yesterday one of my operators had to move while doing some drill shafts when he got setup on the next hole he had his go devil in the hose so not to get concrete all over the boom,he went to pump it out it was hung up now instead of taking the hose off (double ended he had tremme pipe to hook up to) and turning it around he pressures up the pump blows it thru a cranes windshield and broke 4 windows on 2 machines,should I fire him? he couldve killed himself or anyone on the job,on another job had a trackhoe with a concrete demo hammer on it about 40 feet from one of our pumps while hes jackhammering a piece of concrete flies and busts out one of the sidewindows on one of our 38s good day to be a glassman not so good for pumps  ,had a record day as far as revenue in a day only to be saddened by these accidents the only good news was no one was hurt, and as far as the first operator I am going to fire him I dont think the seriousness of this accident can be handled with only a few days off he has been warned before that shoving the go devil in the hose was not a good practice and it was gonna cause an accident so now he has to learn the hard way anyone looking for a not so good operator ?

i gotta go with fire him. if he was warned before and told specifically not to do that, then he has to go.
of course as an operator myself, unless you told him NOT to do it, then at least sit him at home for a WEEK. that way he knows what not getting a check feels like. i'll bet he will never do it again after that.

Whatever you decide to do just be sure to let him know. There is nothing worse than getting the company slap if nobody has the guts to tell you where you screwed up. Not to imply you don't have excellent communication and he doesn't know why he is in trouble, I'm just speaking from experience about having my fingers slapped but nobody would tell me why and acted like everything was good.

If you had instructed him before to not use a go-devil and he did anyway then yes that is reason enough for termination in my books.

Hey Pudg-

I don't think you'll have to fire him...if he's got an internet connection, I think he's probably figured it out.

How about this very unpopular approach.

1.       I don’t understand how the guy had a go-devil “stuck” in his tip hose

a.       Is it standard operating procedure to suck it back a stroke or two?

b.      Is it ‘pushed’ in there by hand?

c.       Was it necessary to pump it back out?

d.      Aren’t go-devils to be more a ‘one way only’ device?

e.      Isn’t it bad practice to pump anything except concrete out of a tip?

Any time you intentionally pump anything out of a tip hose except concrete you are asking for trouble. A sponge, and more so a go-devil, creates a positive seal inside a hose or pipe. When you suck a sponge or a go-devil into a hose or pipe, move your pump location, set-up and begin to pump again you are creating the most perfect condition for a hose whipping that is known to man. You are allowing a fixed object to be introduced close to the point of discharge. Moreover you are creating the potential for air to be on the pump side of that fixed object.

You are asking for trouble.

If your standard operating procedure is to act in the above described manner; it is time to alter your procedure.  If one of your people decided to do this on his own, it is time to educate your people.

If the employee in question is a lost cause, it is a perfect time to give him an opportunity to work elsewhere.

No matter what your action as to the employee and his future employment, it is a wonderful opportunity to make your employees understand the why and how of the accident and what it will take to prevent that from ever happening in the future.

Be sure to document the meeting and have all attending sign the attendance sheet. You can show your insurance carrier that something positive came from the accident.

I NO LONGER push my ball back out of the boom. If I move I suck the sponge all the way back, take it out and re prime if needed. The reason is "SHELL SHOCK" I was on a job last year and had to move the pump. I was having trouble getting my ball to suck back. Finely it went. Moved around the corner, set up  and go to push it out. No luck. I am set up on the sidewalk along the front side of a 8 story down down. Off the passenger side is a lane of traffic. I boom over to the edge of the lot and back a mixer in because I need a bit more Crete to get the ball out. As I start to pump a rather large lady starts to wander through the closed area. Well, the ball came out alright with the force of a hurricane! First a boom! Then a spray of aggregate that blasted across the open lane of traffic (WOW, no cars). The spread must have been 30 feet wide. I got real lucky that day (thought about selling my pump) and I have never seen a rather large lady run so fast in my life. It could have been the state of x vs xxx concrete pumping. Stuff (air) caught in the boom is a bullet point.

P.S

postings about caning a direct individual is as bad as bad mouthing a sponsor IMO.

  Please explain,"instead of taking the hose off (double ended hose for tremmie) and turning it around"

If he learns from that mistake, you have a better operator. If he can't learn from that....

turning the hose your pushing the pig the way it was intended to travel,

Seed,

you are rite I typed without thinking about airing his firing should have left that part out ,my bad

pudg

You might want to re-think the idea of putting anything in there that NEEDS to be PUMPED back out.

BOB
i always suck a sponge before moving(5" tips are impossible to kink and never fit back in the cradle if they are.) but i always pump the sponge out. of course i am smart enough to make sure everyone is about 100' away from it when i do. i have never seen the hose whip( now that i say this it will next time. haha). no matter what though, full boom or empty, whenever one moves his pump one should always keep the crew away from the hose. no matter what.

