OT:What did/would you do?

The company I used to work for wouldn't pay Field Service techs for more than 14 hours per day. It was their way of saying you are a danger to yourself and others after that point.

This is pretty much a personal thing. Many of us wouldn't work more than 10 or 12 hours as anything past that increases the chance of errors that may get someone hurt or machinery damaged. Others, like you, may be able to go longer. We are all set up different.

One thing I would say is that after 12 hours you become the brain and not the hands. This has two benefits. The first is that it will help prevent someone or something getting broken. You are still there to provide expertise but you have someone else physically doing the work. Presumably, the other person will be alert enough to at least question something that you say that doesn't seem right. in addition this will give someone else the experience they need so that you don't always need to be they guy there for 18 hours.

In my mind the number of hours doesn't matter as much. You know your physical and mental limits better than anyone else. Just be honest with yourself and don't go beyond your limits. If you hit your limit you need to stop. Most companies understand that the 8 additional hours of lost proiduction to allow you to get some rest is cheap compared to the $5 million or so they will need to pay your widow if you get killed because you weren't sharp.

Keith

I have been in many similar situations in some cases the particular machine/system I was basically responsible for...ie an aspect of my primary duties.
BUT
When it comes to systems like heating then maintenance should be involved AND technically should have the ability to learn the system, if not then why have them?

There is something wrong with the "thought process" that pays people to perform a job but then are thought "not capable" of doing or learning that job.

I imagine since the maintenance people were "not capable" that they were not involved either...hence will never become "capable".

You may be surprised how "capable" some people can be when it is necessary for them to perform....even tobacco chewin, over-all wearing rednecks.

Only you know your own physical & mental limits, but I have "been there, done that" myself. But as I get older, I have come to recognize my own limitations due to advancing age. If that is the situation your company is in (i.e. have someone over-extend themsleves in a potentially unsafe situation or shut-down/lay-off), they may need to do a little self-examination on how they run the business. I know time is money (especially down-time), but that knowledge carries its own costs: having the necessary resources available to keep production running during all shifts/circumstances.

Easy answer in the cold light of day: No.1
Actual answer when chips are down: No.2

We've all been there, I have come across people who'll do No.1 without batting an eye. I tend to fall into the No.2 category - probably the reason why I've no hair left.

Company policy

Can't work more than 14 hours, after that you're considered a safey hazard, to yourself and others.
Can only work more than 14 hours with written permission from the Site Director (nobody has ever tried to get it).

Just recently I had to put in a 28 hour day (or is that days?). Keith is right in that after 14-16 hours, I will usually do the directing (or programming) and let others do the hands-on stuff. I would not do this without someone with me at all times. Your mind gets focusing a little too much and safety tends to go out the door (not on purpose). Luckily, this time my new manager (I've worked these hours many times before) mandated that I will not drive myself home after 14 hours. He assigned someone to drive my truck and another to follow him in a company car and they made sure I got home. I insisted that this was not necessary (I live 20 miles away), but he more than insisted and said my job depended on it. Thank God for bosses like this.

A person who is percieved not to have the mental or physical alertness necessary to drive a car should not be performing maintenance of any type.

In 13 years of automation and some maintenance, I've never been called on to work more than 12 hours except once. Then I went option 1, pleading menace to myself and others.

Truth is, this is a mostly preventable issue, as Ron already pointed out - why can't maintenance fix the heater themselves? After the crisis is past, train them to do it and the next time the boss asks, tell him to let them do the work - it's why they are there.

As for machine launch, I am sure I'll catch heck on this from many sides, but I stand by it, and I've proven it true in my own work at this very job - if you have to put in more than 12 hours a day to accomplish a launch, you did not plan correctly at the outset. Either you didn't allow enough time to launch, or you allowed issues from earlier in the project to eat into the launch time. Get the job done, then examine how to prevent a repeat performance.

Funny... I read a book on time management a few years ago where the author related an anecdote he told his live seminars:

"A top manager in the firm routinely works 16 to 20 hour days, and expects his staff to do so as well. What do you call him?"

"Dedicated!", comes the first answer.

"Driven!"

"Performance-oriented!"

The instructor smiles and says, "All wrong. You call him 'inefficient'. If you can't do your job in a regular shift, working a regular week, with a few rare exceptions, then you are not doing your job right."


TM

Impaired is just plain dangerous! Yet our medical doctors routinely work 18" hours. Go figure.

I've slept for several hours in my truck, ordered pizza in and hit it again, but I won't/can't do it anymore.

