Workers Nationwide Pause on Job Sites to Learn About Coronavirus Safety

Home building job sites all over the country stopped work on Thursday, April 16 to educate workers and subcontractors on proper coronavirus safety measures.

Hundreds of NAHB member companies and HBAs participated in the national COVID-19 Job Site Safety Stand Down. The hashtags associated with the stand down were used more than 500 times on social media last week alone and generated more than 3.5 million impressions.

The safety stand down was the product of discussions between the steering members of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition. The Associated General Contractors of America held their stand down on April 9, NAHB on April 16, and Associated Builders and Contractors will hold theirs this week on April 23.

With materials created and provided by the coalition, home builders, subcontractors, building suppliers, HBAs, and other associated businesses provided focused education on what workers on job sites should do to keep themselves healthy and flatten the curve for everyone.

Many of the social media posts were from Trump Administration officials, including HUD Secretary Ben Carson and Labor Secretary Gene Scalia who recorded videos, and members of Congress from both political parties. See this Instagram post for examples of the attention from Congress. Local officials also took note as the influential National Association of Counties featured the stand down.

But the real success of the stand down is attributed directly to the builders, subcontractors and others who took the time to focus on potentially life-saving guidance for workers. NAHB was inundated with photos of stand downs from coast to coast. See a small sample of them in the slideshow below.

And the stand down should not be treated as a one-time event. The right time to learn about coronavirus safety will always be right now. Even as states begin to try to return to normal, workers will need to be cautious and alter their normal behavior for the foreseeable future. Please use NAHB resources on your job site to stay healthy and safe and check nahb.org/coronavirus for the latest.