LUVTruck.com

well.... maybe not so fun.....

i caught one of my employees firing my finish gun randomly into a sheet of plywood today and chewed his ass and sent him home.....

just after lunch i tried to remove said sheet of ply and slammed the ball of my hands against it in a lifting movement....i buried a 2" stainless steel finish nail through the ball of my hand and into my wrist....

i had to pull it out with a pair of lineman pliers and go to the ER......i punctured the tendons that go to my ring and little fingers and nicked the tendon that controls my bird finger. along with unknown damage to my cartilage in my wrist.......

i've pretty much made up my mind on firing the little shit ,but i could use a second opinion since i'm pissed off and not thinking right.... he's got two kids and a wife, but the company owner said if i make an exception to this then it'll just happen again.........

i was thinking that if he let me shoot him w/ the nail gun he can keep his job....

Opinions?

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Yup, shoot him back!

I have been a supervisor before and know all about the conflict when firing someone. You feel bad because he has a family and probably does ok work when he isn't screwing around, but also, you have to set an example and follow through with disciplinary action. If everyone else sees that nothing came of it, then they are more likely to screw around. In an environment like that, safety is of the utmost importance and anything like this should not be tolerated. So, you have to try not to think about what this will do to his family, and do what needs to be done.

Just my opinion.

Good Luck!

I am a lead at work, and have to deal with that situation alot. I would pull him aside, and not eat his ass anymore. I would ask him seriously if he likes drawing a paycheck from the company. If he says yes, then tell him he can continue to draw one after a week off with no pay to think about it. If he smarts off, then tell him to hit the bricks. If he is a real man with his family on his mind, then he will shut up and take his lumps. Also, make him pay for the nails he wasted. If the plywood was a fresh sheet, with no damage, make him pay for that too.

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Hammer to fit, paint to match.
If it aint broke, don't fix it.
There's always room for duct tape and bailing wire.

WATCH YOUR PIEHOLE!!!!!!

Managing people is a chore. Especially when they do stupid crap that lands you in the ER. Without knowing all the other things this guy may or may not have done, its hard to offer a good opinion. The way it reads, you basically dealt with the incident (chewed out, sent home) and you got left with the consequences. That does sort of color any further response you make as being "retaliation" for your getting hurt after the fact. At least somewhere in his head (and perhaps other employees) he is going to be thinking "why'd you fire me, you're the dumbass the jabbed his hand into a nail, I'm just the dumbass that put it there" Just an alternative view to think about...

If it were me, I'd be looking at two choices: 1) Fire the guy and let him find a job wasting time/money at your competitors. 2) Make this a living, bleeding, yelling and cussing example of why you don't screw around on the job site(in other words, a training session), and make it known that it will not be tolerated from anyone. Option #2 could include maybe a pay cut/unpaid day off or something if you need to, uhm, "drive the point home". In order to make the choice I'd have to rely on what the particular guy has done for you up to now, good or bad. Seems like these days just finding an employee who isn't smoking, snorting, or shooting up his paycheck is tough enough. You want them to actually be good skilled workers and have great work ethic?

Iceman has it pretty well summed up. Whatever you do, make it soon and decisive. I've watched more than a few people fire employees and then take them back when they feel sorry for them a couple months later, only to fire them for the same crap in another few months. If you fire him, do it and don't look back. He and his family will survive, its not like you just hit them with a Tsunami or something.

I am dealing w a simliar issue right now myself. Had this guy who was a friend beofre i hired him on here at the yard helping me.I wanted to pull a car into the yard by chain, he was in hurry to go home for the day, insisted on pushing me in the car w his truck instead.wishywashy me said "Ok" cause i couldnt leave the car out front overnight.
well in the course of pushing me he manages to bust not one but BOTH tail lights out the car (which i had SOLD) jus needed to set the car in place in yard then pull them.
I fired him right then n there.What I didnt know was his wife had left him that week and he was about to lose his house, next day he attempted suicide, cause he said he had "now lost everything" cause i ws all he had left in the world to look forward to each day.
I felt like holy shit over this but at the same had to refund $75 on the lights to a very disgruntled customer.

Once I signed him outta the hopsital , I put him back to work, but made him pay me back for the lights and take one day off w/o pay and go get his head together.

so, in your case, if it was me if the guy has been a good worker, i jus make him pay for what he did/screwed up, give him a talking to and then work him a lil extra harder than usual, cause if one has time to play like that, then they obviously aren't busy enough.
just my 2 cents Sorry bout the long post.

