Dirt Moving Any ideas on how to be reachable when operating your tractor?

[ultrarunner]

and not to be rude ---you have to work with the hand you are dealt---if they say be available-- you have to be available-- that doesnt mean go somewhere you might/might not have service-- it means be available- work on sat/sun...dont complain about pay, etc...your "next" job might be just as bad or even worse...no more soap box rhetoric-- we are all big boys here
good luck in finding something that will work for you

I think I've found a possible solution... it's made for hearing impaired and the vibrate is supposed to be quite strong.

I'm at work 7 days a week... which includes Saturday and Sunday. A lot of what I do has to be done around surgery schedules... so that means a lot of after hours.

Thursday is my official day off which means I either need to come in and check the equipment Thursday night or at 5 am Friday morning... Surgery starts at 6:15 am and doors open at 5:45 am.

In the 19 years I've been here... we've never once had to cancel a case due to a problem with the building grounds or the equipment I maintain and that has always been my trump card... even caught a third strike burglar at 2 am one morning using a pry-bar breaking into the locked files in the bosses office...

It could be I've made it too easy, everyone knows I take care of what-ever needs to be done and now that I'm getting older... just not as willing to put up with nonsense... We had been averaging 500 cases per month before the economy went south... today it's closer to 300.

 

[Soundguy]

hmm.. must be reachable.. yet their service provider has coverage areas that have dead zones .. seems they need to get guaranteed coverage.

witht hat.. I 2nd the idea of one of those cell phones you can get that the entire case lights up and blinks really obnoxiously.. sparkles and twinkles all over it. then place it in front of your field of vision.

I hope you are paid well...

soundguy

Serious question... I know part of the joy of tractor ownership is not being reachable.

I've worked at the local Hospital for 19 years... for the last 15 I'm required to be reachable by pager 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

My official day off is Thursday... but still must be reachable.

Here's the problem and it happened again today just like last year.

I was running my Cat D3 Dozer cleaning up fire trails on my parents property in preparation for the annual fire inspection on June 15th.

Hospital paged me three times and I didn't know it till my 76 year old mother was called and drove to where I was working and hiked down the trail and flagged me down.

Between having no cell coverage in the Canyon (Dead Zone) and wearing Ear Protection and the general noise and vibration of the Dozer... didn't realize I was paged until I turned off the Dozer. I keep the pager on vibrate in my shirt pocket... still missed it with the Tractor running. I've also missed one a couple of years ago running the Kubota... also on my "Day Off"

Boss went ballistic and told me in no uncertain terms that I will have to hire someone to do tractor work if it makes me not reachable... not responding is grounds for termination. Hospital has a 5 minute call-back rule.

By the way, I let everyone know at work yesterday that I would be running my Tractor today and not to page me and I had already been in contact with work earlier in the day on a page... had to hike up to the road and attempt to call out having the signal drop twice.

If jobs were not so hard to get these days... I was ready to call it quits...


My question... How do you stay reachable when operating heavy equipment? How do the operators that run tractors, loaders and such day in and day out stay reachable?

I've many times exactly what's involved with fire suppression work and reducing the fuel load... doesn't help. None of the Doctors or Nurses have any concept of what's entailed when someone is operating heavy equipment in remote locations and how a simple page can easily result in 4 to 6 hours of lost time.

Sorry for my rant... hope there is a suggestion out there.

PS... the emergency turned out to be a small 3 hp auxiliary air compressor on the roof mezzanine that was stuck "On" (Pressure switch Contact Points stuck together) causing the pressure relief valve to pop open... staff thought something was going to blow and was making preparations to cancel surgeries.

 

[buck12]

I worked in a similar situation 10 years ago. I was on call anytime the factory was running. I was called the night we brought my daughter home from the hospital and decided the company had no respect for me or my family and began to look for other ways of making a living. I found another job making less money but rarely receive at home calls and don't wear a pager. I have never regretted the pay cut and could not imagine trying to be a Dad taking work calls during ball games, school events, etc.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree 1000%

you want to own me THAT BAD.. pay me.. AND make it where you CAN reach me.

