So I get dispatched this morning to bridge 51, a 13 span bridge that will eventually be EB SH114 to NB SH121. They are needing marks on columns to measure up from to hang the jacks for the soffit on bents 2,3,4,5, and 6. Bents 2 and 3 are actually in the middle of the existing SH114, 4,5 and 6 are in an area across the mainlanes. I access the area of 4,5 and 6 get out and assess the situation. If you can picture the columns for 13 spans, all sticking up 30 to 40' in an area probably no more than 2 acres, you can imagine the planning that goes into a simple set up and resection.
I found the perfect spot, was able to see 4 control points, and the north side of all of the columns that I had to mark. I would be able to see and mark the south sides from my next set up near the middle bents.
I marked 4,5 and 6 but needed to jump out to the middle to mark 2 and 3. I walk back up to the truck to pull around there, put it in reverese, start easing back when I heard that unmistakable sound of metal on metal. It seems that while I was resecting and working, someone delivered a portable concrete truck washout and dropped it right behind my truck. I did not see it and had turned the passenger side of the truck into it while backing up. I immediately stopped, saw the damage, filled out a damage report, took pictures and went into the field office to report it. After a quick drug screen and a pow wow with the powers that be, we took it for an estimate. Company policy states that less than $2500 damage to a piece of equipment is one day off without pay. Greater than 2500 is two days. The estimate came in at 1200, so next week I get a day off, and have to give a presentation at a foremans meeting about the incident.
I accept responsibility for the damage, a quick walk around beforehand would have easily prevented it. I do not really disagree with the pay dock either. What does kind of bother me is the day off. My co workers will have to pick up the slack, and we are slammed as it is. Would it be improper of me to ask them to dock the pay for the day but to let me go ahead and work so as not to put our guys in a bind?
On the upshot you can get $0.03/Lb. for scrap steel like that washout...just trying to help here.
>Would it be improper of me to ask them to dock the pay for the day but to let me go ahead and work so as not to put our guys in a bind?
I can't think that there is an employer in the US who would hold it against you that you offer to work without pay. There may be some regulations that prevent it from happening, but you get credit for offering. Can't see any downside to offering as long as you don't make a habit of it.
That sounds most reasonable to me.
I admire the hell out of you for that.
Not just for manning up to the damages.
More so to work for free so the crew wouldn't have to pick the slack for you not being there.
You are setting a fine example for today's generally smart-ass kids.
My hat's off to you Roadie!!
E.
:good:
I agree with Kent and Eric. If nothing else, ask them to delay the day off until everything is caught up... if that is even possible in your work.
Maybe do it two halves when it is raining??
In any case, it sounds like you have their best interest in mind, even if you did have a little slip today.
Good luck on the request!!
Admirable, but possibly not a good idea due to insurance liability. See if they will give comp time for the day worked, just so you are on the books as working. Nothing says you have to use it, and the next day they can deduct it from the account.
You're a good man, Roadie. Personally, I think that is a crappy way to treat a valued employee for a simple accident. It doesn't sound like you did it while goofing around.
Accidents do happen.
I'm not so sure you'd be "insurable" on a state job if you're not on the payroll for that specific day (Davis-Bacon/Federal Funding/FHWA comes to mind).
From an employer's point of view I'd prefer to postpone enforcing the company's discipline policy.
Also from an employer's point of view, your initiative to take into consideration the work load says a lot about your character.
(I could go on to tell you about the time my husband backed his company vehicle into a brand new "leaded yellow paint" state vehicle ... but I'll stop now 😉 )
Admirable and certainly a stand up thing to ask for Roadie. Not likely though with all the rules they (and fed/state/local) obviously have but you might have some luck asking for a deferred sentence until a later date based on the work load at this time. It's worth asking, in any case.
I would say that the party who dropped off the mixer is partially liable and needs a stern reprimand.
As a one-man show I experience many days without pay.
Part of your so-called punishment is enforcing it immediately. You feel bad about making others make up for your absence. The goal is to make you feel so bad about that that you will try extra hard in the future to avoid a similar incident.
