Even if you hire the best construction workers, keeping them busy could easily result in fatigue, both physically and mentally. Studies have found that worker fatigue has a severe impact on their physical and cognitive abilities. As a construction manager, it’s imperative that you make efforts to reduce fatigue among your employees. Doing so can ensure your employees work efficiently. Below, we’ve provided you with some ways to reduce fatigue among your employees.
Reduce Work-Related Stresses
Your workers are busy during the day focusing on the job at hand. Not only are they engaging in strenuous labor, but they are likely focused, ensuring that they remain safe while working. As a manager, you should make efforts to help minimize outside stresses.
For instance, many workers in the construction industry deal with the stresses of a paper time clock system. After a long day’s work, employees do not want to stand in line to clock out. Additionally, employees hate when there are inconsistencies with payroll, something that frequently occurs when using paper time sheets.
Consider having your employees install an app for clocking work hours on their phone so that they can quickly sign in and out of a job site. The best apps for clocking work hours also provide employees with a real-time look at their pay for the:
• Day
• Week
• Month
If an employee notices any discrepancies, they can contact you immediately so that you can resolve the issue. Lastly, the best apps can provide employees with directions to job sites. No longer will they have to worry about getting lost when traveling to a place that they’re unfamiliar with. All of these things can help make your employee’s lives easier, allowing them to focus on the tasks at hand.
Hire Enough Staff
If you do not have enough employees, your current team members will have to “put it into overdrive” to ensure that they complete a task on time. As a manager, you should make sure that you hire enough employees to ensure that everyone can work safely and comfortably. You’ll likely find that if your current employees are not burnt out, they’ll be motivated to come into work every day, fresh and ready to go.
For this reason, investing in quality employees could be well worth your while. It may make a short-term dent in your bottom line, but it could also help reduce employee fatigue, making a significant long-term impact.
Provide Your Employees With Breaks
You should also make sure that you provide your employees with adequate breaks during the day. Make sure that they are eating and drinking fluids throughout the day to keep them alert. You should provide your employees with a break for at least a couple of minutes every hour. Since you likely won’t be present at the job site, you must instill these expectations with your managers.