I think the radio link to the canyon might work.. that or a repeater setup.

get something that can be rigged for tone.. and use that output to trigger an external source.. like pa horn.. or blinking lights.

I used to see cell setups for work trucks that honked your horn and flashed your lights when the 'car phone rang' I'd think something like that is still possible.

Might also look into a sat phone. as long as you got sky.. in most areas of the world you got signal.

a call to a tech company that does communication should be able to come up something that will let your employer own you more. at a price.

I feel for you.

I have 2 jobs.. and between both of them I am literally on call 24hrs a day. It's funny.. I'll be at one job doing a tech supt call for the other job lots of times. Only difference is the world doesn't end if I miss the call... not that it isn't important.. but somehow the sun still comes up..


soundguy

1) If they expect you to be available 24x7x365, you should be getting paid for that time. It's absurd that your entire life you are expected to be where you can/will call them back in 5 min.

2) If they expect you to be available 24x7x365, they need to provide you with equipment that works. Are you not supposed to mow your yard? Take a shower? THEY should be footing the bill for it. If coverage is a problem, they need to resolve it, not you.

3) They need to hire more staff, end of discussion.

I do the on call thing, but not with expectations that I will be available 365 days a year.

 

[Cami]

Ultrarunner, I liked that bit about the charity fundraiser where you "volunteered" We used to call that being voluntold.

 

[lhfarm]

I'm not a lawyer or HR professional, but I'm sure you are covered by FSLA Compliance Assistance By Law - The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and not just state regulations. I doubt if your position would be classified as exempt. In fact, I suspect it was employers behaving like yours that got this law passed in the 30s.

You sound like a person I'd like to know and certainly someone I would like working for me. Your work ethic is to be admired. For that reason alone, I'd like to see you get the respect and compensation you deserve. If your treatment isn't unlawful (and I really think it is) it is unethical. Your relationship with management seems somewhere between slavery and blackmail.

If your boss doesn't solve this problem for you, I would hope you would seriously consider talking to your HR office or the head of the hospital. You should not have to live under house arrest rules.

I have worked for a very large organization that included hospitals at one time. I've been involved with resolving Department of Labor complaints. Just from the little information I have seen here, you have a case for past compensation from the day they changed your job to exempt status.

I know filing a complaint isn't something you have considered or are likely to want to do. But your employer shouldn't be allowed to treat you or anyone else like a slave.

I wish you the best of luck,

 

[Toffy]

There are a lot of people with the same problem and this is a very serious one. I would suggest that you get your service provider involved with your problem as they are the experts. I worked in the mining industry and had the same problem. There are a lot of issues that they can resolve as that is there expertise. Don't try and resolve it yourself.

 

[ccap74]

Im using my phone as a reference not a pager... I turn mine on vibrate, lay it on the seat and stick it under my, ummm balls. Very sensitive vibration detectors...

 

[ultrarunner]

Strange thing... Boss sent an e-mail yesterday afternoon semi-apologizing. Looks like she knew she was over the top... the main reason for the pages was a problem that didn't exist!

Over the years... the number of men working there has dwindled... right now the ratio is 1 to 20.

Healthcare tends to be skewed towards female... my company is just at the extreme. Had lots of jobs in my younger days and know first hand there is a difference between men and women in management. The biggest is how a lot of women managers treat those women that work under them... they can say and do things that a male manager could never get away with... especially when it comes to taking time off for a sick child or school events.

I like the idea of a Satelite Phone...

The feedback on TBN helps give perspective...

 

[Sportsman762]

When I carry a phone on a tractor or mower I keep it on vibrate because I am looking all over and might miss the call. I often put the phone in my waistband so that i can feel it vibrate. Another solution is to possibly tie it to your arm using a elastic band so you could feel it vibrate. My biggest problem when doing this is that if i have on overalls i am scrambling to get to my phone in time to get the message. Good luck hope your boss understands that you do have a life outside of work.