Printed Matter for Construction, Waste, Recycling, Haulage and Plant Hire Industries
The ‘not so sexy’ end of the print market, is the totally functional aspect that printed matter can provide for a company. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not valuable, because without it, problems arise, and you find yourself with little or no way of proving what was done.
Accountability of the Company
Whether in construction, waste, recycling, haulage or plant hire, if something goes wrong, fingers start pointing and people begin to duck or re-direct, but the bottom line will be, if the company has not followed procedures it could face a heavy fine or worse depending on the severity or result of the failure.
Accountability of Employees
Most of us have a distaste for paperwork and there’s a tendency to let it drop if the reason for it is not clear or there’s a lack of consequence. Today the law on control of dangerous substances and waste materials, their movement, where they are kept, and storage conditions are more closely monitored than ever, so having systems in place to manage this, is key to avoiding insurance and legal costs.
If an employee fails to fill out the form or get a weighbridge ticket or waste transfer note signed, it’s the start of the journey to the time when something serious needs to be traced and there’s little or no documentation.
Giving an Employee a Different Perspective
The sharp end of these industries (construction, waste, recycling, haulage and plant hire) tend to be manual, but they all have elements, such as Triplicate Books – Vehicle Check Lists – Waste Transfer Notes – Service Report Pads – Warning Signs – Hazardous Waste Notes – Weighbridge Tickets – Timesheets – Delivery Notes and more, that must be used to ensure regulations and industry standards are met and company traceability is maintained.
Now, most of us don’t respond well to being told “do it or else!” and for some, it can become a challenge on how to not do it and get away with it. Don’t get me wrong there are times when that mindset is needed, but in the first instance, a good approach could be to get them to look at it from a different angle so that it generates their actual agreement.
Getting Employee Agreement on Operating Systems
Asking them to take managements view, may work, but for many being in management is far from likely to happen. So, a good approach is to start asking them how would they feel if something someone else did, cost them their job. Ask them to tell, why the forms have to be filled out and what potential consequences there are to not doing this.
Also ask them what happens to jobs if things are not done correctly or if people are able to fiddle the system for personal gain.
The aim is to get them to look at it and not just tell them. Just telling someone can result in them not having to listen well, but, if they have to look, think and answer they have to acknowledge the right way of doing something.
How to Use the Agreement
The person that struggles to agree or can’t see the difference between right and wrong is probably not a good employee.
At some point in the future, that initial conversation will be forgotten, and something will go wrong – you now ask them, “so, do you now disagree with our original conversation?” little else will need to be said, generally they’ll either fall back into line or start looking for another job. Either way, everyone wins, and you end up with a good team of people.
No Big Stick Required
Doing it this way minimises the need for a big stick as the person agrees at the start. This is not about getting them to read a set of rules and signing that they agree, this is about getting them to talk to you about it and then getting them to sign. This way they’ve told you how they see it and agree with it. A person who’s going to mess with the system will happily sign something, but if they’ve verbalised, from their viewpoint why it’s the right way, arguing becomes way more uncomfortable.
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