Scott Construction Group has partnered with ITC Construction Group to launch the #LunchBoxChallenge to support local restaurants while also protecting the health of its employees during COVID-19.

The idea of the #LunchBoxChallenge is simple: construction companies buy lunches locally for their sites and nominate another company to do the same.

“Our mental health committee has been brainstorming ways to support three important groups during COVID: staff, their families, and the communities where they work,” said Darin Hughes, president of Scott Construction. “The #LunchBoxChallenge does a great job with two out of three!

“To keep our communities’ small local restaurants in business, we need to support them however we can.”

Last week, the Scott Construction crew working on the District of West Vancouver’s municipal hall and fire hall projects dined on halibut burgers from Nell’s Kitchen, a local, family-owned-and-operated fish market and sandwich kitchen. The company then challenged ITC Construction to join in.

“ITC is excited to accept the Lunchbox Challenge to acknowledge our work force and especially support our local community businesses and restaurants that are impacted by our current global challenges,” said Harold Barisoff, vice president construction, ITC.

While Scott Construction started the challenge with a single site, both Scott and ITC say they will buy lunches once a week until they’ve bought lunch for every one of their construction sites.

The #LunchBoxChallenge helps promote physical distancing on construction sites and in the community. By having lunches delivered to site, companies limit the need for individuals to leave site and line-up to order food. It also mitigates contact exposure for the restaurant, which can prepare one large order for the site versus serving those individuals in their storefront.

The construction industry responded quickly to guidance from B.C.’s provincial health officer on how to implement enhanced safety protocols on site. Still, there are additional measures to consider with ordering lunches for sites.

The measures shared by both Scott Construction and ITC include:

  • Ordering lunches that can be individually wrapped – do not order family-style meals that require individuals to serve themselves from large containers;
  • Asking the restaurants to include any condiments, cutlery and napkins in the individually packed lunches – do not share condiment bottles;
  • Maintaining physical distancing while individuals collect their meals – six feet apart at all times; and
  • Sanitizing common surfaces before food is delivered and as needed during distribution to reduce potential cross-contamination.

“We at ITC feel it is our responsibility to guide our teams in maintaining social distancing protocols to protect the continuity of a strong construction industry that we all rely on,” Barisoff said. “Our sites are fully committed to managing the organized distribution of individually wrapped lunches avoiding exposure risk. Protecting our workforce continues to be our focus.”