CHAPTER 1 CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION AND SAFETY

Being a petty officer carries many inherent responsibilities. These include your personal obligation to be a leader, an instructor, and an administrator in all the areas of your rating-military, technical, and safety.

As a petty officer, you need to develop an ability to control the work performed by your workers, as well as to lead them. As you gain experience as a petty officer and increase your technical competence as a Builder, you begin to accept a certain amount of responsibility for the work of others. With each advancement, you accept an increasing responsibility in military matters and in matters relating to the professional work of your rate. As you advance to third class and then to second class petty officer, you not only will have increased privileges but also increased responsibilities. You begin to assume greater supervisory and administrative positions.

The proper administration of any project, large or small, is as important as the actual construction. This chapter will provide you with information to help you to use and prepare the administrative paperwork that you encounter as a crew leader or as a crewmember.

ADMINISTRATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Upon completing this section, you should be able to identify crew leader responsibilities in preparing tool kit inventories, preparing supply requisitions, and submitting labor time cards.

Administration is the means a person or an organization uses to keep track of what’s happening. It provides a means of telling others what’s been done and planned, who’s doing it, and what’s needed. Administration ranges from a simple notebook kept in your pocket to filling out a variety of reports and forms. As a growing leader in the Navy, you must learn about and become effective in the use of both the tools of your trade and administrative tools. Once you become comfortable with these, you can be a successful administrator.

PLANNING WORK ASSIGNMENTS

For our purposes here, planning means the process of determining requirements and developing methods and schemes of action for performing a task. Proper planning saves time and money and ensures a project is completed in a professional manner. Here, we’ll look at some, but not all, of the factors you need to consider.

When you get a project, whether in writing or orally, make sure you clearly understand what is to be done. Study the plans and specifications carefully. If you have any questions, find the answers from those in a position to supply the information you need. Also, make sure you understand the priority of the project, expected time of completion, and any special instructions.

Consider the capabilities of your crew. Determine who is to do what and how long it should take. Also, consider the tools and equipment you will need. Arrange to have them available at the jobsite at the time the work is to get under way. Determine who will use the tools and make sure they know how to use them properly and safely.

To help ensure that the project is completed properly and on time, determine the best method of getting it done. If there is more than one way of doing a particular assignment, you should analyze the methods and select the one most suited to the job conditions. Listen to suggestions from others. If you can simplify a method and save time and effort, do it.

Establish goals for each workday and encourage your crew to work as a team in meeting these goals. Set goals that keep your crew busy, but make sure they are realistic. Discuss the project with the crew so they know what you expect from them. During an emergency, most crewmembers will make an all-out effort to meet a deadline. But when there is no emergency, don’t expect them to work continuously at an excessively high rate. Again, set realistic goals. Daily briefings of this type cannot be over- emphasized.