Remember, you're NOT Superman - although we like to think we are, it's part of our makeup.

Just know your limit(s) and say 'sorry, my brain isn't working right now, I need to rest'. They may not like it but they WILL understand.

I once pulled 3 straight shifts in 2 cities 4 1/2 hours apart. When my boss found out he told me if I EVER did that again I'd be fired. Good advice.

Your widow could use all that extra OT money to buy you a better coffin. Or a small diamond to remember you by.

Rod (Older for sure)

Twelve hours really isn't that bad. That's almost becoming a typical shift in America. After that, yes, most people start getting a bit batty.

I'm required to work "doubles" if someone calls off, or on critical startups. Sixteen hours is always better if you packed a coupla lunches!

The obvious advice is to KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

The good advice I got from your post was to have someone else start doing the
dirty work. This really does make alot of sense. After all, if I wasn't doing all the dirty work all night I probably wouldn't be so darn tired!

Finally...Take 5. If you know your in this situation, sometimes the best descision will come after you remove yourself from it for at least ten or fifteen minutes, and I mean seriously remove yourself, go outside, drink a coffee or a soda, go out to your car... if you can, and listen to the radio for a while. Anything, just try to remove yourself from the situation for 15 minutes.

When you come back, you'll know what the right descision is.

I am a service tech. My company has dictated 16 hours max based on an OSHA regulation. Prior to that more than once I have put in 'round the clock shifts working on getting things back up. Being the service guy the company only knows they are paying a bundle to have me there and I am there because their own maintenance needs help. I have been called in on weekends when the plant folks have hit the company time limit.

Most often it does not take a long time to find and fix things. If I am there a while, usually the shift electrician is doing the work and I get to play director. Most plant personnel have been good at making sure everybody stays alert. When things were still not working I always got a co-worker to come relieve me.

More than once, after a long job, I got a nap in my vehicle before I drove anywhere unless I knew a rest area was close. When I worked on Drilling Rigs, they would usually keep you around for 12 hours or so to make sure all was well. Then I would have a chance to sleep and get rested.

Company regulations limiting the length of time a person can work are instituted for very good reasons. They are not put in place because greedy union negotiators are always looking for ways for workers to legally goof off. They are put in place because after too long without a break, you reach a point of diminishing returns. Eventually your continued presence becomes more of a liability than an asset. The amount of time is different for each individual. If you're so fatigued that you're in danger of falling asleep at the wheel during the drive home, what makes you think you weren't in danger of falling asleep on the job?

I don't know whether the time is 12 hours or some other number, but once that number is reached, the answer is never #2. If the answer is #3, then #3 should be modifed to read "Go somewhere and take a nap. Don't come back to the job until you've slept."

In this particular case, realizing that hindsight is 20-20, the best course of action would probably have been for you and your counterpart to have flipped a coin to decide who goes off to take a nap and who tries to troubleshoot the system that failed, with the agreement that after four hours, you'll swap places.

Field service - gotta love it!

Ain't it fun when they move a BIG machine, their guy pulled it apart, it's in the new position and their guy is out sick and they call you in?
No prob you say, err, what does it do?

That's when you IMMEDIATELY take control and start directing. That way you can be all over the machine at on time instead of in one little breakout box.
I've had plant shift managers driving lifts and supers pulling wires.
Six people working for 3 hours or one tired, anxious guy working for 18 - hmmm, I guess I shot myself in the wallet AGAIN!

I tend to focus so tightly that time compresses. I think it's been about 4 hours but it's only been 1.5 hrs. Should be able to charge for time and a half brain pay?

Rod (Git-R-Done!)

geniusintraining said:

Now to my question and my dilemma.

1. After 12 hrs do I look at my boss and tell him have someone else try and fix it and I will back in the morning? Knowing very well that they don’t have a chance at fixing it.
2. Stay and do my best no mater how long it takes? Putting others and myself in danger for my commute home?
3. Stay for awhile, but where do you draw the line and say enough is enough.

BTW, going home also means that 150 employees are going to be laid off in about 4 more hrs. The pressure I don't mind, in a way I like it, it makes me a better trouble shooter.

Click to expand...

answers to 1 & 2 depend on several factors. How well is your relationship with your job? Does the company treat you well? Are they jerks? How far is your commute?
However, you should always do your best. And you have to draw the line somewhere. Most employers realize that for the average worker, production fall off drastically after 10 hours, maintenance & engineering being the exception. IMHO, 16 hours is enough for one day....besides, safety is it's own reward.