that's it, i've had it !!! i'm banning cellphones on the jobsite

[treeminator]

has this happened to you?

every freakin' time i leave the jobsite and return unannounced, i find the employees yapping it up on their cellphones. it seems nothing is getting done lately. and every single call is supposedly "important" or "an emergency". i'm sick of it !!!

 

[smokechase II]

Yes !

It does get out of control.

I'll spare you the details of the girlfriend calling and the fights over the cell phone all day long and .....

You need to have some standard for emergency use, at lunch time etc.
But I have no objection to banning cell phones on the work site.

By the way, it is not just production. There is this thing called safety.
A distracted mind is a bigger contributor to accidents than one hand or a head set being used.

 

[treeminator]

It does get out of control.

I'll spare you the details of the girlfriend calling and the fights over the cell phone all day long and .....

You need to have some standard for emergency use, at lunch time etc.
But I have no objection to banning cell phones on the work site.

By the way, it is not just production. There is this thing called safety.
A distracted mind is a bigger contributor to accidents than one hand or a head set being used.

back to the topic.
today the stumpgrinder was left running (wasting gas @ $2.65/gallon) while he was on the phone. i eavesdropped and he was talking about his schedule from his other part-time job. i'm thinking, this guy won't have any scheduling problems if he keeps this up and i fire him.

 

[rebelman]

call him up

 

[itsgottobegreen]

heck I give everybody a company cell phone. Just because when I call thier ass, they better pick up their phone. No excusses. I don't care if its 2AM (accutaully one of my guy's Girl Friend flipped out on me, because I interupted (well you know what) because he had to answer his phone) Got really tired of trying to get a hold of my on call guys. Plus got a buddy that works for verizon commerical.

Each guy gets 250 personal minutes, anything more it comes out of thier pay. But they know any day time calls, not business related gets them in trouble. You can call who ever you want during lunch, but other wise forget it. Just let it ring and let it go to voice mail. They seem to be pretty good about it, because they get a free phone. Why wreck a good thing.

 

[tawilson]

call him up

to fire him. Would that be how you say ironic.

 

[treeminator]

to fire him. Would that be how you say ironic.

lol... now that would be funny

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Originally Posted by rebelman
call him up

to fire him. Would that be how you say ironic.

Some guy in England sent a "You're fired." text message to an employee. It got in the papers because the employee sued for "anxiety". IIRC, the employee won because the labor bureaucracy found that sending the message via text message was "insensitive".

Personally, I'd call it "creative"!


The whole cell phone thing has gotten out of hand. I saw a poll the other day that said that 38% of those surveyed thought that using a phone in a public restroom was "acceptable".

 

[Pilsnaman]

There is no reason someone should be on a cell phone when working, unless they are calling 911 or a rep to ensure the job is completed properly. Lunch is the time for personal calls and texts. Give a guy one warning then he is out, but thats just me knowing how dangerous this job is.

 

[beowulf343]

hi, first time posting on this site.
have kinda funny story about cell-phones and tree work.
one of my first climbing jobs was line clearance and the boss required us
to carry phones at all times. i always kept mine on vibrate-couldn't
hear the ringer over the saw. was up in a nasty silver maple when the
phone went off in my pocket. first thought in my mind was, i lost
track of the power lines and was getting shocked! scared the snot
out of me for a second. have never carried a phone up a tree since-
don't need to be distracted.

 

[tophopper]

heck I give everybody a company cell phone. Just because when I call thier ass, they better pick up their phone. No excusses. I don't care if its 2AM .............

You're kidding right?

So...... how much are they compensated for being "on call" 24/7 ?


You say that as if you own them. That attitude will not get you far in business.

 

[Ax-man]

The whole cell phone thing has gotten out of hand.

Very true, seems like we are on an eveloutionary path toward the next step of what future man will look like, arm bent to head with a cell phone stuck in his ear, what is next an implanted reciever and transmitters in the brain. Remember when just having an answering machine was only for the well to do and a novelty when the average person could have one hooked up to their phone to recieve missed calls.

