Background information

The Austrian government did not want to halt construction work in times of the pandemic, so the social partners in the construction sector worked out, in cooperation with the labour inspectorate, instructions on how to protect workers against the Coronavirus in the construction industry. This resulted in a guide that was published on 26 March 2020. It applies to all workers working on construction sites. The set of instructions complements the general COVID-19 protective measures (i.e. distance of at least one meter to each other; wash hands thoroughly; do not touch your face; cough in the bent elbows or sneeze in a handkerchief, which is then immediately disposed of) - see cases AT-2020-12/590 and AT-2020-12/589 in this database.

Content of measure

To comply with occupational hygiene on the construction site, sanitary measures must be taken in accordance with Section 34 and Section 35 of the Construction Worker Protection Ordinance (BauV).

Additional measures in the areas industrial hygiene; organisational measures; work equipment; risk groups; minimization obligation during transport; dormitories; and coordination of work must also be implemented:

Industrial hygiene

• Provision of disinfectants and regular disinfection of the sanitary and social facilities on the construction site in short cleaning intervals
• When using vehicles, construction machinery or tools, disinfection must be carried out by other personnel before use;
• If disinfection is not possible in individual cases, gloves can be used as an alternative

Organisational measures

• staggering in terms of time or place to maintain the necessary distance when changing clothes, during breaks
• plan work processes according to the technical possibilities so that the number of employees working at one location at the same time is as small as possible

Work equipment

• if the protective distance of at least one meter cannot be maintained workers must have mouth-nose protection or a full visor

Transport

• the number of employees must be minimised, taking into account the necessary minimum distance of one meter

Dormitories

• must not be occupied by more than one person

Use of measure

The measure has to be applied on all construction sites.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Particular professions	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Social partners jointly	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

The sectoral social partners in the construction industry developed this guide in cooperation with the labour inspectorate.

Views and reactions

Social partners are supportive of the measure.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 26 March 2020: Instructions of the social partners for dealing with construction sites based on COVID-19 (www.wko.at)
• 03 April 2020: Construction work and COVID-19 (www.proge.at)
• 22 November 2021: Protective measures on construction sites (www.arbeitsinspektion.gv.at)