First of all, they work for someone else; I'm not their boss. Where possible, I go through their line manager to sort things out. Next, the way I treat them reflects on the company I work for. A manager is an ambassador for their company so I'm careful to never lose my cool. I usually take the friendly but firm approach, and it works. I also wear a jacket. It's a bit of a sky hook but it makes me feel more professional, and that gives me the confidence to assert myself when I have to. Mind you, I've also got company policy and Health & Safety legislation to back me up; I'm not turning chaps away because I'm being mean, but because work permits are issued for a reason. These are some of the things I've had to deal with.
The RAMS must be right
Today, two gentlemen came, who were subcontracting to one of our
contractors. This is common when they’re short of either staff or
expertise, but we need to know who’s coming and that they are capable of
doing the job. So these guys rock up; no notice,
no permit, and no RAMS. I tried to meet them
halfway by calling the number on the side of their van and asking for
RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statement) to be emailed to me. They
arrived and were generic. The job was to abseil down from
the roof to the 9th floor to examine the windows, which were
letting water in when it rains, and the RAMS was for pretty much
everything but that, though it did include using ropes.
The
building is basically a glass box with a concrete
and metal skeleton. I couldn’t accept what they had provided as they
hadn’t detailed how to safely get down the front of the building on a
rope suspended from the roof without crashing through a window or having a plan for
retrieving anyone who, for whatever reason, was unable
to get himself back up on to the roof. They left shortly afterwards.
It’s not as though I didn’t try to help them by contacting their office
and asking for site and task specific RAMS, but they were nor
forthcoming.
Excellence in customer service means you get the
job done right first time, ESPECIALLY the paperwork. Paperwork is
essential. It’s not an encumbrance, it’s a record detailing the job,
who’s doing it, and what they’re going to use to do
it. In the event of an accident or incident, the RAMS would be used as
evidence of the contractor’s competence (or not) to do the job they were
paid to do and the question would be whether or not they stuck to the
plan outlined therein. That’s what they’re
for. They also tell the people they’re working for that they know what
they’re doing.
A competent
Facilities or Building Manager will turn anyone
with insufficient paperwork away; if they’re sloppy about the
paperwork, what else will they be sloppy about? I’ve worked in the
industry long enough to know this; the coordinator on their side should
have got the paperwork in motion and RAMS requested while
the men were on their way; the urgency of the job does not justify forgoing the
most basic preparation: if they do this kind of thing all the time they
should have some kind of method statement to cover it and it doesn’t
take more than a minute to request a permit
to access the roof. Of course, it’s best to give a few days’ notice
where possible.
A competent Facilities or Building Manager would
read the RAMS thoroughly and check the certification. If their IPAF or
whatever is out of date, they need to leave. If the RAMS doesn’t specify
the job they’re doing and the equipment they’re
using, it doesn’t pass muster. Send them on their way. Be more
concerned about the breach of Health & Safety legislation than hurt
feelings on the part of the attending engineers and the possible
annoyance of the client. In any case, my employers have got
my back; I stuck to policy and to the law.
Key checking
In our office is a key safe where the keys for
various areas are stored. These are checked in and out of the Key book.
One contractor arrived this morning with his mate and required three
keys. That’s fine, we signed them out in the Key
book and they went to do their job. I asked the security guard to send
them to me before they left, and bless him, he did. It was just as well.
When I was getting the keys back off them it transpired that one had
taken the main key and the other had taken
the other two. I got the main key back, no problem, and one of the
other keys. Getting the third one back was problematic because the other
chap couldn’t accept that he’d taken out three keys. I asked him if
he would empty his pockets; lo and behold, out came
the missing key! I shouldn’t have had to do that, but if I’d worried
about what he thought of me I’d be trying to explain the missing key to
my employers. You have to be firm with these people.
Parking
Some of the contractors who come to site are so
inconsiderate they won’t take the time to park in our nice,
clearly-marked parking bays. They park by the doors for convenience,
everyone else’s ability to enter and exit be damned. I tend
to take the nice but insistent route when dealing with this, though my
policy now is that no one parks there without my say-so. Why? I want to
make sure they park in the bays and not in the entryways. Two of them
did this today, even though there was at least
one free parking bay. Result: when the would-be key-nicker wanted to
leave, he couldn’t because he was boxed in. He had to wait till Mr.
Inconsiderate came down to let him out. It’s important to be tough on
this; it’s a health and safety violation, for a start.
All entrances and exits must be kept clear at all times.
What I’m learning as I do my job is that, to
deliver the highest quality customer service, I’ve got to be tough on
contractors, ensuring they do their jobs right and don’t cause problems
for the other people who work here. Everything else
will take care of itself.
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