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Oh my good gracious, another week’s gone by. I’m back in Texas and it’s hot! Has your management team mentioned anything about heat stress or hear stroke? If not bring it up and your start up meeting, help everyone remember to stay hydrated. That doesn’t mean adult beverages and energy drinks, even too much Gatorade isent as good for us as good old-fashioned water. Drink it, we need it!
I saw a short video making its way around Facebook and Instagram this week about an order selector that, well, I think he was coasting and messing with his labels, but the caption was that he fell asleep. Anyway, his palletjack cruised into a crossbar right at the upright and that hit caused the entire aisle, and a couple of others, to come down. Just watching something like that makes me sick. Luckily, I’ve never been around or been involved in anything like that happening. It happens every day, we know how dangerous what we do can be. But I don’t think we realize how little of an incident can have such catastrophic results! We’ve seen so many videos, even during our training we watch as the unthinkable happens. But then, we’ll cut a end cap too short and hit the upright. Or we’ll scoot way over, right up against the cross bars, trying to save those 4 seconds and clip a Kant post or upright footing, sheering the bolts off. It’s hard to stay focused for our full shift. But that’s what separates us, the professionals from the new boots, right. And it’s our jobs as the pros to help educate and teach our new guys and gals, right? Why do we get stuck on that last part? Someone taught us, how do you say it, oh, what do you say, oh, pass it forward! We should all pass it forward!
Our racking is called structural steel. It is holding 10’s of thousands of tons of product in our warehouses. Our uprights are bolted to the floor. Generally, our flumes or back bays are bolted to the adjacent cross bars too. Our end caps may have guard boots bolted around them; those things can take a licking! We know not to hit them, not to crash into them, to be careful around them as order selectors and yet, look at how scratched up those boot guards are, the ballard post are, shoot, we may have knocked off most of the orange on the 2nd level cross bars with our freight guards on our double and triple jacks, just trying to squeeze by, right up against the aisle rack! We’ve touched stuff. Why else would all that paint be missing from our jacks! And us forklift drivers. We learn and know to respect the heights we work with. We have to make sure we’ve placed that pallet on the 6th level properly, and then come out of it without pressure on the bottom bar so as that we don’t pull the rack, and all that weight forward with us! Has anybody ever caught their freight guard on the inside of a cross bar? That’s a scary feeling. I’m ashamed to say I’ve done it, more than once, working in a high cube bin slot. But and I guess it’s just experience, luckily, I felt it through the controls and stopped every time. But yep, I threw some paint!
It’s going to happen; I think it’s going to happen to all of us. The little scrapes and paint chips, if they damage our egos and our pride will be few. If we respect our jobs. I think I’ve mentioned a great friend of mine named Francisco. He just retired after 33 years on a sit-down and then the reach lift. He, on his own, purchased some Raymond Orange and Black paint and always touched up his equipment every Friday. I bet he never used up a whole can, he was a very careful driver, but he was prepared for the little things.
The moral to the thought is, we know, we’ve been taught, and for the most part we’re all, always careful. But we all need to up our game. Please be responsible, and be professional, and help a new boot. We know the dangers of the rack we work around. Let’s all respect them. Haha, as you can tell, that video reminded me to respect our profession!
Ok, Last week when I ran into Phillip, I got sidetracked on a topic I wanted to touch on. A few weeks ago, I was developing a training program for an unloader trainer. This was a very detailed program for a lumping company that utilized trainers to help train new unloaders to our industry. I was speaking with a couple of different crews. One had been together, for the most part, for 9 years! That’s a long time for a crew to stay together, talk about professionals. Anyway, they balked at the idea of a trainer on their shift. They all felt like training others was just a part of their job. They figured who else could be better to teach them how they all worked together then themselves. They had absolutely no interest in a trainer on their shift. They told me to give them the observations sheets, the check off procedure reports, and anything else document wise and they could get it turned in and any new boots trained.
Then on the other hand, a younger crew, a very stable shift, but the guys had been working together for less than 2 years. They did not hesitate to tell me, shoot explaining to me, what all a trainer needed to be doing. They did not want a new boot in the trailer with them, and they did not feel like it was their responsibility to train them. I heard more than once that I’m not getting paid for that. And now in many instances that could be true. In certain pay by the case scenarios there could be an additional pay component, but it may not really cover all the time we invest. Even with the new boot not affecting their pay or their time in any way we’re they interested in training! I of course brought up that someone taught them, and asked if they had a dedicated trainer working with them? The answer was no, they all had worked with the buddy or mentor program. But not a one of them had the interest in helping a new guy now. Puzzling right?
I was speaking with a new hire, a sanitation lady about two weeks ago. She had started, and stated that she was trained, but felt like, as she put it, she had been a burden to her peers and even the lead person that had trained her. She loved her job though and was committed to making it work and to do a great job.
What do ya’ll think? Do us as employees hold any responsibility in training the new hires? What do you do at your facility? Share your thoughts with us at host@warehouseandoperationsasacareer.com. Maybe we can bring on a director or v.p. and get an idea of where the industry is heading regarding training!
One other thing, just really quick. Across the states that I deal with I’m seeing things pick back up. Even with some states slowing regarding opening up, our industries, manufacturing, production and distribution are steadily bringing people back. I heard from one good friend; he’d been laid off for 2 months and got called back but was very unhappy that his overtime, which used to just be a part of the job, had gone away. It may never come back. I think we all need to take those jobs when we get the call or if we come across a place hiring. Things are going to get better; things are going to even be better than before! Or I think so anyway. But there not right now. As things pick up people are going to take those jobs. Be out front of the pack. Be one that is working. I think, I know that’s going to be better in the long run.
I was asked this week if our resumes should be updated to reflect, we’d been laid off the last 2 or 3 months. I check with several different recruiters and the general consciences was, absolutely, put it on there. One of the things they all mentioned was to be sure and share with your hiring agent if you’d be willing to learn a new task or industry. They all fell like movement within the industries is going to be the next big think. The more task or trades we know the better positioned we’ll all be.
Check out some of the conversations on our feeds using that little @whseandops or the Facebook warehouse equipment operator community too. I’m excited about all the opportunities we’re about to see. I think our personal and professional goals are going to be reached for 2020. Yes, we’ve had to readjust a couple of times, but not only is the economy going to boom, so is our lives. And I mean boom in a great way!
Until next week, be Safe, and help out a peer or a new boot. If nothing else I think Karma will recognize it!