Austin AGC Members:
 
The local commercial construction industry continues to build Austin and Central Texas while implementing heightened safety and health protocols on jobsites to protect the workforce and our community from the spread of COVID-19.  During this challenging time, the Austin AGC has been proud to serve as a leader for local builders, whether you need safety help on your jobs or simply want to share best practices with others in the industry.  Our collective efforts have gone a long way toward the common goal of balancing lives with livelihoods, but we must remain ever vigilant and continue to employ jobsite safety practices to prevent the infection from spreading in the workforce and beyond. 

With that in mind, the Austin AGC wants to remind you:
 
  • The City of Austin's  Stay Home - Work Safe Order has been extended through May 30, 2020.  Specific rules for the construction industry that have been in effect since April 13 are available here on the City Development Services Department web page.  Be sure to have all the requirements posted - in English and Spanish - on your sites to help educate your teams, and keep following all the requirements.
     
  • Continue to share toolbox talks and other resources with your workforce about the virus and how to prevent it on the jobsite.  Materials are available - in both English and Spanish - on the AGC of America web site.  Also, a video message in Spanish is available here courtesy the US Hispanic Contractors Association.
     
  • Last week, we partnered with Tito's Handmade Vodka to distribute roughly 1,000 bottles of hand sanitizer that they donated to us to help stop the virus spreading on jobsites.  We promoted this heavily on social media as well, and the generous folks at Tito's have sent us another 1,000 bottles to deliver.  If you need any at your jobsite, let safety director Michael Welvaert  know.
Finally, news reports emerged last week stating that Austin's construction jobsites are a "hotspot" for the coronavirus.  This characterization is alarmist in our view and not  a fair portrayal of the industry as a whole and the added workforce safety measures implemented and enforced on jobsites.  Hopefully you also read the Austin AGC response  last week to these i nitial "hotspot" reports, ones that have now been taken at face value and repeated countless times in various news and social media outlets. Unfortunately, t hese headlines do shape and reinforce public perception about our industry so let's be sure to continue stepping up the safety and health efforts required to flatten the virus curve.  
 
As always, thank you for your dedication to jobsite safety and health.  Please contact Austin AGC President  Phil Thoden or Safety Director  Michael Welvaert with any questions or requests for assistance.