Hi, Gracie here to talk about a very important part of every project - safety.
Now that its summer, your people will likely want to go do some crazy things outside like build walls, put in a deck or hire some strangers to walk around on your roof for days and make a lot of noise - general human craziness stuff.
We are going to cover how to keep yourself safe when summer activities distract your people from the most important thing in their lives - you.
As you can see from this photo, my person (Dad) is completely absorbed with rubbing that stinky bug stuff all over him. Now everyone in the neighborhood can smell where he is, but he is not focusing in me, like he should be.
The first thing to do is have a team meeting and review the work area. This can be done several times during the project so you keep up to date on changes.
The goal is to find the best places to stand to remind your people you are there without getting hurt in the process.
Hmmmm, this appears to be a tripping hazard. We better mark this one as a warning. I could stand here to get attention from my people, but it might move and hurt my toes.
I realize your people may plan to use this in a safe way in the future, but make sure you don't get hurt on it when its still a tippy rock in the middle of the walk way.
If you can't get your people check the work area when you want to, negotiate a time when you can come back and check their work.
You want to spot those dangerous areas you should stay away from when they are working and you can't do that if they are moving things all over the place and possibly getting in the way of your inspection.
You can see a work area negotiation in action in this photo. We eventually stood on Dad's lap until he gave up and let us have our inspection time. (he went and pretended to get a sandwich)
Always supervise at a distance. Luca demonstrates how to monitor your people without getting in the way of the heavy rocks being used.
Though we all want to be in the thick of it, it is better if you stand back and let your people work. It helps the project go faster and the sooner they get done, the sooner you can reap the benefit of their hard work.
If your people are using words like Deck, Patio or Retaining Wall, it means they will bring in some stuff that could be a lot heavier than you are and can easily hurt you.
Make sure you stay far away from this stuff - unless you are standing on your people, then you will probably be pretty safe.
The dangerous parts are usually found in piles in the last place you would put it - like in your favorite spot to sleep in the sun or that great place you like to us to roll in fresh worms.
It's always a good idea to post reminder signs when your favorite hang-outs are under construction, so no one wanders in and gets hurt. Here is Pippin selecting a spot for her "Work Area - Keep Out" marker. (Pippin doesn't like to be photographed when she leaves markers, so we chosen a pre-marker photo this time.)
Here are some examples of places you should not be when your people are doing projects.
This is not your space.
Do not get in the car and help your people unload stuff. As you can see, these rocks are great to stand on, but they can squish me like a bug.
I know its fun to play in the car, but hold off until the stuff has been unloaded.
This is not your space when people are working.
You could fall, get itchy plants on you or surprise your people and make them jump and drop something.
Ok, so the surprising your people part is really fun, but not if they drop something on you.
This is not supposed to be your place, but we all do it from time to time.
Since none of us can turn down a comfy lap when available, please just make sure that there are no sharp pokey things to hurt you or heavy things to fall on you.
Your people may not be able to work freely with you in their lap like Pippin is, but this helps them remember that it really IS all about you.
There is no running in the work area - even though it is really fun to do.
Trotting is not advised either.
A little tag is ok when you get bored from watching your people work, but outright running is not ok.
So that is pretty much it on the safety talk.
I know it looks like a lot of extra work, but that is just how it is when you are supervising your people. They do funny things and you have to make sure you get right in the middle of everything.
If you don't, your people may make the huge mistake of thinking these improvement projects are for them, when we all know that it really is all about us.
Its our job to help them remember that...all the time.
Tune in for our next post on how to stain a cement mask.
