The great outdoors. Some people hate it, some people love it, and others choose to work in it. Despite how you feel about being out in the elements, if your job takes you there, then you learn to handle whatever gets thrown at you.
When you are responsible for a huge construction project, you will want to make sure your crew is prepared always. In addition to handling the weather, finding and maintaining organization when the outside world is your office can be a bit tricky. Without a building or an office, construction teams must figure out creative ways to take care of business, including keeping your crew and your equipment safe. Whether you need to rent a construction tent to shelter your project or ask your crew to wear protective clothing, preparing for unexpected weather is the best way to keep your project on time.
Here are a few ideas to keep even your most intricate construction project job site organized and secure:
Deadlines
When you set out on your mission, you created a deadline. Between your crew, the equipment rental, the recipient’s expectations — you know that the project has a very specific completion date. Setting checkpoints throughout the process will help make sure you remain on track.
Working outdoors, you can never count on a perfect day. Something may always interfere with the construction project and push a it back. Allowing time for these days will make you look great when you finish on – or before – the expected completion date.
Storage
How many times have you driven past deserted construction sites and wondered whether the sites ever become victims to theft? According to Lojack, a 2015 study of stolen construction equipment, at least $300 million worth of equipment has been stolen from job sites. Without a place to secure equipment, such as towables, loaders and excavators, you must leave them at the job site and hope that they are still there the next day. That is a lot of trust to have!
Use some of these tools for protection:
- Secure identifiers on your large equipment as a way for you to distinguish your equipment from another’s.
- Surveillance cameras or motion lights.
- Rent construction tents to enclose the equipment.
- Place smaller tools in a lockbox with a deadbolt.
Failing to maintain a secure job site can lead to disruptions in your timeline should you become a victim of theft.
Keeping it clean
A clean space is an effective space. At the end of the day, make it a rule that all tools and equipment are to be secured and cleaned. It is important to have a place to store all tools and supplies and make sure that they return to this location at the end of each day. Dust and debris can dirty your site after a day’s work. Requiring your crew to take a few minutes to tidy up before leaving means that they can start fresh the next day.
Plans and paperwork
Working a construction project is primarily an outdoor job. Having no desk, it is common to carry important paperwork on a clipboard or leave it in a truck. As for reviewing plans for the job site, the hood of the truck makes a handy desk.
And then the wind picks up and it begins to rain. Yikes!
Besides moving your review of the plans into your truck, your only other option may be to hurry and put away any paperwork until a drier moment — halting further movement on your project.
Make sure you have a backup plan. Whether it’s under a nearby bridge or overhang, a close office location, a construction tent or even a nearby McDonalds, have somewhere to go when you need to review your plans. Save your deadline from being crushed.
Protect your crew with a construction tent
Depending on your location and the season, working outdoors can mean that you are personally affected by all sorts of weather conditions. Rain, sleet, snow, ice, thunderstorms, lightening, wind, heat — you name it. When you have no protective shelter, you are left exposed.
Some construction crews may run to their vehicles when bad weather strikes, others may shut the site down completely.
A few ideas for protecting your crew:
- Encourage your crew to dress appropriately for the weather
- Take frequent breaks to warm up or cool down, depending on the conditions
- Halt the construction project when lightning is near
- Provide a place of shelter, such as a portable office or construction tent, to escape the elements
You need your crew to complete your project – take care of them!
Protects a construction project, not just your crew, from the elements
Depending on what your specialty is, you may find it beneficial to have a protective cover for your actual work – not just for your crew or equipment. For example, let’s say you are an excavator. You spend precious time digging a hole for a project, careful to get the exact measurements and depth – and then the weather strikes. Rain or strong wind could cause your ruin your work progress, forcing you to have to push back your completion date. Or if you handle carpentry and are working with delicate wood for a structure, you are likely not going to want to have your wood and supplies soaked, putting your project on hold until it dries up.
It is important to pay attention to weather reports. Having an idea of what Mother Nature is going to do can help you plan your work. Having some overhead protection, such as a construction tent, can ensure that your time is not wasted.
Even though construction crews spend most of their time outdoors in an unpredictable environment, using these ideas can keep you moving forward no matter what! Planning in advance and reviewing the plan throughout the length of the job can keep you on track to meet your deadline. Maintaining a clean site that is safe and secure can lead to fewer reasons to halt your work. Just as a car needs a well-oiled motor to run, a construction project needs a well-organized crew.