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Concerns Over COVID-19 Workplace Outbreaks As Santa Clara Co. Prepares To Restart Construction

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- Construction crews in Santa Clara County have been working since getting the green light to return on May 4 as pandemic restrictions loosened. County public health officials now say a third of the county's 89 workplace-related outbreaks since then have come from construction sites.

The construction projects with cases of COVID-19 paused operations voluntarily, but Santa Clara County supervisor Dave Cortese says the county has the power to go further.

"The attorneys at the public health department could shut down any given site, if there's an outbreak or a non-compliance with rules," Sup. Cortese told KPIX 5 Wednesday afternoon.

As we drove around construction projects in San Jose on Wednesday, we only saw one person not wearing a mask on a job site. Even construction health and safety technicians say the industry is uniquely positioned to handle extra safety rules and is doing pretty well.

"Each site that I've been on, they have a great protocol," said Michael Urueta, a certified construction health safety technician.

Getting onto a job site now involves temperature and symptom checks, along with extra PPE and social distancing requirements.

Dave Bini, executive director of the Santa Clara and San Benito county's Building and Construction Trades Council says the positive tests are an indication protocols are working.

"I think that's an indication that the system is working the way it is supposed to," said Bini. "Of course, when you are opening any industry, you're going to have some cases appear. The idea is that we catch them early and shut down the site so there is no spread."

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