Thanks all. The liability issue will probably end that thought now that I really think about it. Thats a can of worms that I wouldnt want to touch, much less debate their policy on.
The "policy" is that you do a walk around before backing up. That is the purpose of the presentation. They like to hear how all of this could be avoided if only policy had been followed. Ultimately it is up to me to be aware of the constantly changing conditions in my surroundings regardless of how those conditions change. Equipment, material, tools, and personnel are moving around at any given time. That washout could very easily had been a person or an open hole.
They are serious about our safety and spare no expense to show that to us. They are just as serious about quality and give us the best tools and equipment to build to the highest of standards. We are expected to take care of it. Safety and quality come before production, so if I need to be made an example of, so be it. We are spread thin on the survey team, but not to the point of breaking.
I am lucky to at least be part of a group that can shoulder the load. In a past life, if I were not at work the whole machine would come to an abrupt stop. I guess I still have that mentality to some extent.
Yeah, the policies make perfect sense when something like this happens, but the rest of the time are a PITA to follow. We get in a hurry, take a few shortcuts because of the neverending time constraints, and I completely understand their reasons for enforcing the rule.
Well, make the best of the time off. Catch up on all those things job related you can do, and hit the ground running the next day.
And thanks for posting this. I will be back on a construction site Monday for the first time since January, and you bringing this to the forum will make me a bit more mindful of all the things I have not had to follow in the private sector.
The hardhat callous was just beginning to fade, time to go freshen it up.
Deral does make some good points about rules and regs when it comes to 'working' without pay...might have some legal obstacles to get over..
So you made a mistake. You're human. An absurd policy as I see it with the tone of " We've have hired children and this will be their punishment if they make a mistake". Your point on making sure the others don't suffer when your not there to help is an issue the employer should have considered before you did. You sound like a prize employee...few and far between these days like so many days before. Did your employer think about the day you are penalized for being human....you still collect benefits?
Roadie, I've read many of your posts and you don't sound as though you are an 18 year old who needs punishment by the higher ups for a simple mistake. You sound like a very solid employee who cares about not only the type of work you do but also your employer.
Not a very good signal to send for fellow employee's who are like you.
Just my .0002 cents
It isn't about that, or a personal attack on Roadie. Construction sites are extremely dangerous places, moreso than regular land surveying, and road construction is about as dangerous as it gets, next to bridge work over water.
Safety has to be first and foremost in everyone's mind, and this is much harder than it sounds. Nothing else gets to be as monotonous as listening to the H&S guy drone on and on, saying the same thing you've heard a hundred times before.
Roadie's situation is as good as it gets, and a safety man's dream. An example is made, nobody lost their job, and most importantly, nobody got hurt.
The two most expendable commodities on a jobsite are time and money. That doesn't sound feasible, but in the long run it really is the truth.
I was interested to read in the following threads the logic for the docking of a days pay for effectively not following work procedure. The turkeys who dropped off what you hit should have had the decency to place a note on your windscreen with a just in case note......
The company may not let you work so that the crew will all be aware of your absence that you failed to follow procedure. Thus jogging their memory and feel they have also been punished because of your indiscretion.
Safety issues have come along way in the last 40 years.
RH Spend your day wisely on Beer Leg...
RADU
PL....well said. I retract my comments.
Thanks
Complacency is a big safety problem. It can be particularly insidious because I can often get away with the same procedure (or lack of procedure) 100 times before it causes an accident.
My experience with Aviation is we constantly fought against complacency, particularly as flight instructors. There is a common checklist item of looking into the fuel tanks and measuring the quantity with a stick. It takes a few minutes. Humans are impatient by nature so inevitably a pilot might get into the habit of not checking the fuel. A crash happened here a few years ago where the pilot got into that bad habit of not checking until one day he forgot that he didn't fill the tanks up after the last flight (it was his airplane). He lost all power about 200' off the runway; a very bad situation. He wrecked the airplane and broke his back in the subsequent very hard landing. At least he didn't try to turn back.
We tend to think accidents are caused by big malfunctions or massive misjudgments but usually accidents are caused by a series of small things or one small thing at a bad time which by themselves aren't that hazardous but given the circumstances cause an accident.
