{"id":711,"date":"2020-02-21T11:22:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T18:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/?p=711"},"modified":"2020-02-21T11:22:11","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T18:22:11","slug":"working-while-distracted-how-your-contracting-business-can-set-meaningful-device-use-policies-during-the-workday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/working-while-distracted-how-your-contracting-business-can-set-meaningful-device-use-policies-during-the-workday\/","title":{"rendered":"Working While Distracted: How Your Contracting Business Can Set Meaningful Device Use Policies During the Workday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>You\u2019re calling the team around to talk about a particular concern, and you realize that a couple of people are consistently missing. Device use on the construction site can be a practical and timesaving decision, particularly for all the apps designed to improve safety or efficiency. But it\u2019s easy to forget what a distraction smartphones and tablets can be while people are trying to work, as well. Here are several factors to consider as you put together a policy for smartphone use while employees are working.<\/span><\/p>\n

Identify Existing Problems
\n<\/b>Since there is such variety in the day-to-day workings of a contracting business, you\u2019ll want to start by identifying the problems that you have. It\u2019s worth investigating what you might expect if you have a larger workforce or if you start offering different services, but it may make more sense to begin with what you see right now. For example, many people use smartphones to listen to music or podcasts while they\u2019re working. They may also use them to text while operating equipment. Watch the way you and your employees use them throughout the day, so that you can address the most pressing issues first.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look at Benefits to Workflow
\n<\/b>Smartphones create problems, but they also solve them. The worker who is busy on their phone while on a break can also communicate with you or other employees using the same device. Many apps designed to improve your construction workflow are meant to work on smartphones because these tools are fairly ubiquitous. Make a list of every way you use a smartphone during the work day for business-related tasks. You\u2019ll need to make sure that they can still get done if you change how much access your business allows for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider Future Risks
\n<\/b>Ultimately, you\u2019ll need to figure out what are your biggest risks from permitting smartphone use at the jobsite, now and in the future. Employees who are wearing noise-canceling headphones with music playing may not be as aware of their surroundings, or might not be able to hear warnings from others. This is what OSHA claims is one of the biggest safety risks related to smartphone use. But other activities that require smartphones may also be a problem. Devices and apps can cut down on the time you spend working on projects, but they\u2019re only worth it if they can remain a helpful tool and not a dangerous distraction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Avoid Reactive Decisions
\n<\/b>In the wake of a near-miss, it\u2019s tempting to set a strict no-smartphone policy that leaves little room for ambiguity. And for some jobsites, this may simply be a requirement. After all, if you\u2019ve got a team of people running heavy equipment all day long, it would be awful if one of them was regularly looking away from the mark to answer text messages. But it\u2019s important to make your policy decisions from a position of clear-headedness and reason. If you used to have a permissive policy and now you allow nothing at all, you may inadvertently encourage people to try to sneak around you. In short, you\u2019ll need to get your employees\u2019 buy-in for a policy change to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set Realistic Goals
\n<\/b>Any hardline policy for employee safety needs to be serious. But it also must be something that you can carry out consistently. For example, if you say that you\u2019ll collect and secure everyone\u2019s smartphones when they arrive and keep them until the end of the work day, you\u2019ll need to be able to enforce that policy every single day. If you decide that you\u2019ll give people access on breaks, you\u2019ll be in charge of getting them back once that break is over. Talk to your workers and get their input about what they need and how you can find a safe compromise. You\u2019ll be much more likely to get their compliance as a result.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monitoring smartphone use on the jobsite is just one more thing you\u2019ll need to be able to do as an owner of a contracting business. For more tips about developing your contracting career, contact CSLS today!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re calling the team around to talk about a particular concern, and you realize that a couple of people are consistently missing. Device use on the construction site can be a practical and timesaving decision, particularly for all the apps designed to improve safety or efficiency. But it\u2019s easy to forget what a distraction smartphones … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contractor-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contractorslicensingschools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}