New technologies are keeping construction projects movingthrough the pandemic. Even in markets like Southern California,where construction was deemed an essential industry, worker safetywas crucial to construction job sites. To ensure safety and defendagainst outbreaks, contracting companies likeSuffolk have leaned on tech tools, from touch-lessthermometers to monitors that track social distancing.

"Our main priority is the health and safety of our workers.Suffolk was quick to adapt and adhere to safety guidelines, whichwas crucial to our continued operations," TomDonohue, president and general manager of SouthernCalifornia at Suffolk, tells GlobeSt.com. "We added hand-washingstations with hot water, which you typically don't see on projectsites; held meetings with trade partners in more open, spread-outspaces rather than in tight quarters and moved all other teammeetings virtually to Microsoft Teams to reduce contact.

Suffolk installed infrared cameras on all Southern Californiajob sites to take temperatures quickly and efficiently. "It reducedthe time it took to take temperatures and also cut down on the costof having an onsite technician, since it could be done by someonewho was trained that was already onsite," Donohue says. Now,Suffolk is adopting Triax monitors, which attach to workers hatsand sound an alarm when another worker is within six feet. "Thishelps workers follow social distancing protocols while working onjobsites," adds Donohue. In addition to thesetechnologies, workers are regularly questioned if they areexperiencing symptoms or if they have been exposed to anyone withsymptoms.