It just escapes me how the phone can be such a big attraction with so many different ways to communicate and every communications company wanting to compete for your phone dollar. It is not unusual these days for people to give you at a minumum of two different numbers, many times three or four and yet we still can't make contact any better than we did with just a plain old phone on the wall with a cord.

Cell phones have their place no doubt, and are useful and helpful, especially in emergencies, but most of the activity is an overkill and unnecessary and needs spelled out resrtictions when on a jobsite. If callers and recievers can't abid by a few simple rules, then something is wrong.

Larry

 

[xtremetrees]

make your ground man climb or fire him for making you money thread.. hahahhahahaha

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Phones should stay in the truck during work hours. If you know there is an emergency going on, then check it on breaks.

I rarely carry mine on the site, I don't think my clientel should pay me to talk to other clients while I'm on theor jobs.

Heck, I don't have it out on my jobs either.

Looked at two threads today and deleted 20 posts

 

[begleytree]

Looked at two threads today and deleted 20 posts

Where?

 

[Asa]

In my oppinion phones are a necessity. offcourse for emergency situations but also for checking with clients / boss / office if something isnt clear. A few personal calls dont kill anyone, ok so they should be made on breaks. On a busy workday you kinda have to anyway. If its not that busy whats the harm in 5 min chat? If it gets outta hand its a problem with the people not the phones..

 

[NorCalCutters#3]

That is so true , its not the phone its the monkey who chose to use and abuse it . Sounds like the problem does not lie with the employee but the lack of management or worker incentive to create a safe productive work site. I have read a lot of posts and a lot of them sound like slave drivers in the south . The cell phone is a tool that needs to be further exploited. If i can conduct business any where any time sound great to me . If you have a ground man talking on a phone and not doing his duties, then where is the manager ? Fire his ass. Or where are you ? fire your ass . If treated poorly an employee is going to find a stick and rock to keep himself distracted from working . Ya ban the phones, then ban women from walking by, ban reading material, ban the water cooler, ban every thing, that will solve poor management . Guns don't kill people , people kill people. same story different item . You want to outlaw phones ( phone & gun control )http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/sucks.gif

 

[Ax-man]

Phones should stay in the truck during work hours. If you know there is an emergency going on, then check it on breaks.

I rarely carry mine on the site, I don't think my clientel should pay me to talk to other clients while I'm on theor jobs.

Heck, I don't have it out on my jobs either.

Looked at two threads today and deleted 20 posts

You didn't happen to delete Clearance ( totally ) by chance did you ?? Naw, we couldn't be that lucky.

 

[Lawn Masters]

Personally, to help deal with this problem, I'd have a meeting with my crew and put a rule into place explaining that they're to only use their phone during work hours for calling 911, or the supervisor to clarify something, not to be dealing with personal relationships unless on break.

Ask them which is more important, their job, or relationship.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

The cell phone is a tool that needs to be further exploited. If i can conduct business any where any time sound great to me .

Very true.

Time for me to 'fess up. I'm in the cellphone biz - have been since it started. At first, the phones were all installed in high-end cars - Mercedes, BMWs, the occasional Caddy. Sales types, and executives. Then it moved to lower grades - mid-sized American cars, your typical fleet vehicle. Then the construction types found it, and it was pickups. Great to have a phone on a job site! Then the independent truckers caught on. Hey, line up that next load while this one is being unloaded! Leave your competition standing in line at the pay phones!

All of them found them worth while. All of them found a way to make their lives easier & more profitable. All had a business justification. At 45 cents per minute, they'd better!

Now it's everybody's yak machine, and every idiot teeny-bopper has one. It's a very different world. We have to define new rules of behaviour, and we aren't doing a very good job of it.

If treated poorly an employee is going to find a stick and rock to keep himself distracted from working .

Or an arborist forum...