ABC of Michigan files suit against governor over 'unconstitutional' safety orders | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC
Columbus Ohio Dump Truck Company Brief:
- The Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan has filed a lawsuit against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and two other state officials and is asking the state's court of claims to scuttle two emergency COVID-19 safety orders the association said are unconstitutional.
Dump Trucks Columbus OH Insight:
The lawsuit alleges that COVID-19, as it exists in the state of Michigan, no longer constitutes an emergency that requires "unilateral executive action." In fact, the ABC of Michigan complaint said that on April 27, Whitmer acknowledged at a press conference that the state had "flattened the curve" of new cases.
According to the lawsuit, the Whitmer administration projected hospitalization of 220,000 (without social distancing) but, as of April 27, there were only 3,000 novel coronavirus-related hospitalizations. At that time, the state also reported that its hospitals were well stocked with ventilators, had 1,000 free ICU beds and 6,000 available hospital beds.
As of May 27, the daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had not be going down for two weeks, according to Michigan state data.
Jeff Wiggins, the director of ABC of Michigan, told Construction Dive that when it comes to safety protocols, the measures in Whitmer's orders were things that construction companies were already doing. In fact, he said, construction is one of those industries that has the ability to operate relatively safely during the pandemic.
OSHA considers construction a lower-risk industry when workers perform their tasks more than 6 feet apart and a medium-risk industry when workers must maintain less than 6 feet of distance between each other in order to carry out their duties. Construction workers are at the most risk when they columbus oh dump truck company inside of occupied buildings.
The safety measures themselves are not an issue, he said. "It is the enforcement of these regulations. You want to make sure that there are checks and balances in place."
Wiggins said that Whitmer, in putting together her executive orders, took "bits and pieces" from two or three laws to make an "a la carte" law. As is, he said, the rules are confusing and do not provide those subject to the orders with an adequate degree of certainty.
On March 24, Whitmer limited construction activity to essential projects only in Executive Order No. 2020-21, also known as the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order. Projects that were allowed to continue included those necessary to maintain and improve roads, bridges, telecommunications infrastructure and public health infrastructure like hospitals. Emergency maintenance columbus oh dump truck company to residences was also permitted. Otherwise, construction projects were shuttered, and no columbus oh dump truck company was allowed to begin.
On May 7, Whitmer allowed construction work to resume as long as columbus oh dump truck company adopted prescribed safety protocols like:
- Designating a site supervisor to assure execution of COVID-19 control strategies.
- Conducting daily health screenings for workers.
- Creating dedicated entry points or some other protocol to ensure all workers are screened.
- Controlling high-risk bottleneck areas on a jobsite to ensure social distancing.
- Providing the necessary hand-washing and hand-sanitizing facilities and/or stations at columbus oh dump truck company sites.