Archives
Contractor’s Perspective: A day in the life of Gilbert Hill
The ringing of the phone interrupted Gilbert as he was making his point. Gilbert’s phone ringing is a normal part of his day. Every call is important, some more than others. He looked at me and pointed his finger in the air and said, “Excuse me for just a moment.”
Gilbert Hill has worked for Jimerson Underground Inc. for 13 years, and is the Project Coordinator for the company headquartered in the Houston area. Jimerson works regularly in the city of Houston. The company specializes in utility projects and especially working on deep utilities.
Gilbert had been in the middle of a discussion about how proud he was of the progress made in promoting damage prevention at Jimerson. He had said, “One of the great failings for all stakeholders is the lack of communication. It can not only be frustrating, but can be dangerous for the folks in the field. We simply can’t afford to take chances. There is too much at stake. Getting fined or paying for a damage is not our motivation for doing the right thing. It is making sure our employees go home safe every night. If that happens, we’ve had a good day.”
He went on, “Communication is about filling in the gap between the ‘c’ and the ‘n’. Certainly for us, it begins with making sure we have a one call ticket and that we’ve waited the appropriate time. When we arrive on the job, we make sure that the marks are down. I’m proud to tell you that if the marks aren’t down, or there is a question about the marks, I’ll get a call from one of our people.”
As I thought about what he had said, Gilbert hung up the phone and looked at me and said, “That was Ned Graham, the job superintendent for the Little York job. He and the job foreman, Robert Torres, are two of the most experienced and knowledgeable folks I know. Neither one of these guys will stick a bucket in the ground if the area is not marked. Their first priority is safety, second, if there are no marks, call Gilbert; and third, Gilbert gets locators on the property within an hour. This is what we do. I’ve got a couple of things to look at and then we’ll hit the road. How would you like to ride out to the work site in a few minutes?”
I watched as he turned to his computer and began to pull up a detailed report that I later learned was one of his creations. He was able to track his projects, one call tickets associated with the project, when they were called in, who he had talked to, and other pertinent information associated with the project including any damages that may have occurred and results of all investigations. He later showed me why he tracked things in so much detail.
But for the next few minutes, I listened to him make calls to the CSR who had taken the original ticket, the locating company representative, and the contact for the utility company being compromised. He dealt with the hold time waiting for the same CSR he’d originally talked to when requesting the locate. He methodically explained to the CSR that he had a crew on site and requested a second notice. He asked that the locating company representative meet his crew on site. When he hung up the phone he said, “I work with all of these folks every day and they are good to work with. But these kinds of things happen even when you are trying to do a good job. I like to think when I call them, they are responsive because I’ve taken the time to know them by name and I treat them with respect. It takes time and effort to build relationships like this, but anything less is a fight.”
We got into Gilbert’s truck and headed out to the work site. The work site was Hempstead Highway and W. Little York Road. The phase they were working on was roughly 3,000 feet long and included a 24-inch casing placed under a railroad track and an additional 24-inch casing placed under the Beltway. Not a project for the faint of heart.
He said, “I’ve got a couple more calls to make and then I’ll be able to answer any question you may have.” He concluded his calls by calling back his superintendent and letting him know what was going on. He hung up the phone and said to me with a faint smile, “That may have been the most important phone call I’ve made in the last 30 minutes. Our folks in the field have enough frustrations going on without having to wonder whether or not this one is being resolved.”
“Ask me another question,” he said as he maneuvered through the heavy traffic flow. I waited until it appeared he had his bearings and asked him, “How has Chapter 18 impacted the way you do business?”
He thought for a moment and said, “Honestly, not much. It does make us (excavators) do a better job of making sure we have proper documentation. That’s not a bad thing. With the detailed report that I created years ago to track our projects, I already had a head start in providing proper documentation necessary to defend our position. We should do a better job of investigating damages that occur on our jobs. A good investigation deals with the facts. We called for a locate request or we didn’t. The marks are down or they’re not. The marks are on or they’re not. We dug early or we didn’t. I mean it’s just about that simple.”
He continued, “Fines are not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t believe we are going to get fined for doing the right thing. I probably won’t always agree with everything that happens in the process, but I respect the process. So my opinion is that while Chapter 18 has created a lot of discussion, the end result is the same as it’s always been. Do it right and you’ll sleep better at night.”
We arrived at the work site and Gilbert got back on the phone filling in the gaps. Before long the issue was resolved to the satisfaction of all involved, and we headed back to the office. Gilbert completed his thoughts from an hour ago when he said, “I’ve been actively involved in the damage prevention meetings in our area for a number of years. I’m also a member of the CGA alliance, and regularly attend the One-Call Board of Texas meetings just to keep up with what’s going to impact us in our work. I think it benefits our company and our employees to have someone like me involved in these kinds of meetings. I know that I’ve benefited from the folks that I’ve met at the meetings over the years. You always get back what you give.”
We pulled up to the office. He shut the engine off, leaned on his steering wheel, and looked at me while saying, “Come back tomorrow and we’ll do this again…just at a different place.”
Cooperation, coordination, and communication … nothing to it. Just fill in the gaps between the ‘c’ and the ‘n’.
Categories
