Reno, Nevada — In a campaign estimated to reach 20,000 to 24,000 essential workers, Laborers Union Local 169 has rolled out a digital billboard truck with public service messages to educate and remind workers on how to “work safe for Nevada” this May. The truck will be displayed in high-traffic areas and routes, with plans to visit 10-15 construction sites each day that typically employ 100 to 200 workers each.
Construction is considered an essential business, so while Nevada’s Governor Steve Sisolak has shut down all non-essential businesses to slow the spread of the COVID-19, construction is exempt from that shut down.
Representing over 1,200 workers in Northern Nevada, primarily in construction, including construction craft laborers, plaster hod carriers and brick hod carriers, Laborers Union Local 169 is providing timely, relevant, quality training and educational information to all essential workers, both union and non-union, in the construction industry. To help educate essential workers on best practices for safety and precautionary measures concerning COVID-19, Local 169 has invested in a digital billboard truck.
Additionally, the international organization Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) has created a free app with all the latest information about coronavirus safety tips and knowledge downloadable at https://www.liunatraining.org/.
The digital billboard truck will display the following public service messages: “Work Safe for Nevada,” “Use Your P.P.E. (Personal Protective Equipment),” “Stay 6 Feet Away From Others,” and more. A gallery of the graphics is below and links to download the images are here (“Use Your PPE,” “Thank You All Essential Workers,” “Stay 6 Feet Away,” “Local 169 Cares,” “Wash Your Hands,” Truck Pic 1, Truck Pic 2, Truck Pic 3)
Eloy Jara, President of Laborers Union Local 169 stated, “Construction craft laborers are the backbone of our country. On jobsites, they are usually the first workers in and the last workers out. Therefore, to help remind all essential workers, those in our union and those not, to practice safety measures in this critical time, Local 169 has invested in a digital billboard truck with a robust health and safety public service message. The trucks remind workers to stay six feet away from others, wash your hands and use your personal protective equipment to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Local 169 encourages all construction employers to take the following precautionary measures:
- Perform a risk assessment of the jobsite.
- Educate/train workers about general precautions and regularly communicate plans to limit the spread of COVID-19.
- Reinforce good hygiene practices and take steps to make it easy for workers to frequently wash his/her hands.
- Institute policies and practices that maintain physical distance between workers.
- Identify, clean and sanitize high-risk transmission areas regularly.
- Provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Require sick workers to stay home and send sick workers home.
Local 169 also encourages construction workers to help prevent the spread of viruses and stay healthy by doing the following:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol when soap and water are not available.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
- Clean “high-touch” surfaces every day with a household cleaning spray or wipe.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick. If you are sick, stay home. If you must go out in public, do your best to avoid close contact with other people.
- Practice social distancing by limiting person-to-person contact within six feet, especially in large groups or in enclosed spaces, and limit large group interactions.
- Report symptoms of COVID-19 immediately. If you are sick, stay home. If you feel sick and are at work, tell your supervisor.
- Cooperate with response measures instituted by your employer and those recommended by health officials at the federal, state and local level.
- Do not share other workers’ phones, PPE or other work tools and equipment.
Jara reiterated, “Laborers Union Local 169 is focused on the health and safety of all essential workers. We want to thank all the essential workers who are out there working during this difficult time, and we want to remind them to ‘Work Safe for Nevada’. Stay safe and work safe.”
LIUNA was one of the first trade organizations to develop a worker’s app that includes all the latest information about coronavirus safety tips and knowledge, LIUNA Training’s Infectious Disease (ID) App. It will be an ongoing source of information regarding infectious diseases and specifically COVID-19. The ID App was designed to be a one-stop shop for every LIUNA Member, including construction, environmental, public employees, mail handlers, National Guard and service contract employees, but all are welcome to benefit from the information.
The Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America (LHSFNA) recognizes that LIUNA signatory employers are committed to ensuring the safety and health of their workforce, including taking the appropriate steps to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus known as SARs-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19.
LIUNA—the Laborers’ International Union of North America—is the most progressive, aggressive and fastest-growing union of construction workers, and one of the most diverse and effective unions representing public service employees.
LIUNA members are on the forefront of the construction industry – a sector that is a powerhouse of 12 million workers producing 5 percent of our countries’ economic output.
A half-million strong, LIUNA members are united through collective bargaining agreements which helps members earn family-supporting pay, good benefits and the opportunity for advancement and better lives. To learn more, visit https://local169.com.