Train Clearly

Consultant John Ball oversees the project from the deck of the paver and is able to speak clearly to workers through the wireless headsets on this job. This photo courtesy of Intercounty Paving. Here, Scott Spano has the level to check the mat. He can talk to any member of the crew through the wireless headset without having to

yell across the paving site.

DDuring the summer of 2020, I consulted with a company that had purchased a set of wireless headsets for the paving crew. The paver operator, both screed operators, the roller operator, lute artist and I each wore a headset for the successful performance of a parking lot job while I instructed and assisted them.

What was unique about this is I was on the paver most of the time, yet I could direct the ground workers easily by speaking into the wireless system. I could talk in a normal voice, keeping a calm workday with no yelling for mix or equipment movement. It was so much easier to get the job done correctly when the members of the crew were able to hear one another without raised voices trying to shout over equipment engine noise. The pictures tell the story of a top quality job.

– BY JOHN BALL

John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & 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.

WEB EXTRA: Read about different wireless headsets available for construction crews in “Hands-free Construction Headsets Improve Crew Communication” and “Use Headsets to Communicate with Your Crew” on TheAsphaltPro.com. The paver operator has the headset that includes Bluetooth hookup. If the plant operator should call to let us know of a problem, this is how we’ll be notified. No one has to stop working to take a phone call at the side of the project.

With the headsets on crewmembers, it’s as if each of us is on the same phone call. The raker can easily request extra mix for an area without having to try to get someone’s attention and yell for it. Ground personnel are able to get tamping shoes and hand rollers to an area as soon as it’s called for without someone yelling to find them. Communication is calm and relaxed, making training of new laborers a much easier process than in the past.

Tyler Spano works with a headset on.