Tidy Workmen....... Is There Such a Thing?

[Alex H]

YES!

We're having some radiators added to our heating system and this is the work area of the plumber in the barn. It's like this most of the time and at the end of each day everywhere is hoovered and left spotless.

 

[green1]

No, I don't believe you.

 

[MontyVeda]

when i was doing work experience as part of my carpentry and joinery course years ago... the bloke I worked with was fanatical about leaving people's houses as he found them... or cleaner in many cases.

 

[annedonnelly]

Yes, the guys who fitted my solar panels, heat pump, radiators, etc are tidier than I am! They even wash the mugs they've drunk their tea out of.

 

[classic33]

Saw's not safe in that last picture.

 

[summerdays]

I had one guy who was busy tidying away the dust and mess that I had created, I even pointed it out to him. He said he had done a customer service survey where tidying up after themselves had been one of the things workmen were worst at and he was keen not to fall into that category.

Normally they are the opposite.

 

[Dayvo]

I worked as a hod-carrier on and off for 10 years in the late 80s and 90s in and around central London. We, the labourers, who fortunately had the same degree of OCD as each other, got the chance to do overtime every Saturday - 8:00-12:00 - and get a full day's pay. We met at the caf at 7:30 for breakfast and planned a strategy, then blitzed the site in about half an hour making it appear immaculate, and were soon happily on our way home.

The boss, on Monday morning, always praised us, and as a result, we got a fiver an hour pay rise for Saturdays.

I'm still a bit obsessive with tidying.

 

[yello]

Definitions of 'tidy' are obviously variable!

I have some sympathies for workmen when they are on an on-going job; to leave a place spotless at the end of the day just to make a mess again the following morning is a bit daft. Depends on the circumstances though obviously. There's a difference between working in someone's house and on an empty site, so different standards of tidiness are to be applied and expected.

Keep in mind also that if they're cleaning up then that's their time too. What do you want to pay them to do? Clean up (which you can do)? Or get on with the task they're skilled to do?

Personally, as long as there's a token effort to tidy up during a job and a bigger effort at the end, then I'm happy. In truth, I'm pleasantly surprised by the standards of tidiness shown by most workmen. It's probably an area that many are aware of as being part of the service, as someone above indicated.

 

[snorri]

Keep in mind also that if they're cleaning up then that's their time too. What do you want to pay them to do? Clean up (which you can do)? Or get on with the task they're skilled to do?.

An untidy workplace is an inefficient workplace with a higher risk of accident .

 

[Radchenister]

If you've seen some of the health and safety films they show to work men these days you'd probably get why they are much more conscious than they used to be .

The one on hand care on building sites had me wincing and that was just related to wearing gloves and using the right washing lubes.

It is also down to the characters involved of course and the tidy sites are usually the best quality workers.

 

[yello]

An untidy workplace is an inefficient workplace with a higher risk of accident .

I agree. It was part of what I meant by different definitions of tidiness. I would hope (hope being the key word here!) that all workmen kept their work environment safe-tidy as a continual process. I differentiate that from the (if I can call it this) householders definition of tidy, that being more of an end-of-day neatness thing before leaving the site.

 

[Lee_M]

I have just had two new ceilings and walls in both rooms replastered, followed by decorating both rooms.

The guys in charge were really tidy, but things slipped when they weren't on site. They also left huge great dirty marks down my hall walls from removing the 100 year old celing remnants - comment from the company office manager ? "well they hadn't been painted for a while" - as if that was reasonable!

They mostly came out ok after I'd cleaned them, but that wasnt the point!

 

[Fnaar]

I am obsessively tidy, but Mrs F is the opposite. Over the years, I've just got used to the mess. Once we got burgled. They probably thought they were ransacking the place, but we thought someone had been in to tidy up

 

[Lee_M]

best thing about my builders is they didnt put the light fitting back in one of the rooms, so that's at least one light my other half can't leave on

 

[subaqua]

Definitions of 'tidy' are obviously variable!

I have some sympathies for workmen when they are on an on-going job; to leave a place spotless at the end of the day just to make a mess again the following morning is a bit daft. Depends on the circumstances though obviously. There's a difference between working in someone's house and on an empty site, so different standards of tidiness are to be applied and expected.

Keep in mind also that if they're cleaning up then that's their time too. What do you want to pay them to do? Clean up (which you can do)? Or get on with the task they're skilled to do?

Personally, as long as there's a token effort to tidy up during a job and a bigger effort at the end, then I'm happy. In truth, I'm pleasantly surprised by the standards of tidiness shown by most workmen. It's probably an area that many are aware of as being part of the service, as someone above indicated.

its called good housekeeping and significantly reduces minor injurioes caused by slips , trips etc. if kept on top of a 10 minute " womble" before tea/lunch and at the end of the shift ( 3 minutes a day) creates a beter working environment than leaving it all to Friday afternoon . the 2.5 Hours expended in the week is better than 4 hours on a friday . its written into all of the pre start agreements for all our contractors to keep a tidy work area and storage area.