Working in an Occupied Space
Construction Service work is challenging work. It can be messy, it can be loud, and it requires an assortment of tools and material. It requires people to complete the task, and if the task is in an occupied space it requires cooperation between the service workers and the staffers who are now working around the temporary inconvenience of the presence of construction personnel, equipment, and material.
Whether the work is being completed in an office, school, or other public building care has to be taken by construction crews to protect the property, the public, and themselves. The goal is to ensure a safe environment for workers and the public, and to provide the least amount of disruption to the area as possible. Cooperative planning between the contractor and an authorized permanent staff member on site is essential.
As is the case with any construction job the planning stages and details that are ironed out ahead of the project are of the utmost importance:
Create a safe work plan, see the plan through
Prior to beginning work, identify an easily accessible and secure location that can be used for staging material and tools that are not in use
Use rolling carts to contain material and make it easily accessible
utilize floor covering (drop cloths, Masonite, ram board)
identify and mitigate risks associated with the work to be performed
familiarize the construction team with emergency exits, locations of fire extinguishers, and create an assembly point in the event of an emergency
workers must wear appropriate PPE (gloves, safety glasses, hearing protection)
utilize 4m plastic when necessary to create dust barriers to prevent dust contamination from work space to permanently occupied space
CLEAN UP! The job is incomplete until it is properly cleaned. Crews should leave an occupied cleaner than they found it.
Working in an occupied space creates a layer of challenges that a typical construction site won’t have, and it is important to follow these protocols when working under these conditions. If we slow down and consider these points when beginning a task in an occupied space everyone wins; the job will get done professionally, the permanent staffers will feel more comfortable knowing that we care about and respect their place of business, and we will go home at the end of the day whole and healthy.
-Lou Zimick, founder Zimick Electric