A day in the life of a FLAGGER/TCP

[cs63]

I find it totally disrespecful that anyone would show any branch of military that kind of disrespect the sacrifice that our military have shown is equal to NOTHING and even though there is several jobs in our society that are both justified and dangerous we should never forget anyone who gives their life to serve or help someone.Let us all be mindful of the purpose of what this topic is for it is to discuss the job both good and bad and to find a way to all be safe so that all our sons,daughters moms,fathers,brothers and sisters came come home at the end of the day No Matter what they do for a living.

The greatest or smallest sacrifice that cost anyone their life is a price TOO HIGH TO PAY.

I believe we as a human race need to start acting a lot more humane to each other.Lets all be more mindful of the other person and a lot less centered on ourselfs and I am sure the world we live in would be a better place for it

[Born_again]

And there has been more than 2 deaths to say the least for your knowledge of the subject. You can go on to worksafe bc and see the actual number and you would be amazed.

I did, and I was.
I did say in the "last few years", but to give you the benefit of doubt:

According to WorksafeBC there have been 3 (three) flagger/TCP fatalities in B.C. since 1994 (up until the report in Oct 2009). Currently there have been more than 30,000 certificates issued to flaggers in B.C..

[cs63]

There have also been 391 complaints laid to worksafe bc and the construction council of bc as well as 274 complaints laid to our local police departments in bc during the same period for what is deamed close calls where in attention by drivers have lead to near misses which are not placed in their reports because no one was hurt in those incidents

[andrea18]

And there has been more than 2 deaths to say the least for your knowledge of the subject. You can go on to worksafe bc and see the actual number and you would be amazed.

Like I said this is not the forum for you my dear. You clearly have some political issues your dealing with that have no meaning here.
As for the certificates they are also taken from contractor that work on the jobsites because if and when we do get a break we have someone certified to step in briefly. So again you have no knowledge of why there are so many issued. Also many take the course and never actually work longer than 3 days. That is due to the stress and fear some have on being in this job. And that is no disrespect to them at all. Sometimes until you are out on the road do you realize how crazy it can be. Im not going to justify my job to you, its your choice to be ignorant. I don't care, you obviously are of small close minded selffish character and have no interest or relevance to me.

I have no further interest in responding to your insignificant delusional beliefs.

Have a great day

[Born_again]

Up until this moment I was one of those road users that the flaggers just adore. Ask some of your colleagues if they were working on that sewer project in Peachland. Ask them if they remember the guy in his 'fancy' SUV that used to drop off bottles of pop and water, or the one that allowed the girls to avail themselves to his bathroom as the project moved past his house. Yes, he's the one that phoned the contractor and formally complained that there were no portaloos for the flaggers. Ask them if they got a portaloo 2 days later.

Andy, you are a true credit to your profession.

[andrea18]

I like when you pull up and the flagger is talking on a phone not paying attention to the fact that the sign is sideways and I have no idea what he/she wants me to do.

well let me give you some insight to that.......there are so many times we get sent to jobs that require radio contact with each other HOWEVER we either didnt get radios or the radios batteries werent charged and we are left to use our cell phones to communicate with the person at the other end. That costs us plenty. Try to get your employer to cover that cost? Reality is it just doesnt happen. And because jobs are so scarce here we have no alternative but to put up with it. So for the sake of keeping ourselves safe we use them. Also our employer sometimes calls us regarding the next day location etc.... Im not saying that is always the case I too have seen many on the phone and it annoys me to no end. Im just speaking from my own experiences it is not fair to group us all together. Like in everything there are bad apples in every corner of the work force. But when you are so visibly in the public eye we tend to be more under the radar.
I have to keep in contact with the TCP working with me and sometimes all we have is our cell phones so please keep that in mind next time you see one of us on the phone. Remember the worse thing that can happen is you stop and wait till we give you the signal to proceed or continue to wait.
Thanks for your time

[ILBT uh-huh]

I worked on road construction once, and during that brief period, I saw a motorist too impatient to stop, and intentionally rammed the TCP with their vehicle. A quick phone call to the cops fixed that persons wagon, but OMG, just how important are you that you can't wait 5 minutes.

It was a construction worker from up the road that did this BTW.

To you ladies that TCPed in Summerland during the construction of the roundabouts, I'm the guy passing out the bottles of flavored water as I drove by. It was hot out!

[Otter]

My Dad drove a Cat on many a road construction project. He used to come home and tell us some of the more "interesting" happenings of the job until he realized how much it upset my Mom.

On the subject of cell phone usuage: many times when you see a flagger "standing around talking on a cell" they are actually waiting to hear if whatever it was that caused them to stop traffic has cleared and it's okay to let their line-up through. They are not doing this because they are lazy, they are not doing this to tick you off, or just because. They are doing this to protect YOU from being run over by a much larger piece of machinery than your fancy little sports car.

When you're sitting in that line-up fuming about the wait, take a look around at all of the HUGE equipment working that stretch of road. Look at the way half of the road is nothing but holes, broken pavement and men (and women) using power drills and other equipment. Do you really want to try to drive though that unguided?

Yeah, none of us like to wait around, sitting in our air-conditioned car with the radio playing our favorite tunes while those twerps are out there sweating in the hot sun breathing in diesel fumes and listening to insults from the people they're trying to protect. But, really, what place do you have to get to that is worth your life, your children's lifes, or even the life of that stranger holding up a sign or the guy working on the road?

