Construction Supervisors
Organise the daily operations of construction sites and supervise and perform specialist roles in small civil work teams.
Your first week as site supervisor
You are a construction site supervisor on a new apartment block, in charge of a crew and several subcontractors. It is 6:45am and the concrete truck is due at seven. The weather is turning, two crew members have not turned up, and the project manager has asked for a progress update by nine.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Boss, the pump hose for the concrete is lying across the walkway where everyone has to go. We could run it up over the edge, but that takes ages. Can I just put some planks over it so people can step across?
Let Billy lay the planks, since the truck is almost here and everyone knows to watch out
The planks work for a while, but a trip hazard is still a trip hazard, and a delivery driver nearly catches a boot on it. Your site is only as safe as its busiest moment.
Reroute the hose and mark a clear walkway before the truck arrives
It takes ten minutes. The concrete arrives to a clear site and the pour starts on time. Billy sees that making a walkway safe is a job, not a favour, and the crew follows your lead.
Tell the crew to be careful and get on with it, because the pour cannot wait
The pour goes well, but someone steps on the hose and the pump jerks. Nobody is hurt, and you know it could have been different. Reminding people to take care is not the same as removing the hazard.
I am looking at the program and we are two days behind. The client is visiting at noon and wants to see the third floor formwork finished. Can you promise me it will be ready by then?
Promise it, and push the crew to finish the formwork whatever it takes
The crew rushes and an inspection finds ties not fitted properly. The client sees a worksite that is hurried instead of controlled. A promise that cannot be kept is worse than an honest update.
Say you will try your best and leave it at that, to keep things friendly
Anita does not get a clear answer, and she tells the client it will probably be done. At noon it is not. The friendliness was real, but a vague answer sent her into a meeting unprepared.
Tell Anita what can be ready by noon, what cannot, and what you need to recover the time
Anita takes the real picture to the client. The formwork is not finished, but the plan is clear. She asks if extra labour could help, and you have a better conversation than a promise would have given.
My two guys are here but the scaffold on the north side has a loose board. We can work around it, and we are only up there for an hour. Do not make a fuss, we have a tight day too.
Agree to the hour, because Ruth knows her crew's limits and the day is tight for everyone
Nothing happens this time. But you have let a known fault stay in use, and if someone is hurt, the question will be why a supervisor saw it and walked on. Tight days do not change who is responsible.
Keep the scaffold closed, fix the board, and give Ruth's crew another area to start
Ruth grumbles, but her crew is working inside twenty minutes and the scaffold is fixed by lunch. You have protected both teams, and she is more careful about raising problems with you early.
Put a cone on the loose board and tell the crew to step around it while they work
It shows you took it seriously, but a cone is not a repair. A worker backs onto the board while carrying a cable drum, and it is a near miss. Marking a hazard is better than ignoring it, but fixing it is the job.
How it went
The concrete is down, the scaffold is fixed, and Anita has an honest report. A site supervisor keeps the people, the plant and the program moving all at once, and often has to say no to someone who is in a hurry. Which part of that day sounds like a challenge you might enjoy?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The excavator and the unmarked pipe
A fictional case set in a fictional road upgrade on the edge of a regional town, with a crew, plant and a deadline.
The situation
Maleek was the site supervisor for a drainage upgrade beside a busy road. On a Thursday morning the crew was behind after a wet week. The project manager rang twice asking about progress. An operator was about to start digging a trench in a section where the plans showed nothing, but Maleek noticed a small patch of newer-looking soil near the edge. He had a feeling something was buried there that had not made it onto the drawings.
What they did
Maleek stopped the machine and called the crew together for a short briefing. He checked the services drawings again and rang the utility company's locating line to ask for a check of that section. He sent the crew to a different part of the trench while they waited. He also wrote the delay and the reason into the daily diary and told the project manager what he was doing and why.
How it turned out
A locator found a cable that had been added since the drawings were made. The crew worked around it. The day ran late, and the project manager was not thrilled, but agreed the delay was cheaper than a damaged cable and a closed road. Maleek was asked to explain the process to the other supervisors.
What would you do?
- Would you feel confident stopping a crew when you were already running late?
- What would you say to the project manager in that phone call?
- How does writing things down in a daily diary help protect a crew?