10 hour working day

[SteamyTea]

5 minutes ago, Ronan 1 said:

It would drive costs and housing prices sky high also.

Not if productivity was improved.

How do you currently measure productivity.  The UK has one of the lowest levels in the developed world, but also one of the longest working hours.  This is why so much research is done into it.

 

It is a cultural thing in my opinion "the devil make work for idle hands"

Edited March 14, 2021 by SteamyTea

[PeterW]

WTD is 48 hours average over 17 weeks. I know a lot of trades doing 7:30-6 with 30 mins at lunch Monday to Thursday then doing 7:30-2 on a Friday. That’s only 46 hours - equivalent to 6 “ordinary” day week - but it’s still within the hours. Some of the lads are on overtime after 37.5 so getting 10 hours at time and a half is financially very good for them. 

[SteamyTea]

3 minutes ago, PeterW said:

WTD is 48 hours average over 17 weeks. I know a lot of trades doing 7:30-6 with 30 mins at lunch Monday to Thursday then doing 7:30-2 on a Friday. That’s only 46 hours - equivalent to 6 “ordinary” day week - but it’s still within the hours. Some of the lads are on overtime after 37.5 so getting 10 hours at time and a half is financially very good for them. 

Just remember that if you have to go into hospital for emergency treatment.

Or if your lawyer/barrister has 'just worked a few hours over the limit'.

 

We have to start working smarter, not longer.

Edited March 14, 2021 by SteamyTea

[Nickfromwales]

2 minutes ago, PeterW said:

WTD is 48 hours average over 17 weeks. I know a lot of trades doing 7:30-6 with 30 mins at lunch Monday to Thursday then doing 7:30-2 on a Friday. That’s only 46 hours - equivalent to 6 “ordinary” day week - but it’s still within the hours. Some of the lads are on overtime after 37.5 so getting 10 hours at time and a half is financially very good for them. 

We may have to have a quiet retrospective chat about my rates for tiling then !

[Ronan 1]

1 minute ago, SteamyTea said:

Not if productivity was improved.

How do you currently measure productivity.  The UK has one of the lowest levels in the developed world, but also one of the longest working hours.  This is why so much research is done into it.

YES but to up productivity you'd have to up Labour and equipment and even then some jobs can't be expedited anymore than they currently are and are priced to, RC Frame works spring to mind as a big example 4 days would have a huge impact on cost there be no way around it.

[Oz07]

Who has time for more than 8 hrs on site exc travel. You must literally be sacrificing your life. 

[SteamyTea]

Just now, Ronan 1 said:

YES but to up productivity you'd have to up Labour and equipment and even then some jobs can't be expedited anymore than they currently are and are priced to, RC Frame works spring to mind as a big example 4 days would have a huge impact on cost there be no way around it.

You can still run a works 24/7, just that you cannot expect to do it with just  blokes.

[Ronan 1]

Just now, SteamyTea said:

You can still run a works 24/7, just that you cannot expect to do it with just  blokes.

YES but that means more gangs, more supervisors and more cost and some jobs you cant speed up any further than they are been done on well run sites currently like RC work

[SteamyTea]

1 minute ago, Ronan 1 said:

YES but that means more gangs, more supervisors and more cost and some jobs you cant speed up any further than they are been done on well run sites currently like RC work

That is why I asked how you measure productivity.

I used to run a factory where each cycle took 5 hours.  Meant 1 cycle a day, and 3 hours wasted.

Changed the working week to 10 hour days, so 2 cycles a day, but only worked 4 days a week, upped productivity and reduced costs by running staggered shifts (so people worked less hours in total and got more money).  Profitability went up as well.

It can be done with decent analysis if you want to.

 

[Ronan 1]

1 minute ago, SteamyTea said:

That is why I asked how you measure productivity.

I used to run a factory where each cycle took 5 hours.  Meant 1 cycle a day, and 3 hours wasted.

Changed the working week to 10 hour days, so 2 cycles a day, but only worked 4 days a week, upped productivity and reduced costs by running staggered shifts (so people worked less hours in total and got more money).  Profitability went up as well.

It can be done with decent analysis if you want to.

 

It depends on the different element of works and the project constraints. There is not the same level of constants in our work compared to factory work. Also the vast majority of project are hamstrung with planning constraints on time, noise and such like.

 

I like to think that before we start a project and especially when I'm pricing work that we review productivity against constraints and profitablity and have it as dialled in as possible.

[SteamyTea]

15 minutes ago, Ronan 1 said:

It depends on the different element of works and the project constraints. There is not the same level of constants in our work compared to factory work. Also the vast majority of project are hamstrung with planning constraints on time, noise and such like.

It is true that factory/office based stuff is easier to organise than site work (we did both).

But I did notice the difference between people I sent to do site work.  One was quick, messy, angry and (expletive deleted)ed jobs up a lot.  Another was organised, clean but considered slow, though he always did they same work quicker (we fitted spa baths, saunas, sunbeds and steam rooms), and never had to go back to fix things.

One guy never managed to finish a job, and an electrician I did not employed (someone else did) used to boast that his brother had all the papers, but no work.  So sacked him for being unqualified.

 

I did my engineering apprenticeship in an American firm that was, at the time, considered heavy on paperwork and quality control.  At the time I never really understood it all, but can see what they were at now, and they are still about. 

They patented the tab pull for beer cans.

 

Employ a statistician, they can help a lot.

Edited March 14, 2021 by SteamyTea

[dpmiller]

You get all sorts. the guy that did our groundworks works consistently 8-3. Works like a trojan, god help you if you get in his way. The Eastern European fellas that did our insulation worked two jobs, 8am-9pm every day.  I do about 5h the average day (plus paperwork), but some days will be on the go for 17-18h, mostly driving but all chargeable.

[Nickfromwales]

10 hours ago, dpmiller said:

but some days will be on the go for 17-18h, mostly driving

Yup. Driving is now just a sad part of working the 'wrong side' of the bridge. If I'm to be on site for 08:00 then I usually have to leave the house before 05:00. Chargeable, but I'd rather not be doing it all the same.

[Gav_P]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Yup. Driving is now just a sad part of working the 'wrong side' of the bridge. If I'm to be on site for 08:00 then I usually have to leave the house before 05:00. Chargeable, but I'd rather not be doing it all the same.

The cost of living in “gods country”... as my colleagues across the bridge keep telling me!