said to be Canada's most ambitious current mixed-use development.

埃利斯登（Ellisdon）每周在安大略省的建筑工厂进行的40,000次测试中，当时该省在关键行业进行快速测试。它于12月启动了一项飞行员快速测试计划，与劳工部，培训和技能开发部，水管工和蒸汽河本地协会联合协会以及国际画家和盟军贸易区协会46。

Despite some test accuracy issues reported, a recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said 63% of small businesses would use it to stay open; with 66% of construction sector businesses indicating they would do so.

The new rapid testing initiative, along with screening measures, helped tamp down a budding outbreak at The Well, a 3.1-million sq ft mixed-used development downtown.

建造Rollout in March

该省在一定程度上基于这些结果，宣布了计划将快速测试套件分发给一系列基本领域，并于3月对建筑行业进行了整个行业的测试。

Ontario has deployed nearly 2 million rapid antigen tests and 175,000 rapid diagnostic tests to essential workplaces and highly vulnerable such as long-term care homes, according to a province statement. "At scale, the province will be deploying approximately 1 million tests per week across targeted sectors," it added.

“我们是早期采用者之一,”史蒂夫Ch说aplin, EllisDon vice president of heath, safety and environment.

对于EllisDon的工作,在那里were 16 workers out of the 420 the company oversaw on its portion of the project tested positive for the coronavirus from late December to Jan 29. Dozens more tested positive on other sections of the nine-building complex, the Toronto Star reported.

However, new cases came to a halt after EllisDon rolled out rapid testing the week of Jan. 25, with the construction services company administering 840 tests, Chaplin said.

Still, there were just a few of construction sites in the Toronto area that saw a post-holiday jump in the number of coronavirus cases, he said.

EllisDon is now conducting rapid tests at a total of 16 sites in the Toronto area, with a total of 28,000 tests conducted so far.

控制案件

部门发言人卡莱姆·麦克斯温（Kalem McSween）说，自大流行开始以来，安大略省的建筑部门已经占据了150例冠状病毒病例。

That compares to more than 2,000 in the agricultural sector and more than 1,000 in the food, textile and related manufacturing sectors, according to Ontario’s workplace compensation board.

“Our COVID-19 rapid antigen screening program across metropolitan Toronto has been quite successful in early identification of presumptive positives and limiting potential further spread and transmission,” Chaplin said.

Under the program, Ontario officials are providing the nasal swab test kits – the Abbott Panbio Antigen Screen – with results as quickly as 15 minutes.

The downside of antigen testing is that it is less accurate, so positive results must be confirmed using PCR testing, Chaplin said. It can take two or three days with PCR testing, but it can also detect an infection even in asymptomatic individuals through RNA, or genetic material.

EllisDon, in turn, has picked up the tab for the health care staff needed to administer the tests, a commitment of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

尽管如此，该公司最初还是遇到了其测试驱动器的重要障碍，一些工人不愿同意接受测试。

EllisDon Shifts to Required

在一个关键决定中，埃利斯登（Ellisdon）在1月初决定将自愿测试计划转变为所需的计划。

EllisDon’s Chaplin noted that getting buy-in from local building trade unions was key on this, with daily discussions that included sharing with labor leaders the case count.

当不可避免地要进行测试时，这种交流是有帮助的，现在需要进入工作场所。

“This is a common shared interest – it is a shared responsibility,” Chaplin said. “They want to keep their member safe. At the end of the day, they want the same things we want.”

Patrick Dillon, business manager and secretary treasurer of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, said the union is fully onboard with rapid testing, and with unions starting to use it at their training centers.

The crisis also cast a helpful light on hygiene on construction sites, which now have access to hot and cold running water is required by the rules, but not always available, he said.

“It’s been a good thing – it has turned up some numbers at the job sites,” Dillon said. “Not dramatic, but a few, which is a good thing. It means the virus is identified and people were then isolated and didn’t get spread further.”

同时，在艾伯塔省，Energy Giant Suncor正在加强对数百名工人在整个夏季进入设施维护的工人的快速测试。该公司将从省政府接收100,000个测试套件，并部署给该行业的其他公司。

Rapid antigen tests also have been deployed to businesses in Quebec and Nova Scotia, but construction was not a major focus.

Federal OSHA Standards Weighed

In the U.S., testing has been largely driven by firms and clients. Dallas mechanical subcontractor TDIndustries began offering in-house COVID-19 tests to employees last summer. As part of a broader virus safety strategy, the firm partnered with medical services provider Medcor to support its health and safety team, says Jamie Dabbs, director of safety.

Testing was required, he says, not only to meet the firm’s own protocols, but also because of demand from some project owners.

“一些工地现场需要负面测试有限公司me on, regardless of exposure,” he says. Based on recommendations from Medcor, the company chose to use PCR testing rather than rapid-antigen testing, based on accuracy. Over time, as more data on testing became available, the team decided to primarily use rapid antigen testing, which could yield results in under an hour. If an employee showed virus symptoms, a PCR test would be used.

Meanwhile the U.S. Labor Dept.. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to issue temporary emergency standards on COVID-19, based on President Joe Biden’s January executive order. While the agency missed the specified March 15 deadline, new Labor Secretary Marty Walsh appeared to back the standards during his February confirmation hearing, when pressed on the issue by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

OSHA has not published a draft of the standards, but Some observers speculate on parallels with California’s emergency temporary standards, in effect since late November.

加利福尼亚州需要由雇主资助的COVID-19在工作时间期间进行的COVID-19测试，授权请假，并有可能将毫无戒心的雇主纳入呼吸保护标准，”杰克逊·刘易斯P.C.律师事务所校长考特尼·马尔维尔（Courtney Malveaux）说。在3月18日的国家法律审查分析中。“全国雇主可能需要准备传染病的准备和反应计划，并相应地培训员工，几乎没有时间准备。”

Employers in the state must establish, implement and maintain a COVID-19 prevention program. If a workplace outbreak is identified, they must offer testing at no cost to employees and track virus cases, while also maintaining employee confidentiality.

Malveaux predicts legal challenges from business groups if the federal emergency standards mirror those in California too closely.