Real-Life Communication
A new mega-sized water treatment plant is currently being built.
It is a huge project that employs a team of at least 100 people from your
office.
As an industrial engineering technician, you've been involved
in the design of the plant. Now that construction is underway, you're making
sure that the design is being properly constructed and installed.
When
you go out to a site, you make notes on everything you see. When you get back
to the office, you write up a formal site report to hand to one of the engineers.
It's important to follow this procedure because in such a large project, communication
errors must be avoided.
"They need to definitely be a communicator,"
says Chris Blackwood, an engineering technician instructor. "You can't be
a successful technician or technologist by just sitting in your little cubicle
office and punching numbers on a calculator and producing stuff."
At
the site, you scratch down notes on a pad of paper. Once you have finished
the visit, you will put these into a formal site review, and hand it to the
appropriate engineer at the office.
These are your notes for site visit
number 23:
Site visit number 23
By Victoria Raincloud,
Batemen Engineering Consultants Inc.
Sunny, 14 F
- Went out to the site to inspect the check valves currently being installed
at Stewart Water Treatment Plant.
- Met with Marla Patterson, the plumbing contractor for MIA Piping Industries.
She said she is going to install all Type A check valves in the main water
system.
Currently, one Type A check valve has been installed. This is the
simplest version of the valve, with just a flap that opens in the direction
of the desired flow.
In the past, our office has almost always requested
the superior Type B check valve that has a ball, which is spring loaded. Think
this would be better in this situation.
- Told Patterson not to fit any more valves until I've consulted with the
engineer at the office for clarification about what type of valve should be
installed.
This is an example of a site review form:
Site
Review Number:
Weather:
People present:
Observations:
Clarifications
requested:
Action:
Name of site reviewer:
How
would you fill out this site review form?