Ever felt "bagged" when taking over a job?

If so, chances are good that it was because you received an inaccurate (or inadequate) turnover. Such was the case for a crane operator, whose turnover failed to include information regarding a bypassed limit switch. The result? $250,000 in damage, significant job delays, and substantial embarrassment with the client.

A substantial modification project was underway that required the use of a large mobile crane. During first shift, a senior crane operator, having trouble with the limit switch that prevents overdrawing the load, bypassed the switch so that work could continue. He then proceeded to complete the remainder of his shift without incident.

During turnover, the first-shift operator failed to inform the oncoming operator that the limit switch had been bypassed. While raising a load shortly after turnover, the second-shift operator, without the protection of the limit switch interlock, over-raised a load. The hoist raised the load into the boom, causing it to buckle.

The result?

$250,000 damage to the crane. Significant work schedule stoppage. Substantial embarrassment in the face of the client. All because of a missed piece of information…an inadequate turnover.

Unfortunately, missed information during turnovers is not uncommon. Fortunately, the consequences of such missed information are typically not so severe. However, as history has proven, if you allow enough shots on goal, eventually something really bad is going to happen.

Thorough and accurate turnovers are critical to the safe and efficient operation of any organization. Providing a quality turnover is one of the primary Practicing Perfection™ Error Elimination Tools.

Here are two key pieces of advice regarding quality turnovers:

1. When considering what information to turnover, simply ask yourself, "If I were taking over this job, what would I want to know?" and ...
2. Write it down

If your job involves regular turnovers (such as from shift to shift or crew to crew), consider developing a simple check sheet that you can use to standardize the process. Such a check sheet will help ensure that you cover all of the bases by providing a mental tickler for preparing your turnover. In addition, having the information on a piece of paper or computerized form satisfies the aspect of writing it down.

The Turnover Tool is included in the Practicing Perfection™ Error Elimination Tools Handbook. Additional information regarding coaching and observation of the Tool can be found in the Error Elimination Tools User Guide.

Here's a kick-in-the-rear piece of insight for you and your team:

Things are the way they are because they got that way.

You should now be asking, "Okay, so how do I figure out how things 'got that way'?"

Until now, such ability to break the chain of human error would have cost you tons of time and money, as well as (most likely), the services of expensive 'experts' who have done their best to keep these methods tight to their chests.

Our Performance Enhancement Matrix (PEM) has changed all of that. The PEM is an event and condition tracking database that allows you to quickly and easily input information. Moreover, the PEM allows you to easily identify trends and uncover hidden weaknesses that are causing mistakes. Click the link below and check it out.

Click here to learn more...