Crossing the Language Barrier
BY John Ball
Over my career as a paving consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many people from many cultures in North America, England, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. Not every person I’ve trained has been able to hear as well as the next person. Not every person has had the same access to continuing education as the next person. Not every person has spoken the same language as the next person. Whatever the differences among us, around the world, we’ve all worked together to find a way to communicate for safety, for understanding, for learning and for best performance on the job. In this training article, I want to share a story of language breakdown and some tips for getting communication across on the job site.
Everyone knows our crews out there—from the milling crew to the paving crew, from the maintenance crew to the striping crew and everyone in between—have diverse populations. The number of languages spoken on your crew is probably two or more. That can make it difficult to understand what’s being shouted over a noisy engine or rumbling plate compactor as it vibrates along. Even teams using headsets to minimize noise distractions must overcome a language barrier to communicate “increase the depth of the mat by a quarter of an inch” or “get the finish roller to the starter pad and iron out the transverse joint.”
What We Hear When Training
During the 2023 construction season, I was able to work as a paving consultant with a company in North America where a roller operator and I didn’t speak the same language. My first language is English; hers is not. We were able to communicate fine on the first day of training together. (I’ll share a “painting” method for communicating later in this article.) She not only understood my instructions, but she was also a fast learner, implementing new skills and patterns like a champion equipment operator. Everything was turning out great with the mat and with our paving team.
Even though she did a great job, I’m purposefully leaving out her name and the company name, so no one feels called out by this story. This is just an example of the language barrier any one of us could bump into.
The next day, I noticed she had reverted to some old habits, and I checked on this. Another member of the crew had re-instructed her on some old ways of rolling that we don’t use in the industry any longer. I told her, “Nobody rolls like that anymore. Let’s go back to what I taught you yesterday instead.” Together, we got her back on track, and I believed everything was good again.
Here’s where the language barrier created a problem. The roller operator heard an insult in what I said. Can you pick it out? Thank goodness, she didn’t let the perceived insult stand; she didn’t harbor resentment and hurt feelings. She came to me to say, “I’m not a nobody.”
I would never in a million years tell a fellow worker that they’re “nobody,” so I had to figure out why she thought I’d said this about her. But it’s right there in that first line: “Nobody rolls like that anymore.” In her mind, my English syntax implied she was the “nobody” who rolled in the old-fashioned style.
I set the record straight and assured her I didn’t think of her as a nobody! But I want to share with the training directors, paving foremen, co-workers and laborers out there in the field today, that you want to be aware of the words you use on the job site. The different languages we encounter in our day-to-day activities have more than different words. Different languages and cultures will have different colloquialisms.
This isn’t a surprise to any of us on a paving crew, but it is an opportunity to accidentally hurt someone’s feelings if we aren’t careful. We have enough trouble bringing workers to our industry right now without alienating a new guy (or gal) because we accidentally criticized them instead of their rolling pattern. It’s the rolling pattern that needs to be fixed; not the person changing the pattern. It’s the angle of attack that needs to be changed; not the person adjusting the angle of attack. It’s the depth of the mat that needs to be lowered; not the person turning the depth crank.
This is also an opportunity for a safety hazard if we aren’t careful about our communication. Most of our training sessions begin with safety and it’s imperative that workers understand the messages we’re sending. Each person needs to comprehend how their actions affect their own safety and the safety of their colleagues in the work zone, etc.
Paint Paving Language
One way I’ve found to minimize confusion, even among English-speaking workers, is to mark out the job meticulously. If you want to use color-coded paint, that’s an option. I encourage crews to draw diagrams on the ground for the rolling procedures. I have them paint arrows to show where they’ll make their turns and so on. You already know to paint lines to guide the paver operator and to help the screed operator keep the endgate right on the money, but also paint arrows that show where the team will make turns. Paint the number of tons each lane requires right there on the ground and paint an arrow that shows the direction of travel for the equipment.
A great example of lining out the job well took place over in Hawaii a few years ago. Look up the article “How to Pave a Tennis Court” from the December 2019 issue of AsphaltPro to see that. Other great examples have been reported in the magazine since then and you can find them on the website, as well.
You can also paint diagrams on the ground for the rolling procedures. By painting directions, you have a visual representation of what you’re saying to the new roller operator who may not speak the same language you do.
Keep in mind that not all members of the crew will recognize and understand all the symbols you’re using in the field. You may need to have a toolbox talk at the beginning of the paving day or project to go over the markings you’re using to ensure everyone is on the same page.
For example, the icons and symbols used on the paver control panel, screed operator’s pedestal, roller platform, milling machine deck and so on might not be as easy to understand as you think. And the icons on the Bomag machine from your new person’s former employer are not the same as the icons used on the Vogele machine you put him or her on this morning. The icons just aren’t the same across the manufacturers. For a person already struggling to understand what we’re teaching him or her, changing up the platform they’re looking at is one more point of confusion.
It’s worth taking the time to go over the symbols with them. Explain carefully what they are and match them up to the diagrams you paint on the ground. Talk the person through all the new and different markings with a veteran operator who knows both your language and the new worker’s language and knows the language of paving.
It sounds like a great deal of work just to communicate the basics of paving and rolling and getting a top quality mat, but you’re also ensuring everyone is safe, secure and a productive part of the whole crew. You’re ensuring everyone can feel like a member of the team that achieves top quality paving when they fully understand everything.
John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458.