Take a minute and think about someone else besides yourself for once. Okay?

[andrea18]

I worked on road construction once, and during that brief period, I saw a motorist too impatient to stop, and intentionally rammed the TCP with their vehicle. A quick phone call to the cops fixed that persons wagon, but OMG, just how important are you that you can't wait 5 minutes.

It was a construction worker from up the road that did this BTW.

To you ladies that TCPed in Summerland during the construction of the roundabouts, I'm the guy passing out the bottles of flavored water as I drove by. It was hot out!

wow well I wasnt one of those ladies but I will be speaking to someone who does and I will surely pass that message on. And thank you for that! You can't imagine how wonderfull that is. No matter how much water you bring there are days you run out or the ice has melted and all you have is warm water. It is so appreciated!
Your one of the nice guys!

cheers
thanks for your time

Andy

[andrea18]

My Dad drove a Cat on many a road construction project. He used to come home and tell us some of the more "interesting" happenings of the job until he realized how much it upset my Mom.

On the subject of cell phone usuage: many times when you see a flagger "standing around talking on a cell" they are actually waiting to hear if whatever it was that caused them to stop traffic has cleared and it's okay to let their line-up through. They are not doing this because they are lazy, they are not doing this to tick you off, or just because. They are doing this to protect YOU from being run over by a much larger piece of machinery than your fancy little sports car.

When you're sitting in that line-up fuming about the wait, take a look around at all of the HUGE equipment working that stretch of road. Look at the way half of the road is nothing but holes, broken pavement and men (and women) using power drills and other equipment. Do you really want to try to drive though that unguided?

Yeah, none of us like to wait around, sitting in our air-conditioned car with the radio playing our favorite tunes while those twerps are out there sweating in the hot sun breathing in diesel fumes and listening to insults from the people they're trying to protect. But, really, what place do you have to get to that is worth your life, your children's lifes, or even the life of that stranger holding up a sign or the guy working on the road?

Take a minute and think about someone else besides yourself for once. Okay?

thank you otter!
That is so bang on about the cell phones!!!! I just kringe when I have to use mine ...I know someone will yell at me or give me the finger and some just dont stop and then I have to jump out at them to make them stop! YOU CANT IMAGINE THE FEELING OF NOT BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END OF THE CONSTRUCTION! The fear that goes through you when your radio dies! And most of the time you do not have a visual of your partner. But at the end of the day we get the job done and if it means the public think we are talking then so be it at least we know that we did our job and they all get trough safe.
Thanks again for your time

Andy

[andrea18]

I worked on road construction once, and during that brief period, I saw a motorist too impatient to stop, and intentionally rammed the TCP with their vehicle. A quick phone call to the cops fixed that persons wagon, but OMG, just how important are you that you can't wait 5 minutes.

It was a construction worker from up the road that did this BTW.

To you ladies that TCPed in Summerland during the construction of the roundabouts, I'm the guy passing out the bottles of flavored water as I drove by. It was hot out!

Today I was out on Rutland road doing some tree trimming and we managed to make 2 lanes so we didnt have to single lane the traffic. That way the traffic gets to keep going and not stop. I mean you do need to slow down it is a work zone but we can understand people want to get to where their going. So even though there was nothing on the other side of the road and cones were clearly marked we had 1 person (on cell phone of course) decide to drive down the road the wrong way. I was watching the tree trimmer to make sure no branches fell onto the road and he was cutting around the power lines so special attention needs to be given. So the car came from the other side down the wrong way and behind me of course. I turned to look and she went driving by me, the city worker in the bucket yelled and said omg I cant believe that just happend! But it just goes to show you that even though it seems the workers are off the road and the traffic can flow people still can do the wrong thing when they drive by.If that person was not on her phone maybe she would have paid better attention to what she was doing?
Im just lucky I turned to look when I did, because you dont expect people to drive on the wrong side of the road for no reason.

[netfreak]

you dont expect people to drive on the wrong side of the road for no reason.

You haven't been in Kelowna long enough then.

[ILBT uh-huh]

Too true!

[dirtybiker]

I just wish, and I'm not alone..that TCP would get their own channels, it's not that difficult..

You may not hear use but, we can definitely here you.....

just so you are all aware.

stay safe..stay smiling..a happy appearing flagger recieves less negative feedback...

-db

[andrea18]

I just wish, and I'm not alone..that TCP would get their own channels, it's not that difficult..

You may not hear use but, we can definitely here you.....

just so you are all aware.

stay safe..stay smiling..a happy appearing flagger recieves less negative feedback...

-db

The radio channels hmmmmmmm.......yes we are with you on that one! It is up to the company we work to supply the radios some of them will rent what there is or buy used ones. And sometimes they do buy new ones but we dont have a choice on what channels they come with, some have only 2 some have up to 8. We do change channels as soon as we hear anyone on there.
I appologize for any inconvenience but we can only work with what we are given. Some companies dont even supply the professionel radios, some supply theTCP's with cobra radios from Costco. Im lucky I got new radios last summer for the job I was on and that was amazing! I was very grateful to have them. Last summer the job I was on I had 2 or 3 radios going to keep in contact with the TCP's at both ends of the jobsite along with the trucks. So I know how crazy it can be trying to figure out who is who and what is going where who is coming in and who is sending who where etc....? It all worked out because I had great people to work with. But I can appreciate how frustrating it can be trying to speak and you can't get through because people are talking about what they did on the weekend etc......

Thank you for your time

Andy