How the Home Building Industry is Keeping Workers Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disaster Response
Published

COVID-19 has heightened safety protocols across the board in an effort to keep everyone safe from the spread of the disease. The home building industry has always been a staunch advocate for the safety of workers, but COVID-19 has heightened some of elements that can affect builders' safety, which companies continue to work hard to address.

"There's a lot of emphasis on infectious disease and trying to prevent the spread of infectious disease," observed Dr. Scott Earnest, director of the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Office of Construction Safety and Health and manager of the NORA Construction Sector, in a recent interview with The Hill.TV. "There's a lot of teleworking and things like that. So it's really had an impact on the entire industry in many different ways."

The Construction Sector, which includes representatives from NAHB, has been actively promoting the use of masks, frequent hand washing and disinfecting of surfaces to help maintain worker safety. Exposure remains a key concern among workers, he added, and companies have responded with appropriate screening methods to keep infected workers from entering the job site and possibly infecting others.

This heightened concern around exposure has caused one of the more intangible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: the impact on workers' mental health.

"[The COVID-19 pandemic] has caused anxiety and ripple effects throughout the entire economy," shared Cal Beyer, vice president of workforce risk and worker wellbeing at CSDZ, a construction risk management firm. "One in 5 adults have a diagnosed mental health condition, and the pressures that we're all under with sheltering at home … there's been very little separation between our work and our families. The boundaries have blurred — and the tensions that that's causing."

Beyer noted that prior to COVID-19, the industry was already addressing challenges with mental health, including suicide and substance abuse. NAHB was of the first groups to endorse the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, he added, and has been a leader in the charge for opioid use prevention.

So what can home builders do to address the stress and anxiety brought on by COVID-19?

"It's important for construction companies and crews to take time-outs and just really check in — 'How's everyone doing?' — and think about what's under the hard hat," he recommended. "We bring our distractions to work, and those distractions can be catastrophic in serious injuries and fatalities, or quality defects. So it's very important for us to be our brothers' and sisters' keepers."

Both interviews are available in the video below. For more mental health resources for home building professionals, visit nahb.org.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Environmental Issues

May 30, 2025

NAHB Members Provide Final Recommendations for New WOTUS Rule

NAHB members concluded their participation in multiple “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) listening sessions with strong showings in Washington, D.C., and Salt Lake City. In total, 12 NAHB members and four staff members from NAHB and state home builder associations (HBAs), representing 11 states, provided oral statements at listening sessions.

Workforce Development

May 30, 2025

Statement from NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes on DOL Decision to Pause Job Corps Center Operations

NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes issued the following statement after the Department of Labor announced it was pausing Job Corps center operations nationwide.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

May 30, 2025

Multifamily Absorption Moves Lower for New Apartments

The percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion continued to trend lower, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA).

Economics

May 29, 2025

Treasury Yield Increase Drives Mortgage Rates Higher in May

Mortgage rates continued their upward trend in May due to market volatility triggered by fiscal concerns and weaker U.S. Treasury demand. According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.82% — a 9-basis-point (bps) increase from April. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased by 5 bps to 5.95%.

Economics

May 28, 2025

Aging-in-Place Remodeling Work Fell While Familiarity and Receptiveness Remain High

Only 56% of professional remodelers undertake projects designed to allow homeowners to Age-in-Place (AIP), according to results from NAHB’s Q1 2025 Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey.