Are You Sending Them Home or Letting It Slide?

You see worker without safety glasses. What do you do? Let it slide? Give warning? Most superintendents let it slide. Or give warning. But here’s what you should do: send them home for day. Say to them: because I care about your safety, we need to give you time to focus, retrain, or plan work. Let’s have you go home for day and you can come back tomorrow for orientation, unless it’s major violation. Send email to their company explaining why that person was allowed to go home for their own safety and benefit of their family. Ask that person is retrained. Offer for them to come back through orientation if not major violation. Log name and violation on log to track repeat offenders or folks who cannot come back. If minor, they come back through orientation. If they do it again, they cannot come back. If serious violation that could have killed them, they cannot come back. Hold the line. Don’t budge. Be strict. Calm trade partners. In few weeks, site will uphold standard without lot of oversight. Every new wave of contractors will have to be trained. If you implement zero tolerance on site, you can have remarkably well-run project. Fewer safety incidents. Less need for babysitting in field. But most superintendents think that’s too harsh. Think sending someone home for safety glasses is overreaction. Think it will cause problems with trades. Think it’s not worth the fight. And that’s why their sites have safety incidents. Workers not wearing fall protection properly. Materials delivered late and unstaged. Sites filthy. Non-quality work left uncovered. Because they let safety glasses slide, they let everything slide. Important standards kept like minimum standards are kept. It’s mental and behavioral trigger. Start with safety glasses. Has psychological effect. Sets standard of behavior on site.

Here’s what most superintendents miss. They think zero tolerance is harsh. Too strict. Will cause problems. But actually zero tolerance creates remarkably well-run projects. Fewer safety incidents. Less babysitting. Because once your eyes are opened to waste, it becomes annoyance difficult to ignore. DOWNTIME acronym for 8 wastes: Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-utilized talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Extra processing. Every waste you see should annoy you. And 5S for cleanliness and organization: Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. But teams don’t enforce standards because think it’s too harsh to send someone home for safety glasses. So they let it slide. Then let fall protection slide. Then let deliveries slide. Then let cleanliness slide. Then let quality slide. Then wonder why project has safety incidents and chaos when answer is they never held line. Never enforced standard. If someone won’t wear safety glasses, they won’t wear fall protection properly. Important standards kept like minimum standards are kept. It’s psychological effect and behavioral trigger.

The challenge is most superintendents never learned zero tolerance is what creates well-run projects, not what destroys them. They think sending people home causes problems with trades. Think it’s overreaction. Think it’s not worth fight. But that’s backwards. Letting it slide is what causes problems. Creating culture where violations accepted is what creates chaos. Not enforcing standards is what requires constant babysitting. Zero tolerance is what creates self-sustaining culture. Hold line. Don’t budge. Be strict. In few weeks, site upholds standard without oversight. But superintendents afraid to enforce, wonder why sites chaotic when answer is they never created culture of accountability starting with simple thing like safety glasses.

Learn the 8 Wastes: DOWNTIME

Earlier mentioned 8 wastes of construction that supervisor must know. Good way to memorize them is use acronym DOWNTIME. They are as follows:

Defects: Waste caused by rework, scrap, incorrect or insufficient information.

Overproduction: Waste caused by making more than is required, or more than is required right now.

Waiting: Waste caused by wasted time, waiting for next process step to occur.

Non-utilized Talent: Waste caused by failure to tap into knowledge and expertise available in organization.

Transportation: Waste caused by unnecessary movement of products and materials.

Inventory: Waste caused by products or materials sitting on project site, not being used or installed.

Motion: Waste caused by excess movement by people such as walking around and being on treasure hunts.

Extra Processing: Waste caused by working something over more than once, or having waste in value stream.

Once your eyes are opened to waste, it becomes annoyance that is difficult to ignore. Waste should bother you. Should make you want to eliminate it. Every instance of DOWNTIME should trigger response to fix root cause.

5S: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain

Five S’s are principles to maintain cleanliness and organization on project site. They are:

Sort: Remove what is not needed. Get rid of unnecessary items, tools, materials cluttering workspace. Only keep what’s essential for current work.

Set in Order: Organize what remains. Everything has place. Everything in its place. Create logical arrangement enabling efficient work flow.

Shine: Clean your area in detail. Sweep, wipe down, remove debris. Clean workspace enables seeing problems and maintaining standards.

Standardize: Create standard procedures for maintaining first three S’s. Make it routine. Build into daily habits and expectations.

Sustain: Continue the practice. Don’t let it slip. Maintain standards over time. Make it part of culture, not one-time event.

5S creates environment where waste is visible, problems surface quickly, and teams can work efficiently. Without 5S, sites become cluttered, disorganized, unsafe. With 5S, sites run smoothly with less supervision.

Zero Tolerance: Starting with Safety Glasses

If honest mistake that could not have been prevented by being mentally present, having good attitude and typical training, I would remind them. Starting with safety glasses is my preference. It has psychological effect. Sets standard of behavior on site.

If someone will not wear their safety glasses, they will not wear their fall protection properly. Important standards will be kept like minimum standards are kept. It is mental and behavioral trigger.

Enforcement of:

• On-time deliveries.
• Organization.
• Just-in-time deliveries and intentional staging of materials.
• Perfect cleanliness.
• Not covering or leaving non-quality work.

