Page 61 - OHS, July/August 2020

maintaining negative pressure while working in interior, positively- pressurized rooms, like operating rooms—necessitate creative so- lutions. As a rule, ORs are positively pressured to keep contami- nants out. It helps to use a two-pronged approach of temporarily adjusting the supply air balance of the room while exhausting a significant amount of air through temporarily-installed ductwork above ceiling and through a circuitous route across other spaces to reach that exterior window.
Depending upon patient populations within and adjacent to work areas, temporary walls may be installed that reach the ceiling grids. In cases where the worksite is next to more sterile or more patient-sensitive areas, walls may need to be erected to the under- side of the deck above to contain the air above the ceiling. In dry- wall containment procedures, plastic barriers may be necessary to work above plenum space. Covers may be placed over mechanical ducts, floors, and ceilings to prevent dust and debris from escaping.
These tactics are paramount for keeping debris and construc- tion particles out, but, as hospital clients have observed, are also useful for keeping infectious pathogens contained. COVID-19 has prompted some hospital clients to request that while on-site for a separate job, workers construct similarly pressurized isolation rooms for COVID-19 patients.
To that end, increased COVID-related, hospital-wide sanita- tion efforts have prompted additional infection control measures
at the worksite. Hospital staff routinely administer temperature scans of everyone entering worksites, and temperature checks are also self-conducted by the construction teams on-site. Without exemption, construction workers don PPE face masks. Worksites are cleaned up and sanitized at the end of each day, and tools are regularly wiped down with disinfectant.
As able, project teams space out the daily schedule and worker placement to allow for as much social distancing as possible. Stag- gered start times and physical separation of active worksite areas limit exposure between various groups of workers. Where they might not have before, work is being sequenced around the clock; evening shifts allow for fewer trades to be on the job site during the day.
Construction is, by nature, messy. Good construction firms have always done everything in their power to mitigate the mess, limit the debris and control the spread of contaminants on the worksite—especially when that worksite is an active, occupied healthcare facility. With proper adherence to these outlined recom- mendations, hospitals will remain safe places for patients, health- care workers and construction crews.
Matt Elliott, CPC, is a healthcare project executive with SpawGlass, a Texas-based general contractor, construction manager, design/ builder and civil contractor.
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