17 - 28 July 2021 / COVID-19

Construction sites ordered to close across Greater Sydney

The NSW Government introduced additional restrictions across Greater Sydney, including the closure of all construction sites from Monday at 12.01am (19 July) through until 30 July 2021.

Given the number of infectious cases in the community, the following changes will be made to further limit the spread of the COVID-19 Delta strain.

On the basis of updated health advice, the following additional changes (including others outlined in this email below) will come into effect until 11.59pm Friday, 30 July across the below areas:

Greater Sydney
Central Coast
Blue Mountains
Wollongong
Shellharbour

From 12.01am on Monday, 19 July for Greater Sydney

All construction to be paused; and
Non-urgent maintenance, including cleaning services, and repair work on residential premises to be paused.

Today's announcement is evolving and we understand industry stakeholders are working with the NSW Government to detail plans for the shutdown period over the next two weeks.

As soon as we know more, we will communicate this to you.

Hutchies must continue to comply with all NSW Government requirements.

Hutchies' approach

Our construction teams across Greater Sydney have been working to secure their sites and finalise any current work activities prior to Monday, which is when all construction sites must be closed for 2 weeks.

Hutchies' sites should be secured in accordance with our standard Site Shutdown Process.

Please work with your Team Leader if you have any specific questions and to organise alternative working arrangements over the next two weeks.

We will also contact all of our CWs over the next couple of days to work though what this latest government announcement means for them. But naturally it does mean that from Monday no construction workers are to attend any of Hutchies' construction sites.

Hutchies' IT Team will provide information in coming days to assist with working from home arrangements to ensure everyone has remote access to servers and systems.

Once we have more details around emergency / urgently required construction work definitions, we will also make this available.

Additional restrictions introduced

From 11.59pm on Saturday, 17 July (tonight)

Retail premises will be required to close (‘click and collect’, takeaway and home delivery can still operate). The following can remain open:

Supermarkets and grocery stores (including butchers, bakeries, fruit and vegetable stores, liquor stores and fishmongers)
Stores that predominantly sell health, medical, maternity and infant supplies
Pharmacies and chemists
Petrol stations
Car hire
Banks and financial institutions
Hardware, nurseries and building supplies
Agricultural and rural supplies
Pet supplies
Post offices and newsagents
Office supplies

In addition to the stay-at-home rules, residents of Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool LGAs cannot leave their LGA for work except for emergency services and healthcare workers (including aged and disability workers). Where those workers do need to leave their LGA for work, they are required to be tested every three days, even if they do not have symptoms.

Anyone who leaves the home must have a mask with them at all times. They must be worn when you are working outdoors, in outdoor markets, outdoor shopping strips, and in an outdoor queues waiting for products such as coffee and food.

All carpooling to be stopped unless among members of the same household.

From 12.01am on Wednesday, 21 July

Employers must allow employees to work from home if the employee is able to do so. Failure to do so can result in an on-the-spot fine of up to $10,000.

Other information

All other restrictions currently in place across Greater Sydney including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour will remain in place.

It is vital people continue to come forward for testing to help find any COVID-19 cases in the community.

Restrictions in regional NSW remain unchanged.

Other Recent Activities

View all activities

9 April / Quality Alert

Prohibition on the Use of Engineered Stone

Engineered stone ban effective 1 July 2024

ALL engineered stone, regardless of the silica content percentage, is banned.

Alternative products must be considered and implemented on all projects.

In October last year Hutchies noted that the industry was shifting away from engineered stone due to the risks of respirable crystalline silica, which can cause silicosis and other silica related diseases.

On this basis, Hutchies proactively took a position to ban all engineered stone on our projects, regardless of silica content percentages, from 1 July 2024.

In December last year, we then had confirmation that following an Industrial Relations Ministers meeting, State and Commonwealth Leaders had agreed to ban engineered stone products.

Some at Hutchies have noted that the State and Federal communications concerning the ban have included transition periods as well as exemptions for some engineered stone with low (under 1%) silica content.

For clarity, there has been no change to Hutchies' position following these communications – Hutchies will not be using engineered stone that contains any percentage of silica on our projects from 1 July 2024.

Actions

To mitigate the impact of potential delays and variations, the best approach is to inform clients of the pending ban and to propose and seek approval for an alternative product.

Similarly, ensure all future estimates have the stone specification qualified and priced accordingly.

Refer to Hutchies' Stone Product & Suitability for Use List on the Document Library.

More information

If you need additional support, please contact:

Design — Michael Lawlor / Ogi Latinovic
Work Health & Safety — Jimmy Andersen
Industrial Relations — Ben Young
Other — Russell Fryer