Use Headsets to Communicate With Your Crew

Next month, the magazine staff will publish the annual training directory and publish special links on the training page. It lists the opportunities around the industry to get your crews trained over the winter. While planning ahead is smart; take a look at what you need right now. If you’re looking for a way to help communicate lessons—or just basic instructions—to workers while they’re on the job, you have to cut through the noise on the job. You also have to stay safe.

Here’s an idea for safety, ease of communication and training. Invest in quality headsets that block the noise that damages hearing, but allow your workers to communicate easily and hands-free with each other.

Hearing protection is a hot button for human resources directors in the construction business.

Bryan Kopsic models the 3M™ PELTOR™ PowerCom Plus headset he wears when operating equipment.

We have to be careful not to block out important sounds when mitigating damaging noise for employees at the plant or in the work zone. The team at The Earle Companies in Farmingdale, New Jersey, uses PowerCom Plus headsets from 3M™ PELTOR™ to let a determined amount of sound get through the protective gear and to let workers communicate with one another. It’s not only a safety measure; it also helps with training and workflow. When I worked onsite with them for training purposes, I could communicate with workers who were on equipment out of shouting distance. That’s the kind of immediate communication your training supervisors and paving foremen often need out on the jobsite.

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For the two milling crews that came together for the picture you see here, the headsets allow communication between ground personnel and operators high up on a mill platform. When a new worker joins the crew, he has the team in his ear—literally. Getting instructions to workers is easier for the foreman when he can speak directly into the mouthpiece, rather than waving his arms around to get the new guy’s attention, etc.

When you get AsphaltPro next month, look specifically for the training directory section to find the listing of OEMs and service providers who offer training at their schools or in a dealer’s shop. Also think outside the box to invest in training—and safety—tools like headsets that let you get instructions to workers wherever they are on the jobsite.

John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving and Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. He provides personal on-site paving consulting services around the United States and into Canada. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458 or tqpaving@yahoo.com.