I have found if you have more than two, two person crews it's cheaper to lease or buy an ice machine.
One of my main priorities is to provide all the ice the crew wants. A happy crew is a productive crew. 😉
Just my 0.04'
It depends. Talk to your crews, found out what the think is reasonable.
I would provide water and ice for crews...might even my a case of the gatorade powder mix. $100 a month isn't unreasonable.
Okay, but what do you do if they refuse to drink it? It seems a slippery slope to me. And yes, I've had situations where help would not drink enough, cause work to stop for awhile, if not for the day.
Better to educate them on what they need in certain environments. Make sure they know they will not be working if they don't show up with it. Don't have the company policy three frozen quart bottles of water to start the day (or whatever), then your fired.
Seems easier than trying to provide and make sure what you provided is sufficient.
Happy employees are those who are shouldered with responsibility and reap rewards for carrying them out. A jug of water is not going to impress any but the ones that you don't want. Kinda like raising kids; if you expect little and don't share your knowledge and experience, then you will continue to get little effort and little progress toward maturity. The more responsibility one takes, the more freedom they should be allowed; and this makes for a happier and more productive person altogether.
I understand OSHA and the need. No question many employers would rather exploit labor and replace it than put anything in to individual workers. But, usually they are just passing on the mentality they were taught.
I like OSHA and I like unions, because they are so obviously necessary. But to say they exist in order to strip all freedom from responsibility from the workers is exactly opposite of the intent. IMHO
First time in 40+ yrs. I've ever realized that the company wouldn't buy ice - including the 15 yrs. I owned the company. Awful damned small amount of money involved in this...
We are provided a credit card for bottled water and ice. In the summer in our area the average person needs 8 to 12 1/2 litre bottles a day to stay properly hydrated.
Most companies have gotten away from 5 gallon jugs. All it takes is a day lost from the whole crew coming down with the trots from bacteria to recognize the cost is minimal.
I'm with Nate, I prefer mine without ice but still keep it in an ice chest so it is at least cooler than ambient temperature.
Lots of good things to think about here and I'll add my $0.02.
I worked for VDOT and they had a "water jug policy" and supplied bags of ice. That was simple. We kept the jugs clean in the office shower.
I've worked on my own and for another company. At both there has been a refrigerator with a working freezer/ice box. The crews would fill up empty Gatorade bottles 1/3 way with water at the end of every shift and let them freeze overnight. Washing and cleaning was up to them. Around here as a regular survey crew (not VDOT) we're typically away from the vehicle and the big water jug for hours at a time and you have to carry your own water. If your crews are going to be near the vehicle, that is much easier. I'd bite the bullet and have the company pay for a bag of ice a day, or buy a cheap fridge to freeze water.
How far is the nearest convenience store? Is it a hassle to get in and out in a quick fashion? Do you trust the crew to get in and out? These are things to consider when debating buy every day or buy a fridge unit.
Good luck, and keep them watered... no matter what TDD says.
Carl
My employer pays for everything when we are on the road, however if I just want a liter or so I'll usually just buy it myself, lunch is also bought if we are on the road around dinner time, I usually just buy it myself as I would rather not be perceived as taking advantage. I also buy 30 dollar steaks when on long trips, gotta stay full!
> Filling up a canteen or insulated jug does not require much effort or cost. Provide your own, if you get sick because you chose not to keep it clean, your problem, I don't need the liability.
> Ice water is a poor and dangerous thing to drink when hot, it shocks your system if you drink as much as you should, the ice water people seldom drink much, they spend a lot of time sipping and never get enough water quickly. When out in the heat working I want cool water, I might drink a quart or more quickly and go back to work, can't do that with ice water.
> jud
I am with you on that 100%, ice is of no benefit to keeping hydrated at all.
Unfortunately some are dealing with generations of being taken care of and being dumbed down...
Many field hands need to be educated and reminded, sad but true.
When I worked for others we always had a standard 5 gallon cooler and the company would reimburse us for ice until they bought an ice machine. My suggestion would be if you get an ice machine make sure you get one big enough that you won't run out of ice. If you don't, you'll end up paying for an ice maching and bagged ice.
Now that I work solo, I just keep a regular cooler in the truck with plenty of bottled water and ice from home.
Having found myself in the hospital after passing out from dehydration, I found out the hard way how important it is to drink plenty of water. It's not something to be played around with.
