— from San Juan County Communications —
As of Friday April 24, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has allowed some construction activities to resume across the state, including in San Juan County. The Governor’s announcement of the decision is available HERE.
Specific requirements established to ensure the safety of both workers and the community are posted HERE on the Governor’s website.
This move was expected and welcomed by the San Juan County Council, who have been communicating with the Governor and his staff over the last two weeks to ensure this vital part of the local economy can begin to safely get back to work.
San Juan County Council Chair Rick Hughes highlights the importance of this step and the decision making that went into it, “Everything that the Governor and the County Council have been doing is driven by science and puts the health of our residents first. That is why the majority of the Governor’s Stay Home Stay Healthy order remains in effect until at least May 4. Reopening some construction is something that we felt could be done in a thoughtful and safe way, and we welcome the opportunity to help a portion of our economy resume work.”
County Health Officer Dr. Frank James shares the importance of building and construction businesses following the requirements, “In order for this to work, contractors need to really embrace the effort to operate safely. Worker and community health need to be the first priority, always. This means following social distancing requirements, covering of faces, staying home when sick, and not taking any shortcuts that jeopardize safety. At the first sign of disease transmission on job sites, the entire industry risks being shut down once again.”
Council Chair Hughes emphasizes that this does not mean things are back to normal, “While this is a welcome step, it doesn’t mean that we’re out of the woods. Indeed, cases in Washington are not dropping as quickly as we had hoped, and there are still outbreaks occurring across the state. We’ve done well here in the islands at limiting spread, but need to remain vigilant.”
Please note that workplace safety and health complaints may be submitted to the WA State Labor & Industries (L&I) Call Center: 1-800-423-7233 or via e-mail to adag235@lni.wa.gov. General questions about how to comply with construction safety practices can be submitted to the state’s Business Response Center. Additional Info…
Governor Inslee is due profound thanks for listening to and working with industry and local leaders to forge a path back to work for our local craftsmen. To be fair he faced a daunting prospect when Washington became the first national hot spot for this contagion. It will be to his lasting credit to lead the way in expediently opening other economic sectors in the state, restoring the dignity of working folks and insuring that civil liberties are preserved.
Kudos as well to industry representatives and the County Council, led by Rick Hughes. And thanks to the Aprils Grove project for being an example for how this can work.
There are still lessons to be learned, and many unknowns facing us in the ongoing pandemic. In spite of how some are framing it this is far from over. It’s too early to tell where history will posit us in all of this either as a county, a state, or a nation.
Scientific terms like “second wave,” and “asymptomatic carriers” are synonymous with the premature re-openings of economies elsewhere. The base-line criteria for any re-opening of the economy should be relative to our ability to perform broad-scale testing, and to ensure the protection of high risk groups.
Considering all the knowns and unknowns the risks related to this disease are disproportionate to the potential outcome, and we are in every sense “playing with fire”. We cannot afford to let expediency rule our momentum, and we should instead be erring on the side of caution. As Dr. James said during a recent county council meeting when talking about a possible surge, or a second wave, “It only takes one”.
This restriction was ill-founded in the first place. The safe distancing and personal protection were all we needed, and those should continue.