Construction under Stage 4 COVID Restrictions
With Melbourne currently in Stage 4 ‘Stay at Home’ restrictions, a number of changes will affect the way construction sites operate.
Summary
Under the current restrictions Melbourne operators are required to have a High Risk COVIDSafe Plan.
Download the High Risk COVIDSafe Construction Plan here
Download the Guidelines for the High Risk COVIDSafe Construction Plan here
Work sites must comply with their plan and all the relevant requirements.
Work sites must be able to readily produce their plan upon request by WorkSafe or other relevant authorities.
Work sites must retain and have available evidence of the peak workforce capacity, including:
- roster
- time
- attendance
- payroll
- other site attendance records
Details
A COVIDSafe Plan is also advised for all regional Victorian workplaces.
On top of this, all construction sites must:
- allow no more than one worker per 4m2 of enclosed workspace
All on-site personnel are:
- prohibited from car-pooling to and from work
- required to inform their employer if they share accommodation with anyone working at another high-risk workplace
- required to limit movement between multiple sites
- required to observe enhanced PPE and hygiene measures if working between sites
Small scale construction must:
- reduce the number of people on-site to five people plus a supervisor at any one time
- limit movement of workers between different sites
- Specialist contractors that need to move between sites may only visit three sites per week
- All workers moving between multiple sites must observe enhanced PPE and hygiene measures.
- Supervisors can move between sites subject to enhanced COVIDSafe practices.
Large scale construction is limited to a daily maximum of workers on site calculated as the higher of:
- 25% of their baseline workforce
- 5 workers
A ‘large scale’ construction site is:
- Permitted to be (at completion) more than three storeys high (excluding basement)
- Larger than 1,500m2 floor size (inclusive of all floors)
- Any office, internal fit out, or retail premises
- Industrial, large format, or retail use
Anything not meeting the above large scale criteria is considered small scale.
Construction of critical and essential infrastructure is not subject to the business operating reductions. For more information visit Business Victoria’s website.
