Phone policy for tree crews

RyanCafferky

RyanCafferky

Been here a while
Location
Hood River, Oregon
We’ve been having issues with certain employees spending too much time looking at their phones during the day. We are thinking of implementing a policy of phones in the truck unless they are a crew lead. I don’t like to have to micro manage but it has become an issue.

Curious what other companies are doing.
 
If you have a tool/rescue gear zone, that could also be the phone zone. They stay there until the job is done. With the crew leader exception. However, there can be emergencies at home. Do the crews’ families have a clear path of communication to reach their loved ones in the field in an emergency?
 
Everyone I have worked for has made it clear that you just can't be on your phone. I put my phone wherever I need to, but nobody pulls out their phone for more than enough time to either check the time, check to see if a text or call is actually important enough to let the person know that you will call them back at lunch or after work. At what point do they feel it appropriate to be dickin' around?
 
Matias said:
Everyone I have worked for has made it clear that you just can't be on your phone. I put my phone wherever I need to, but nobody pulls out their phone for more than enough time to either check the time, check to see if a text or call is actually important enough to let the person know that you will call them back at lunch or after work. At what point do they feel it appropriate to be dickin' around?
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^^^ This

I leave my phone in my truck. If there's an emergency there's other resources that should be dialed 1st anyways.
I wonder how people survived pre cell phones.....sarcasm inserted.

Anyways, I do not want my phone aloft with me. I do not need to make or take a call while my attention should be focused on matters at hand. I expect the same from all on the ground. A big safety flag...do not let yourself become distracted and be alert. Lives may depend on it.
 
I despise policy manuals - they should be as thin as humanly possible (err..make that as legally possible).

I'd be more prone to have a discussion with everyone present:
*It is dangerous (literally life threatening) to use your phone when we are on a job site.
*When such life threatening work isn't happening, there is still other work happening. We're more than happy to pay you for that work. When you are on the phone and that work isn't getting done, it's hard to justify paying you.
*If you recognize you are valuable to the company, please act like it.
*Please use some common sense and don't make us write a phone policy that NOBODY will like. It'll have to be way more restrictive than you want.amd there will have to be significant consequences written into it. And, legally, if it's a written policy we'll have to enforce it.
 
I don’t know I always carry my phone, sometimes I use it in the canopy. I don’t want to say I’m different but I’m always present in all forms of the word to get work done with the guys
 
That sucks you have to consider going to that level. The emergency element is real, being reachable. I’d consider having a bin in the truck tool box, when saws come out the bin goes in, complete with a list of emergency contacts per crew member, it can be a place for personal vehicle keys and wallets as well as phones (if everyone is trust worthy on that level).
Do you give the required 15 min breaks, and lunch? That’s plenty of personal phone time on the job.
Consider giving the crew lead a company phone, one where each crew member and their close ones has the number to. If there is an emergency situation that number can be called etc..

Luckily I don’t have to consider that for a policy… If an employee has something important like expecting a phone call, they communicate it and we work it into the job debrief to plan for it.
 
Are these guys on the younger side??? If so maybe they just need motivation, or just let them go. At my last job we had a guy that would constantly walk under the drop zone because he was on his phone, he wasn’t bright so they stuck him on Phc and when he failed his pesticides test for the 3rd time they fired him
 
Rope_goat said:
I don’t know I always carry my phone, sometimes I use it in the canopy. I don’t want to say I’m different but I’m always present in all forms of the word to get work done with the guys
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There are certainly appropriate phone uses and excessive phone use. That becomes the challenge with the company policy. If it has to be written, it probably has to be pretty close to "no phones on job site". If people could just behave like responsible individuals, there isn't a need that kind of policy
 
Phones in the truck? What happens if the client has an issue and reaches out to you and you need to talk to the crew? What happens if there’s an emergency?

