Cellphone at work

[lukin1977]

Dear Sirs

I have a problem regarding the use of cellphone by the machine operators in the working area of my manufacturing plant
Please share the "use of cellphone politics" in your company

regards

Lukin1977

 

[JNieman]

The politics? Our politics is "Does it affect your job performance negatively?" Nothing special about what it is... whether they do the New York Times crossword and forget to keep producing, or if they stare off into space and aren't quick on tending the machine when the cycle is done - it's just about job performance. Cell phones aren't special to us because we don't have anything we concern ourselves with in regards to intellectual property. We give open tours, and allow photography, all the time so it'd be silly to tell our employees that the cell phones are banned. So we're not worried about the camera on them.

_________________________________________
NX8.0, Solidworks 2014, AutoCAD, Enovia V5

 

[lukin1977]

yes.

the politic of use:
1. cellphone use is prohibited.
2. cellphone can be use but only if the operator ask his boss for permission before
3. cellphone are allow
4. etc

I am asking because our first approach was "cellphones are prohibited", but nobody really respects the rule. And we had to be like cellphone police.
Operator started to complain saying that they are not in jail and stuffs like that

I asked a friend who worked in an industry too and he told me that they also have a lot of trouble with cellphones and they still could not find a solution

 

[lukin1977]

JNieman

My concern is about performance, not about the possibility of sharing information with competitors

 

[tygerdawg]

I've struggled with this because I do some teaching. I researched "Teaching Millennials" to find out more. Due to the younger generation ALWAYS have a phone, they view it as part of the body. Prohibit the phone? Might as well prohibit use of my right hand. So I allow phone usage in class but with broad restriction of "does not cause distraction to other students" and gave them an anonymous way to rat out the offender. FORBIDDEN during hazardous laboratory exercises.

But I also refuse to spend a lot of timing teaching adult-age children how to behave as responsible adults.

However it is well-researched and well-documented that so-called "multitasking capability" of Millennials negatively affects their performance and learning.

I spoke with people in industry because "Milliennials" are hitting the workforce and graybeards are dumbfounded by their expectations & behavior. A couple comments from folks in industry:
[ul]
[li]FORBIDDEN if operating hazardous machinery or hazardous process. Zero Tolerance. Fire on 1st offense. Usage restricted to break times.[/li]
[li]FORBIDDEN while on-duty in a customer care / customer service position. Usage restricted to break times.[/li]
[/ul]

Otherwise, usage can be quite liberal as long as definitive performance metrics are set by management, and met by employees. Consequences if not.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[Signious]

In a manufacturing situation cellphone use should be prohibited while in the machines work space - if you need any kind of justification to back it up cite any of the various studies related to cell phone use while driving. If you are impaired using one at the wheel, you are impaired using one at the workstation.

One big thing to avoid would be prohibiting cells on the shop floor - that is just going to make your tradesmen upset over being treated like children.

I suggest at your next safety meeting bringing forward different careless work accidents and introducing a 'keep it in your pocket' policy, so if they do get an important call they can still walk to a safe area to handle it.

 

[mcgyvr]

One big thing to avoid would be prohibiting cells on the shop floor - that is just going to make your tradesmen upset over being treated like children.

Yet sadly they are on it all day playing games/texting,etc.. like children already.

Personally I don't see anything wrong with mandating that cell phone use is not permitted in any factory situation. (assembly or manufacturing).
There is no need at all to have it and there are just too many that abuse it while at work.

You shouldn't have to have rules that employees don't come to work drunk or use drugs at work either but we do.

 

[DeleteriousPhases]

Experienced men (older) generally don't bring the phone into the shop. they know better.

the issue would be with younger apprentices or rookies who enter the shop environment and are not acclimatized to the various dangers of the area.

the only advantage would be having multiple calls to 911 if something bad happened.

The economy is kind of taking a down-swing in the oil sector, and guys who want to keep their job and help the company maintain a high safety rating wouldn't challenge a cellphone rule.

We have PTZ (pan,tilt,zoom) covered globe cameras in our shop where our safety manager is able to conduct surveillance of unsafe work practice from his office. if he sees someone repeatedly performing unsafe acts, that person is brought into a meeting, and confronted with the unsafe practices, and then shown the video. Based on the severity of the safety violation, the guy could be suspended without pay temporarily, assigned other duties, or terminated.

you have to develop a safety policy regarding cellphones and unsafe practices, and establish a system. a company losing it's safety rating can be incredibly injurious to finding more lucrative contracts these days, no matter what industry your manufacturing facility caters to.

I strongly suggest video surveillance to avoid situations where the employee tries to file lawsuits for unfair termination or something to that effect. When it's life or death, you can't afford to be lenient.