Handing work over between crews and shifts without losing information
At 6:35 the day foreman reaches a parking-garage deck repair that the night crew has worked since 22:00. Curing blankets cover some patches, grout is setting in a bucket, and the ramp barricade has been moved. The night foreman's note, taped to the gang box, says only "Bays 1–4 done."
Hand the work over face to face, at the work, with a short note that says where the work stopped, what is incomplete or unsafe and what comes next, and have the incoming foreman check it before the crew starts. Information is lost because the person who knows leaves before the person who needs it arrives. Great Britain's regulator, the Health and Safety Executive, describes a good handover in three parts: preparation by the person leaving, a two-way exchange using both spoken and written information, and cross-checking by the person taking over. When the area passes to another trade, use the area handoff between trades instead.
- Build in an overlap: 15 minutes with both foremen at the work, and tasks planned to finish within a shift where possible.
- Write the note before the shift ends: where the work stopped; what is finished or only started; anything unsafe or temporary, such as a moved barricade or mixed material; instructions received; and the next tasks in order.
- Walk it together from the point where the work stopped, item by item, with photos of anything that will be covered.
- Have the incoming foreman read back the next steps and check the unsafe items before the crew starts.
- Transfer locks and permits only by the approved procedure, with the incoming person confirming control before the outgoing person leaves.
- Both sign and time the note, and file it with the day's report.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the note on the gang box and going home before anyone reads it.
- Writing down what was done and leaving out what is unsafe or half-finished.
- Handing over in the site office instead of at the work.
Checklist
Before you leave the shift
- Where the work stopped
- Finished, started and not started
- Anything unsafe, temporary or isolated
- Material mixed or still to arrive
- Instructions received during the shift
- The next tasks, in order
- Walked, read back, signed and timed
Check your understanding
The night foreman must leave at 6:00, and the day foreman arrives at 6:30. How do you keep the handover face to face?
