Unfortunately, in some jobs, it is a necessity for workers to be away from their homes. For some, this can just be for short periods, perhaps a few days at a time; however, for others, it can stretch to weeks and even, in some cases, months at a time. This, as you can imagine, is likely to put stress on them as an individual as well as the relationships that they have with family members back home.
In order to reduce this stress and help your on-site trades, there are a few fundamentals that you can provide that could make the situation far more manageable and less disruptive to their home lives.
Flexible lodgings
It is likely that you already provide carpenters, plumbers, and all the rest with lodgings when they are away from home. However, you need to make sure you are offering them the right kind. Keeping your workers in groups rather than having them isolated from each other could help them socialize and make friendships, which could benefit both parties.
Renting entire houses or large apartments that are well equipped will ensure that your workers have access to the facilities that they would expect, like a kitchen to make meals or beverages as and when they want to. This can be much healthier than having takeout every night, as well as more convenient. Of course, some of these properties also come with their own parking facilities, which can be highly desirable and lower the frustration of not being able to find anywhere to park after a long working day.
Better property rental companies like Comfy Workers also offer properties that can be rented on a more flexible basis. This means that your workforce could, if they wished, be able to rent units for weekdays only and return at weekends. This, as you can imagine, works well for workers with families.
Privacy to connect with home
Although your workforce may be happy to share rooms while they are away, you should also make sure other team members respect their privacy. Providing your workers with private areas where they can connect with home and talk freely to loved ones without the worry of being overheard is important to their well-being and the ability to fully ‘download’ to a third party about their feelings or other personal issues.
This means that you will have to give them access to free Wi-Fi with various methods of communication outlets so that they can choose which suits their social needs the best.
Understanding homesickness
Homesickness is far from rare, although your contractor workers may not necessarily be open to admitting they are suffering from it. Knowing the signs and how you can help those who start to suffer from this issue can help everyone stay settled and productive.
In order to catch this, however, at the start, you could even hand out leaflets and other information stating how they can help themselves to cope with the change of environment and separation issues. Not everyone will need or want it, but there will be some that do. Remember, not everyone is an open book and wants to let others know they are struggling. Therefore, even if they don’t make it obvious, these materials may just help those who have homesickness and make their time away from home much more bearable.
Safety refresher courses for the first day on-site
Your team members will almost certainly have already completed safety courses on how to behave on-site as well as how to use machinery associated with their own particular jobs, whether this is to do with the plumbing, bricklaying, or electrics. However, it is still a good idea to hold compulsory refresher courses for their first day on your site.
This will inevitably enhance your site safety rating and ensure that all of your team are aware of the dangers that they face as well as how to avoid injury to themselves and those around them.
Of course, you can also use this time to introduce them to the site, machinery, and tooling that you have, as well as notify them of where each item of machinery and tooling should be kept when not in use. This will keep your site organized and tidy and limit the amount of time workers are hunting for equipment and, therefore, enhance productivity.
Knowing that they are amongst others who are safety conscious and vigilant can reduce on-site stress levels and allow them to concentrate on their own workloads and schedules rather than worrying about what their co-workers are doing.
All necessary safety equipment
With this in mind, you should also ensure that you have all the necessary safety equipment available for your workforce to utilize and penalize anyone who doesn’t make use of it. It is important that you make your workforce aware of these penalties at the start of their time with you so nobody can say that they didn’t know what was at stake.
Keeping an eye on your team members to ensure that they are all compliant could save you the difficult task of notifying their loved ones should an incident take place, not to mention the inflated costs and prosecution should you not supply safety equipment or check that it is being used correctly.
Of course, it is a good idea that your workers check over any safety equipment before using it to ensure that it is in good order, without damage, and fully functional. Any item found to be wanting should be clearly marked, taken out of circulation, and replaced. This will save someone from unwittingly picking it up and using it anyway.
So, a few final thoughts
While your workforce is on your site and away from home, their welfare is pretty much your responsibility. There are many different factors that can affect their moods and temperament, but if you ensure that they have adequate accommodation, social interaction with their co-workers, and a way to work around any homesickness that they may be feeling, you will be over halfway there.
Of course, you will also have to provide them with privacy when contacting their loved ones so that they can offload without fear of being misinterpreted or overheard on more personal issues. Ensuring their safety on site should be close to your heart, and providing them with a safety refresher course and the appropriate safety equipment will only enhance their impression of your safety standards.
