Work will resume on some of Hamilton City Council’s capital projects this week — providing contractors can meet government guidelines on operating during Alert Level 3.

Construction projects across the city were shut down when the country moved to Alert Level 4 just over four weeks ago but the Government’s decision to move to Alert Level 3 means contractors can get back to work on our great river city.

Infrastructure Committee Chair Angela O’Leary says the return to some works is a welcome step as the city begins the path to recovery.

“The Council and its partners are doing everything possible to restart economic activity in the city without compromising the work done by our public health sector and by Hamiltonians who have done everything asked of them, including staying at home,” she said.

“Like all businesses looking to get back to work, there are precautions on our worksites to protect staff and the wider public. As a council, we’re doing what we can to support a return to work for as many local people as soon as possible.”

Development General Manager Chris Allen says the Council’s contracts team has been working, and continues to work, closely with contractors ensuring they have their COVID-19 control plans in place.

“There will be additional health and safety measures to ensure our contractors are working within government guidelines when returning to work sites at Alert Level 3.

“This includes coming up with site specific continuity plans for both suppliers and contractors, which cover health and safety practices, hygiene and physical distancing,” Mr Allen says.

“Since the lockdown started, teams from across the Council have been working hard behind the scenes to plan for a quick restart once we had the all clear.

“We understand it won’t quite be business as usual for our contractors, but these extra precautions are worth it if means we can get out there and start work now.

All Hamilton City Council’s COVID-19 plans are tailored to individual projects and outline appropriate health and safety and physical distancing measures for both staff and visitors.

“For most projects, this week is mainly around site preparation, ensuring work sites are safe for staff, sub-contractors and visitors (eg delivery workers etc). Next week is when most contractors will be working as best as they can under the Alert level 3 requirements,” Mr Allen says.

The Council also reminding the public to take care out on the roads as people return to work this week.

Mr Allen says, “people will start to see more construction activity across the city in coming days and weeks, which means more happening on our roads and we want to remind people to be aware and take more care for their protection and safety of our workers”.

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