Stick a small surveillance set up from Dick smiths
with a few cameras up high pointed down
It they ask why you are putting it in
just say for Health and safety.

That should put them of monkeying around.! Well it might

a small unit it not expense and maybe cheaper on ebay.

You could try it 1st before you need to have the talk!

If I was the Boss I would

try and sing "Born in the USA" without sounding like I was constipated
no longer wear skin tight jeans (so 1980's)
and change my name from Springsteen to something easier like Smith

In all seriousness

Read the OH&S Act. You will get fined more for their misadventures than they will. You need to deal with it promptly and document your instruction / training to them, as if something turns to sh!t the employer and managers need to prove their training etc was delivered to staff. If somebody clowns around like that tomorrow and dies, you lose your house, car etc.
That is worth thinking about....

I agree - you have to act.

I just had a situation at work this arvo where a couple of the younger crew organise Friday arvo drinks without proper permission or planning... as a manager with a responsibility for site OHS, I had to involve HR, not to stop the drinks, but to ensure that the organiser knew his responsibilities whilst hosting an event in a workplace. The drinks went ahead after the 'host' sent a note to his 'guests' reminding them of expected conduct in a workplace - then informed both the Facilities dept and Security staff...

Management can still be held liable for the actions of others if they are aware of their occurance and do not act appropriately to ensure that the workplace and any employees [and visitors] are as safe as is practical...

I'd be holding a staff meeting to make this point. Take no action in the first instance beyond a firm warning - and state that any re-occurrence of a similar nature will result in disciplinary action. They might not like it - but the smarter ones will respect it (although they were probably not participating).

youngbull said...

As a supervisor. I would have instantly dismissed the employee hanging from the hoist.
The second guy a written warning letter. And the oil spill a good strong verbal warning if reason was not honest, defiantly another written warning.

Then I would shout the dismissed guy a beer at the pub after work and invite the other one's along. However I would still let them know they have work tomorrow and do not be under the influence, with a toleration of zero..

Be fair but brutal. Your jobs now on the line to.

Harsh but fair.

PMSL

GypsyDrifter said...

Stick a small surveillance set up from Dick smiths
with a few cameras up high pointed down
It they ask why you are putting it in
just say for Health and safety.

... or Funniest home videos
... or the Darwin Awards

this is why i chucked in L/H job to go back to being one of the boys, for little extra pay and all responsibility didn't seem worth it, plus was a big adjustment on social level . hell i'd rather be superman

^^^ +2

Chucked it in a little over a year ago and haven't looked back. For no extra money I was getting a world of extra headaches.

"What would you do if you were boss."

I would fire your ass, then kick myself up the ass for promoting you.

Sailhack said...

kyteryder said...

"What would you do if you were boss."

I would fire your ass, then kick myself up the ass for promoting you.

Gotta give a green thumb for that, and unfortunately shannon8888's & the +1,2 & 3, I can understand not wanting responsibility, but someone needs to do it. You won't make any friends straight away, but once the rules are in place & everyone knows that dangerous or stupid behavior won't be tolerated, you can improve on your workplace relationships.

To be honest, Bundy, if that's the crap you carried on with as well, then your predecessors should've sacked you, not promoted you in the first place. It says more about your company than you & your fellow workmates.

(I know I'm going to cop it for my comments, but as a previous employer with a dedicated staff that I could trust entirely whilst I spent 3 days a week away for a year, I reckon I can make some comment)

I reckon the most underestimated but the most important tool in any organisation is leadership. It is obvious that you realised that as an employer but unfortunately the concept has passed most organisations by.

Bundybear is in a crap position, as are most supervisory level folk today. It is bloody near impossible to change an organisation from the bottom or near bottom up but leadership is one way in which it can be achieved. If people respect you and share your goals and you give them sufficient incentive and autonomy to achieve those goals and recognise them for it they will not arse around when you are gone and put you, the company and themselves at risk. People who are working at constant improvement do not have the time to F..ck around.