Have an honest conversation, I think a policy is fine as lame as they are. But if you haven’t had a discussion first, maybe start there. Put the responsibility on the crew lead to manage their team to keep phone use minimal.

Quick story:
I used to leave my phone in the truck on tree jobs to avoid damaging it. During the height of Covid, when no one knew what it was, I was tasked with pruning and cabling a very large red oak. We had a new guy on the ground tasked with pruning some laurels who was not competent enough to rig. So I stayed on the ground day one to do the rigging for the other climber and train the newbie on ornamental pruning instead of climbing the other half.

All morning I hear screaming from in the house by a woman. I’m thinking poor husband must have screwed up big time. I go to the truck to get something and check my phone to see the sales arborist had called many times. I immediately back and turns out the woman was screaming at him due to no one wearing masks. Mind you the climber is close to 90’ (the oak roughly measured in at 125’) I’m mostly working near that tree with the new guy in the other corner. So it’s really a non issue in most peoples eyes which is what we assume; except for her. The sales arborist wasn’t mad at us, but he was pretty worn down by the yelling and asked we keep a phone closer. We really didn’t have an issue wearing a mask, opinions of it all aside it’s a dumb hill to die on when you are working on someone’s property. We have no problem helping clients feel more comfortable.

So from a customer relations standpoint, I’d want someone relatively easy to get in touch with.

From a safety standpoint, every second counts in the event of an emergency.
 
I've written and unwritten phone usage in company policies for both of my businesses over the last 25 years. From my limited perspective, those who choose to grab their phone the second there's down time instead of staying busy doing any number of tasks are the same people who are the first to leave and last to arrive. It's like a character flaw to an extent. Work ethic can be taught to a degree, but having a constant sense of urgency cannot IMHO.

Point is, the policy would do little to quell phone use to those who choose to slack the first chance they get, and the rest of the crew certainly doesn't need a policy to know that there's always something to do on a job site. Having senior employees lead by example is a good start. That and setting expectations as far as what can and does need doing when time permits.
I'm giving a lot of generalizations and I know there are exceptions. This is just my take after dealing with a few hundred employees over the last few decades.
 
RyanCafferky said:
We’ve been having issues with certain employees spending too much time looking at their phones during the day. We are thinking of implementing a policy of phones in the truck unless they are a crew lead. I don’t like to have to micro manage but it has become an issue.

Curious what other companies are doing.
Click to expand...
Chose your battles wisely. Your coworkers/crew can annoy you all day long if you let them.
That being said.
Keeping them in the truck seems like a reasonable policy to me.
 
On social media a see a lot of cell phone videos made by the drivers in heavy commercial vehicles. Some of these videos are filmed inside heavy cranes while being driven on the roadways. (Not hands free).

It’s obviously dangerous but many don’t know how steep the fines are for phone use in commercial vehicles. While state fines are often pretty low, the fines by the feds can be a lot higher.

See below..
 

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As a contract climber, I should care less. One outfit I frequent, now books 98% of my schedule. I am so busy with them, I give them priority of scheduling. So why do I care? Last Mon was a new hire's 1st day. Same day that we had some 40mph wind gusts, cold and breezy day. I'm up there waiting for the ball to return for the next pick. Watching the guy fuckin off on the ground. Other crew members will only brief their phones if there's a lull between picks. Even when I'm comfortable in the tree on a nice mild day, slackery eats me. I want to see this company grow. It will only benefit me.

I'm going to present an option to the company owner. His foreman never wanted the task he has. He was persuaded into it. He is also going to be tasked with estimates on weekends which, as we all know, will lead into some evenings. I'm thinking of being a "'secondary'' foreman for just a bit more pay on my day rate. Benefiting me, the foreman, and keeping a well oiled crew. Resulting in increased production.

No reason for phone cell use being excessive. Work to be done.....stay off it. If there's a quick break in work....have at it. Do not endanger one's self, others, or decrease production.

In fact I'm going to call the owner after my coffee. See what happens.
 
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