Whats the operators attitude like? Did he show remorse about it or was he like "Oh well". If he showed no remorse then it doesn't matter what you do, he will care less and you will be the a**hole anyway. If he showed a little remorse about possibly hurting someone and costing the company money, then give him a week on the street and another chance. It's all about attitude to me. 

johnjohnjohn

Re-read the posting on this thread made by Seed .

It is never a problem until it is a problem

;~) 

his attitude was it wasnt really a big deal, so, I have to make a example of him, not really what I wanted, I would have liked for him to show remorse and concern but that wasnt the case,it made me think if he had been told once not to do it and still did it after he saw the effects that this wasnt gonna change the way he did things either so hes done

bob

I understand your concerns we are changing our policies and are making blinds as I type I have been doing it this way for years without pumping it back out,I would put a go devil about 1/2 way in and reverse one stoke for negative pressure and then pull the pig out by hand when I set up but in the interest of idiot proofing we are gonna require blinds sticky subject due to no DE hose stance but we will figure it out

Well pudg, that's no good. Wouldn't it be nice to take the cost of the damages out of his check? Maybe then he would realize the severity of the situation. Actually, he would probably just quit, but you know what "Oh well". LOL 

pudg

YOU ARE THE MAN !!!

When you see a problem you change-up to eliminate the cause.

My hat is off to you, you have my full respect.

Thanks, ;~)

while trying to manufacture fool-proof devices we often times under estimate the ingenuity of fools

mytfynsunshine

Just my opinion........... if you are going to steal from an employee just because he made a mistake you are not only making a bigger mistake by stealing from him but you are also giving him a reason to hate you for the theft. Either fire him or not.

If you take his money he will get it back two fold......... a dollar at a time

Bob,

Thanks for YOUR OPINION. I said it as a joke. You know, Ha, Ha. I am sorry you took it so seriously.

 I used to work for a company that did that. It was criminal. The employees ALWAYS got more than even.

I am glad you were joking about it. You have never struck me as being "that" person

why do you need to put anything in there just kink the hose and get on with it

you said he had a trimmie hose on! what ever you decide to do is up to you,  maybe in the future he or they could put a cap on then you dont half to worry,unless he isnt smart eneough to take it off before he starts pumping agin

Bob
like i said, the use of the five inch hose makes it less likely. besides here in houston if we don't suck the sponge before moving, the chances of getting the pump stuck in the soft ground increase exponentially. besides, i have a Steady End Hose. if you know where to go to watch the video demonstration you'll see what i am saying.

I wish I had a dime for every time I got a pump stuck in Houston. Not a real good area for outriggers either. You learn all about dunnage there.

Those anti whip hoses work, no question. A guy has to do what it takes to get the job done.

An air cuff, or one of the VASA specials would solve our problem with no ill effect.

Keep thinking "what happens If" and take care of your co-workers + have fun in that mud. ;~)

If I have a double ended hose, I put a cap on the end. With a tip hose I fold the hose over. Works for me and is safe, if it happens to dribble on the boom, it is no problem to clean. There are plenty of good operators out there these days looking for work, not a big loss to get rid of a problem child.

here, here pink panther

and how much risk can an owner take? (cheap or not)  accidents happen, and if an operator can not find a solotion and eleviate the problem, that person should not be an operator. time are getting tough and they dont need to be any harder because cause of an operate doesnt want to kink a 5" hose?? suck it up princess!!  and a kinked 5" hose will fit in the craddle, kink it in the right spot and the right way.

not to be a hard ass.  im not perfect!  reading this site has changed some of the way i do things.  example; washing out - boom is up, outriggers are down and out(now).  a yard worker at the communil wash-out pit saw me, walked over and ask why i put riggers out.  i quickly explained the conversation at cp.com.  "huh, ive been here 6 years, always wondered about that.  your the first pump to do that here." ...??

if you want to survive, learn from mistakes & learn from others!  when a vetern say "Dont do this", we should be old enough to think of the repercutions of our actions, and be man enough to accept the consequences.

There is no need to suck a Sponge or devil,pig ect: to move .  I personally stand boom up ,  reverse pump like 5 strokes ,, Take a piece of visqueen double it up a few times & simply use a 4 inch gasket rubber to hold visqueen on the end of hose, & If needed suck 1 more stroke in reverse to put a suction on the end of hose ;)  hope you will try it out , much safer

 OneHit

what is visqueen?

I was pumping lean mix into soldier piles, 2-3 loads per pile. got comfortable, the pump gagged and ripped my reducer nearly end to end! The weld failed on the seam. I blew out both of my own windshields!