Everyone on site must set example and enforce policy. Orientation should explain approach to everyone. Daily safety huddles should remind people and train them on standards.

If someone is observed violating, you say to them: because I care about your safety, we need to give you time to focus, retrain, or plan work. So let’s have you go home for day and you can come back tomorrow for orientation, unless it is major violation.

Send email to that person’s company explaining why that person was allowed to go home for their own safety and benefit of their family. Ask that person is retrained and offer for them to come back through orientation if not major violation.

Log name and violation on log to track repeat offenders or folks who cannot come back.

If it is minor, they come back through orientation. If they do it again, they cannot come back. If it is serious violation that could have killed them, they cannot come back.

Hold the line. Don’t budge. Be strict. Calm trade partners. And in few weeks, site will uphold standard without lot of oversight. Every new wave of contractors will have to be trained.

If you implement zero tolerance on site, you can have remarkably well-run project. You will have fewer safety incidents and have less need for babysitting in field.

The System Failed You

Let’s be clear. When superintendents let safety violations slide, it’s not entirely their fault. The system failed by teaching that zero tolerance is too harsh. Nobody showed that sending someone home for safety glasses creates psychological effect and behavioral trigger. Nobody explained that if someone won’t wear safety glasses, they won’t wear fall protection properly. Important standards kept like minimum standards are kept. The system taught give warnings when actually hold the line.

The system also failed by not teaching the 8 wastes using DOWNTIME acronym. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-utilized talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Extra processing. Once eyes opened to waste, becomes annoyance difficult to ignore. Should bother you. Should trigger response to eliminate it. The system taught tolerate waste when actually eliminate it.

The system fails by not teaching 5S creates self-sustaining culture. Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. Creates environment where waste is visible, problems surface quickly, teams work efficiently. Without 5S, sites become cluttered, disorganized, unsafe. With 5S, sites run smoothly with less supervision. But teams never taught this wonder why sites chaotic when answer is they never implemented 5S creating foundation for organization.

The Challenge

Here’s your assignment. Stop letting violations slide. Start implementing zero tolerance.

Learn the 8 wastes using DOWNTIME acronym. Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-utilized talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Extra processing. Once your eyes opened to waste, it becomes annoyance difficult to ignore. Let it bother you. Trigger response to eliminate root cause. Every instance of DOWNTIME should make you want to fix it.

Implement 5S for cleanliness and organization. Sort (remove what’s not needed). Set in order (organize what remains). Shine (clean area in detail). Standardize (create standard procedures). Sustain (continue practice over time). Make it part of culture, not one-time event. Creates environment where waste visible, problems surface quickly, teams work efficiently.

Start zero tolerance with safety glasses. Has psychological effect. Sets standard of behavior on site. If someone won’t wear safety glasses, they won’t wear fall protection properly. Important standards kept like minimum standards are kept. It’s mental and behavioral trigger.

When someone violates, say: because I care about your safety, we need to give you time to focus, retrain, or plan work. Let’s have you go home for day and come back tomorrow for orientation, unless major violation. Send email to company explaining why allowed to go home for their safety and family’s benefit. Ask person is retrained. Offer to come back through orientation if not major violation.

Log name and violation to track repeat offenders. If minor, come back through orientation. If they do it again, cannot come back. If serious violation that could have killed them, cannot come back.

Hold the line. Don’t budge. Be strict. Calm trade partners. In few weeks, site will uphold standard without lot of oversight. Every new wave of contractors will have to be trained.

If you implement zero tolerance, you can have remarkably well-run project. Fewer safety incidents. Less need for babysitting in field.

On we go.

FAQ

What are the 8 wastes using DOWNTIME acronym?

Defects (rework, scrap, incorrect information), Overproduction (making more than required right now), Waiting (wasted time waiting for next process), Non-utilized talent (failure to tap into knowledge), Transportation (unnecessary movement of products), Inventory (materials sitting not being used), Motion (excess movement by people), Extra processing (working something over more than once).

What is 5S?

Sort (remove what’s not needed), Set in order (organize what remains, everything has place), Shine (clean area in detail), Standardize (create standard procedures for maintaining first three), Sustain (continue practice over time, make it culture). Creates environment where waste visible, problems surface quickly, teams work efficiently.

Why start zero tolerance with safety glasses?

Has psychological effect. Sets standard of behavior on site. If someone won’t wear safety glasses, they won’t wear fall protection properly. Important standards kept like minimum standards are kept. It’s mental and behavioral trigger for all other standards: on-time deliveries, organization, just-in-time staging, perfect cleanliness, not leaving non-quality work.

What do you do when someone violates zero tolerance?

Say: because I care about your safety, we need to give you time to focus, retrain, or plan work. Go home for day, come back tomorrow for orientation unless major violation. Send email to company explaining why. Ask person is retrained. Log name and violation. If minor, come back through orientation. If do it again, cannot come back. If serious violation that could have killed them, cannot come back.

How long does it take for zero tolerance to work?

Hold line. Don’t budge. Be strict. Calm trade partners. In few weeks, site will uphold standard without lot of oversight. Every new wave of contractors will have to be trained. Remarkably well-run project. Fewer safety incidents. Less babysitting.