Hidalgo Issues Work Safe Rules to Reopen the Right Way

After weeks of advocacy, labor and community organizations today celebrated Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s announcement of new work safe rules for grocery and construction as the right way to reopen and a big win for workers.

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, frontline workers have often faced an impossible choice: go to work and risk their health or stay at home and lose needed income. Until now, construction and grocery workers in Harris County have had little to no protections against the transmission of this highly contagious virus.

Work safe rules protect workers by ensuring that basic protections are in place on every worksite, including social distancing, sanitation procedures, and personal protective equipment requirements. These rules will also keep our greater community safe, because it will reduce spread to workers’ families and friends through common sense safety protections such as staggered shifts, face coverings, and handwashing stations on construction sites.

Construction and grocery workers have remained on the frontlines during the pandemic to keep our families fed and our economy moving. The workers keeping our county and our country on track deserve not only our gratitude, but also adequate protections for their health and safety. This order will help to protect grocery and construction workers as they continue to put their health and safety at risk to show up for work every day.

We thank Judge Hidalgo for issuing Work Safe rules consistent with CDC guidelines to keep construction jobsites and grocery stores safe, and for taking steps to ensure that Harris County opens the right way.