People pull stupid stunts everyday just not realizeing the price they may
have to pay.
not always is it ment to hurt someone but the things people do out
of fun or a felling of responsiablity .or my be just out of anger.It can
turn into something big real fast.

It might be hard to realize but when things are stacked against
you it is hard to tell anyone.then when your done you have hurt alot
people with out even wanting to. But remember when it is the job
safety first because it can cost a small fortune otherwise.All I can
say is everyone makes mistakes and sometimes you should look into it
before you pass final decision there may be more to it than you know.

Been a manager before and had to deal with similar stuff.... would have to agree with Grimace on the issue.....Day without pay and repay for wasted materials and taking lumps is better than losing your job....but if he smarts off(dont let the door hit you on the ass on the way out)....just my 2 cents on the issue.

well we have all screwed off one time or another at work, and I myself have sent a few nails flying with my nail gun. If this hasn't been a constant thing with the guy, I say let it go with one hell of a warning. If he is a repeat offender, then send him down the road before he hurts somebody reall bad. My .02

I think the talking to and suspension ideas are good. Like you said, your mad and not thinking clearly now. I mean yes he built and left an unsafe object in the work area but he really had nothing to do with your hand slipping when you tried to move it, you know what I mean?

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

Yeah I was trying to be nice and slip that bit in. He created an unsafe situation by screwing off, but he didn't exactly drive one into you personally. I can imagine getting myself into the same sort of situation. Get carried away having a little fun and not realize the deathtrap I've setup for someone else. Ok, so I can't really picture me doing that without some sort of explosives being involved, but I can relate.

"Gimmie another can of rock powder, 9 just ain't enough to pop this stump out. What? Stump powder, rock powder, they both explode so what's the difference?"

---Anyone with any experience with both powder types will definitely get that joke, and its based on a true story one of my inlaws told me. Parts of stump were found 3-4 miles away... about 2.99 miles farther away than the guys who touched off the powder and lived to tell the tale.


Anyhow, to get back on topic. The one rule I try to go by in management is to not let one incident decide 100% of an empoyee's fate. I try to look at this good and bad. I've seen complete screw ups come through in a pinch, but not contribute a single bit in another year of employment. One stroke of gloriously good or astoundingly bad judgement often doesn't tell you squat about someone. A long record of many tiny little asshat manuevers though, will tell you volumes.

Well put.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

My question: if your initial reation was to chew him and send him home, did you also think about firing him then, or was that idea largely after your accident?

From what you wrote I take it that you hurt yourself while improperly trying to clean up his mess. That's your fault, not his. Show him how "horseplay" like his can hurt people (like you). Guilt him into busting his butt.

Well.... it's friday morning and when i gave checks out the kid said he could he could take a nail to keep his job....

I hooked the air up got a rack of stainless nail in the gun and he held his hand down and was ready......I can't injure a guy that has otherwise been alright....he was willing so i let him go without taking one. he needs his job and was willing to let himself get bit on the ass to keep it .

that was all i needed from him.....so needless to say the friday Beer and Herbs were on him and i now have a guy that just might think before he does stupid things.....

Damn I hate being the boss......especaly when i've known my guys since we were in school.

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It's especially hard to be the boss to people who are friends or family.
Well hopefully it will work .
Where in the woods are you? My dad is farther west in Grass Valley Ca.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

go south from placerville 15 miles then go 30 miles east torwards tahoe....
i moved further into the hills this week in fact

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It really depends on what kind of worker he is, and if he is really a
Ass-ette to your jobsite. I would make him suffer with some time off with No Pay for sure though. Just measure your odds and make a judgement when you are not mad!! Good Luck Bro!! The Buzz......

Did you hear about the guy in the news today, that went to the dentist with a tooth ache? Supposidly he was using a nail gun when it misfired, it blew apart the wood, and some how shot 2 nails, 1 going threw the wood, and the other going up into his top part of his mouth. Now it says he didnt know that 1 went into his head, and got a tooth ache the next day. It says that he waited six days before going to see the dentist, and when they Xrayed his mouth, they found the nail. Aint that some shit!

not his fault you stuck a nail through your hand, but i would fire his ass for being stupid.

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Tyler, TX
BAGGED '79 LONGBED