Survey Assistant Duties

> i am trying to compile a list of duties for them but i figured i would see if anyone else has something similar aleady that i could borrow modify or add too.

A lot of it probably has to do with the amount of responsibility that is normally bestowed upon the employee.

At the moment my employees are all long-term and fairly sharp. Time and work-order spread sheets are their responsibility. Collection and job file storage is also part of their job duties. When I go to the server at noon, it better have everything up through the previous day on there. Of course, equipment (including vehicles) and supplies are also part of their job.

So it can really be a wide spectrum across what some folks consider "survey assistant duties". I have had employees in the past that I would have to supervise if I asked them to sharpen a machete....

Hopefully those days are gone.

This was an outline I proposed for the boss (I'm a one man dept in my company)
Responsibilities and Goals
Intern will be trained and understand the following, and gain direct experience of the technical challenges in these areas
Scope of each Project:
time line
equipment used
Budget
goal for completion

Field work goals:
driving rebar
setting control point nails
hammering frost pin
setting hubs and stakes
clearing work area
shoveling, chipping and digging of frozen ground
setting radio antenna base
carry twelve volt battery
setting up robotic total station and GNSS on tripod
move other survey equipment, depending on the conditions on the project
field equipment: set up/maintenance
learn and use field terminology/signals and how to accomplish these tasks safely
Post Survey Field Assessment
meeting in office
review all aspects of project
Data Input/Verification
Verify stakeout point calculations
transfer data and review preliminary drafting
proof-read final maps/plats

I haven't been at this as long as most here, but it seems it's changed a lot even since I started. They used to keep us on even when weather was bad and we had to know how to do all kinds of stuff in the office as well as with the work trucks and equipment. It seems like now people want to jump right into "surveying" and into button pushing mode. Maybe I seemed that way when I started, but I still took all the tasks they gave me seriously. They included:

being able to set up the instrument or fixed backsight on a tripod
getting stakes ready
setting stakes
digging for control
cutting line
clearing brush around instrument setups
running the rod or instrument
filing, and making copies to save the party chief time
Keeping inventory of all supplies within the office, trucks, and stake shed
loading and unloading of the truck as well as restocking disposable supplies
sharpening machetes and other tools
calibrating tribrachs
pegging levels
Cleaning out the truck
Cleaning and organizing the charging stations

Many of these things had to be taught, but getting to take part in everything instilled an interest in the profession for me. Perhaps more would feel the same way if given the opportunity.

The weather finally broke here and now I have perfectly calibrated equipment to work with! 😉

Smaxwell-

As a fifth generation surveyor, I go back to my GG Grandfather who, when an articling student, picked potatoes as part of the indenture.

Here, now, we work on the maxim:

If there is a job to be done, how come it still isn't finished ?

One time, my late uncle (who was brave enough to article me) was inspecting the final efforts in the completion of a new room that had been created for an office in the building.

Bits and pieces of stuff all over the floor.

He went and got a broom.

I quick like a flash got the dust pan and pail while most other chain men and instrument men gawked.

A few others cleaned up too.

Christmas bonus came months later and the gawkers were suitably rewarded.

The workers were fiscally remembered.

Another place I worked was:

You want to work ?

#$%^&* !!

Cheers,

Derek

Company policy #1 - Leave your phone in your pocket or the truck.

Assuming you are talking about the crew and down time due to the chief calculating or meeting with clients, it is the chiefs job to instruct the crew on what they could/should be doing at times like that. I suggest a chief meeting first.

Everyone should make a list of all the little things that need to be done to supply the truck and keep on hand, in shape, sharp, full and complete with a schedule of continued activities to be done year long and to have ready at any given moment of notice.

When I turn to my helper and ask for something and we don't have it, he is reminded that it is on his list and the next time he wants to go home early that he has to be updated on the inventory before even thinking about asking.

It rarely works out that way, but that is the plan.

B-)

I see your point, but I depend on my helper to have his phone on him. When the radio batteries aren't charged or working during stakeout, instrument setup,ect, I can talk him through the "left 0.2', branch in way 5' above you, cut it" stuff, or he can text me the FS H.I. Also, if he's out 600' from me and sees something strange/questionable, he can take a picture and send it to me much faster than I can walk there and back.

There's almost nothing more infuriating than being the chief and getting all the paperwork ready, thinking about how you're going to do the job, recovering the property control and then asking for paint or ribbon and hearing "there's none left". I remember thinking "if I have to do every little thing then what do I have this guy for?" (Was running robotic and GNSS network rover at the time)

Lots of good comments and suggestions here.

When I first started surveying, my party chief told me that my job in the morning was to make sure that everything we needed for the day was in the truck. That meant I had to find out from the LS that was coordinating things what we were doing that day. Then I had to go out and make sure everything we needed was in the truck (instruments, wood, tools, tacks, monuments and tags, and so on). If we didn't have what we needed, I had to figure out what we did need so we could go by the warehouse on the way out (we stored our field supplies in a warehouse about a mile from the office). After a while, I got to where I could just look at the schedule, confirm that we were doing what was written there, and then I knew what we needed.

Once we got to the job site, I had to start prepping whatever it was we needed for the day. If that was painting lath, then I would do that (I learned our typical color scheme quickly). If it was something else, I had to have whatever we needed ready. Then I'd set up the backsight while the party chief was setting up the gun, and away we'd go.

If there was any down time during the day when the party chief was talking to a contractor on site or reviewing the plans or whatever, I would take the time to paint up more lath or refill my pouches with stakes or tacks, etc. And if there was more downtime, I would organize the truck so things were easy to access and whatnot.

After a few months we were a pretty streamlined crew. And after the first year, we barely needed to speak to each other to know what we needed to do. It was actually one of the best parts of my career. After the first year, I was given more opportunities to take over party chief duties. And after the second year, I was running my own crew.

Of course, it wasn't long after that I moved to a half-office, half-field position and learned all kind of other things about surveying that ultimately led me to getting my license. But that's not what this post is about.