Good luck!

Well, I guess you need to look at the situation from what your responsibilities are. From a safety point of view, for you to stand in a corner and watch a bunch of idiots break numerous OH&S rules and put someone at risk is extremely irresponsible. Silly antics and mucking about aside, you basically witnessed extremely unsafe behavior and turned a blind eye.

What if something had gone wrong?

I'm not an expert, but I have been working in management in heavy industry for eleven years, and I can asure you that if I had found out one of my Supervisors had witnessed what you saw and not lifted a finger, you would be out.

You are a leader and you must show leadership. It's not a popularity contest and is extremely difficult to attain. But doing nothing is not the answer.

haha thats awesome!

A: I would have pissed myself laughing.

Then I would have told them that they were sprung and to cease all festivities immediatley. When you do stuff like that you dont do it in front of a supervisor because you know you aren't supposed to do it and you know you are in the shxt for getting caught.

Would have informally told them never to let you catch them doing that stuff again because you are now the super and it's your arse as well. (and infer when you did stuff like that you made sure you nev er got caught)

^^^^ that's really the best response above.
In reality pretty much every company has a zero tolerance for blaintant breaches of safety such as you witnessed.
Because duty of care is a real and accountable law in the Australian workplace and you can be prosercuted for neglect and yourself held personally accountable for say example if superman falls breaks his neck, dies it will 100% go to court given the circumstances, you will have to testify as to your wearabouts at the time which could go either of 2 ways. 1 being you fess up that you were watching it the whole time while it unfolded and did nothing, or 2 you purgure yourself in court & lie saying you were out on errands, get found out as someone maybe seen your car there or you standing there?
I'm no lawyer but I'd bet both counts would see you serve a few years jail time!
If you are prepared to be responsible in a position of leadership as you are, you have to stop trying to be there friend and start managing there work place ethic.

geez there's some serious people on here.

All this talk about sacking them or you.

Maybe start with warnings.... like the law say you do!

Sailhack said...

Bigwavedave said...

geez there's some serious people on here.

All this talk about sacking them or you.

Maybe start with warnings.... like the law say you do!

If the employee is acting dangerously & putting other employees or members of the public in danger an instant dismissal is required. I'd be worried about the level of professionalism of the company if all they got was a warning, no matter how good they were at their jobs.

unless it's a quiet word at the pub after work. Something along the lines of -

"mate, I seen wat yous were doin the other day & it's not on...prity orsum, speshally the superman shiz, but still not on...yous will get me in the shiz if yous do it agen...so dont...pleez mate...carn?"

Therein lies part of the problem. You are their supervisor, not their drinking buddy. I personally would not be caught dead drinking with people under my supervision after work hours unless is was a work sanctioned event. Even then I'd be super cautious as it sounds like your crew are pretty immature and adding alchohol would most likely exacerbate their potential for pointless risk taking and doing dumb things.

Sounds harsh, but you have to expect the worst of people when it comes to Duty of Care and prepare accordingly in order to save your own ass if things go bad. There is no such thing as commonsense in the eyes of OHSE law.

Depending upon what line of business you work in, the ramifications if injury were to occur for all involved, particularly you and your employer, could range from legal action to loss of contractual agreements with clients.

BigWaveDave, yeah it sounds like people are too serious, but that is because it is potentially a very serious situation. Ignorance of the law is what gives solicitors/barristers a throbbing hard on /moist underwear, their cellars full with vintage reds and the kids at boarding school in Singapore.

10 minutes of horseplay could result in no-one having a job, even the 'kids'. Best thing a supervisor can do is to first educate themselves and their staff. In fact HR would be legally obligated to provide you with information re. OHSE Regulations if requested by yourself or those under your supervision.

Good luck bud and if you are going to have an informal chat about workplace behaviour, don't do it at the pub, put it in an email, plan a workplace meeting with your 'kids' and ensure a member of HR attends.

I hope your 'kids' get the message before something goes bad.