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Writer's pictureEric Vechan, PhD

Housekeeping


Housekeeping gone bad. No PPE or common sense.

Pretty much every job I’ve been on has had good housekeeping as a basic requirement of jobsite productivity and safety. It’s simple but surprisingly challenging to make a daily reality on most jobsites. It’s beat into most construction pros from the day they start working and watch their first jobsite orientation video, yet it’s still a struggle maintain.


Given this and some recent observations I’ve made while my son is being a “builder” and constructing one of his numerous forts or monster truck ramps or routes in my house, it hit me that being disorganized and cluttered is built into most of us. He’s around five but none of my good builders practice good housekeeping demonstrations and lectures seems to have worked. At worst, the areas in and around his jobsites are full of booby traps that hurt worse than stepping on an actual nail. At best, they cause a near slip, trip or fall incident that I barely save myself from by slamming into the nearby door frame.


Back to the jobsite now. It seems that we are behind nurture and nature by the time someone new shows up to work. To fight these circumstances, our best bet is to get structured, organized and work standard practices. And, I hate to see it or say it but a checklist or two may help good housekeeping become daily reality on our jobsites.

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