When I started surveying in 1979, it was common to be able to fill a cooler every morning at a convenience store and buy a block of ice for the cooler to make ice water. In a few years, most convenience stores did away with free water and air and it almost got impossible to find block ice and bag ice just wouldn't last all day. Seemed like I spent too much time looking for water and ice and if you could find the block ice, often times the water hose would be so nasty that I wouldn't even consider using it to supply the drinking water.
Once I started my own company, I got a refrigerator with an ample freezer and got several Tupperware 1 gallon tapered round water pitchers at Walmart. Every morning, there is a 1 gallon frozen block of ice ready to go in the freezer. Take one out, turn it upside down and put it in the sink. Run water over the bottom of the pitcher until the ice drops out of the pitcher and put the ice into an empty 3 or 5 gallon cooler. Fill the pitcher at the kitchen sink and use the pitcher to fill cooler up. Once the cooler is full, fill the pitcher and place it back in the freezer to begin the process all over again. We make 2 or 3 coolers full every morning and 2 of the 3 original pitchers have been frozen and thawed every day for 20 years.
You do have to stress to the crews, that the water cooler has to be kept sanitary. Wash hands before handling the ice and change the water every day. Absolutely nothing is to be placed into the cooler such as soft drink cans, gatorade bottles, your hands, etc. Let them know that it is a matter of safety and that those are the rules. If somehow someone breaks the rule, I might forgive them for it - after the second time, they will be filling the water cooler at someone else's company.
I don't mind the crews stopping by a convenience store in the mornings, but it won't be for water and ice and I want them to have plenty of good, clean water.
Sorry for the long, rambling explanation, but it works for us.
I keep several water bottles that I refill in a small cooler. I also have a small fridge and put the water bottles in it overnight. I freeze a couple of half-liter bottles to put in the cooler with the refrigerated water. It stays cool all day for me. I agree with the above- I can drink cool water faster and get back to work. I get brain freeze with ice water. I also use powdered gatorade or squincher. It is extremely important to stay well hydrated, especially in hundred degree heat. I have been known to borrow a garden hose and really get hydrated!B-)
> It is not the responsibility of an employer to provide water or ice to an employe, Maybe the cooler is now required in some areas, but the crew should be taking care of it and keeping it useful and sanitary. Anyone who can't carry a canteen and prepare for hot conditions, is probably someone I don't need on any crew.
> jud
That's that way we roll. The employee packes his own drinks and food. (A good boss will buy you a breakfast sandwich w/ sausage on the way to the job though.);-)
Course it only gets warm here for about 10 days a year.
We've basically gone to providing a case of bottled water and a 20# bag of ice daily during the hotter weather for all of the crews, we also have several pakages of gatorade or similar to put in the water and they can put soda cans or whatever in the ice chest, in the cold of winter they might have a case a month.
What??? A whole thread on water but no mention of ..
TEDdddd- YOU WUSSES RUN LIKE BABIES TO THE COOLER FOR WATER! DRINK WATER ON YOUR OWN TIMEAND YOUR OWN NICKEL! WE CHOPPED LINE FOR 10 MILES IN 110 DEGREE HEAT AND MOSQUITOS THE SIZE OF BATS AND NEVER STOPPED FORA DRINK;
None provided at my work.
Some guys are annoyed by that, personally, I would rather spend a couple of bucks on a couple of gallons of H2O than have to clean and deal with a cooler.
I worked two places and they had the same Tupperware idea as Jeff.
Keeping the Tupperware filled with water was sometimes a problem.
Are you pipelining or windmilling?
First heard Hank sing this on short wave radio, all the way from Schenectady I think it was,
I don't understand this. When I work in the field, I bring my own water from home, or buy at the 7/11.
Nothing is free. If your boss is paying for this, and other perks, it comes out of overhead. Things add up. I'd much rather get a bonus now and then.
I'm solo, but do team up with Chris on a regular basis.
I keep a small 28 quart cooler in the truck, with plenty of bottled water, and just buy ice at the store. I personally prefer a bag of ice, and it keeps the water cool, but not ice cold. The coolers now a days are not worth a crap.
My last employer was awesome about ice. We had a commercial grade ice maker, and we all took turns bagging ice and putting it in the small chest freezer and froze the ice even better than the ice maker did.
We washed out the ice coolers regularly, and never had an issue. They even let us come by and get ice for personal reasons. The only rule was if you took a bag, bag up another one and put it in the freezer.
I am looking at buying a commercial ice maker. We use alot of bagged ice with our youngest being in sports, and us helping with coaching/refereeing duties. It will be more convenient than having to run by the store all the time.