How We’re Handling the COVID-19 Situation
As we are all aware, these are unprecedented times and we are dealing with a highly fluid situation with many moving parts. We’re closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and are taking proactive measures to keep people safe and healthy, whilst maintaining continuity of our business operations. The good news at this stage is that the Government considers the construction industry to be an “essential service”, so we are able to continue our operations within the Government’s rules and guidelines.
Our Priorities
At ARCA, our priorities are to:
- protect the health, safety and well-being of our clients, employees, sub-contractors and the community;
- maintain continuity of our business operations.
We would like to assure our clients and the wider community that we are working within the rules set out by the Federal and Victorian State Governments and we are doing everything within our control to minimise any impact to our project schedules. We are fully committed to delivering our current and future projects and we are well prepared for this challenge.
Interim Ways of Working
The health, safety and well-being of our clients, employees, sub-contractors and wider community remains our top priority and to this end, we have instituted the following interim control measures:
- Practice good hygiene and social distancing in accordance with Government rules and guidelines.
- No team member is to present to work if they have been in contact with a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19 or if they display symptoms.
- Any team member or member of a team member’s household who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 must follow the government’s directions for self-quarantine / self-isolation.
- No shaking hands.
- Avoid touching faces and high-risk surfaces.
- No sharing of tools unless they are sanitised between uses.
- Wash / sanitise hands thoroughly before entering and exiting construction sites and offices.
- Wherever possible, open all doors and windows to ensure maximum airflow.
- Follow good hygiene etiquette around coughing and sneezing (into tissues/elbow).
- Clean and sanitise equipment regularly with appropriate products.
- Avoid non-essential client face-to-face meetings in favour of phone or video chats, e.g. FaceTime or Skype for Business.
- Some office team members are now working from home to ensure adequate social distancing.
All ARCA team members have been briefed on the above interim protocols and will adhere to them when working in the office or onsite.
It is imperative at this time that clients do not visit construction sites unannounced or unnecessarily. This will be strictly enforced to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our clients, employees, sub-contractors and wider community.
Our team will provide regular updates and progress photos to keep our clients informed of their projects’ progress and whilst these are not our preferred methods of operating, we must all play our part in containing the spread of COVID-19 and its impacts on the public and the economy.
Planning Ahead
Our construction and estimating teams have been working tirelessly over the past last few weeks in preparation for the challenges we are facing into. This means that we are ahead the curve in terms of our lead ordering and other essential office activities that keep our construction sites running smoothly and on schedule. These, together with the interim measures listed above are the most effective and proactive actions we can take to minimise any potential impact to our construction schedules as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Our business is being well supported through the HIA and we are being kept up-to-date with frequent crisis updates and advice.
Thank You!
We acknowledge that these are challenging times for all of us, however you can be assured that we have everyone’s best interests in mind and will be doing everything within our control to ensure that we keep people safe, whilst minimising the impact to our project schedules.
We’re all in this together and if we all play our part in keeping each other safe, we will beat COVID-19 and come out the other side stronger than ever.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call us on 1800 436 874 or contact us here.
Disclaimer: The contents and information contained in this article are intended for general purposes only and should not be relied upon by any person as being complete or accurate. ARCA Pty Ltd, its employees, agents and other representatives will not accept any liability suffered or incurred by any person arising out of or in connection with any reliance on the content or of information contained in this article. This limitation applies to loss or damage of any kind, including but not limited to, compensatory, direct, indirect or consequential damage, loss of income or profit, loss of or damage to property and claims by any third party.