#ConstructionStopsCOVID

First-in-nation initiative between Greater Boston Building Trades Unions & Contractors and global health leader Partners In Health will promote COVID-19 safety in construction industry and beyond

Partners In Health joins with Boston’s building trades unions and contractor partners to set the highest safety standards in the nation, and to promote and operationalize workplace testing, tracing, treatment and public awareness campaign 

Union construction industry partners pledge support to joint initiative, which was formally announced on Tuesday, December 22, 2020.

More information: https://constructionstopscovid.org/

Link to full 12/21/20 Press Release: https://constructionstopscovid.org/press/

Link to YouTube video of launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l9euiITdbo

December 21, 2020: Building upon the strong base of COVID-19 preventative measures and standards established by a union construction labor-management partnership in the spring and summer, the Greater Boston Building Trades Unions and their construction industry partners have teamed up with internationally renowned nonprofit Partners In Health (PIH), local non-profit public health agency Harbor Health Services, and City of Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh to forge a national model for COVID-19 safety and prevention.

In consultation with industry stakeholders, the City of Boston’s Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) and Inspectional Services Department (ISD) also set some of the strictest guidelines and regulations in the nation to promote worker and community safety.

Now, those regulations will be further bolstered by the creation of testing, tracing and treatment hubs in areas with high concentrations of construction activity, along with a sweeping public messaging effort, all aimed at keeping workers, their families, and their communities safe by preventing further COVID-19 spread. The multi-platform messaging campaign will seek to bolster public health and will showcase best practices to slow the spread of the disease by prioritizing safety both at work and at home. The goal is to minimize pressure on our healthcare system and to protect the health of Boston and surrounding communities.

The Construction Stops COVID initiative has underscored the power and importance of joint labor-management partnerships. Construction Stops COVID has been coordinated and launched with the support of construction managers John Moriarty & Associates, Suffolk, and Turner Construction, along with support from several key stakeholders who have been working collaboratively since March 2020, when the industry came together to launch the first round of safety protocols as part of the COVID-19 Construction Subcommittee. That subcommittee is made up of construction unions and area construction companies, and has now joined forces with local and global health experts to form Construction Stops COVID.