I have recently been promoted to I/C of my workshop and am enjoying the challenges it throws at me however;
The other day I had leave the (kids) unattended for a few hours, I told them I would be two hours. With my appointment over in record time I returned to the workshop after just one hour to find a scene that I had to stand in the corner unnoticed for nearly 5 minutes to believe.
I had one person suspended from the overhead crane in an ingenious arrangement of safety harness, slings and a spreader bar playing superman overhead and able to do dangle twirls that would make a kiter jealous, whilst I was watching one of the other kids hit the emergency stop and walked outside leaving superman dangling high overhead.
Most of the remains of the kids had split a drum of hydraulic oil on the floor and were trying to do burnouts and donuts in the workshop golf buggy.
I walked out again unnoticed and returned slightly after I said I would be back, the oil was cleaned up, the buggy was back in it's normal parking spot and superman had turned back into clarke kent.
As a former peer I found this days misadventure funny as f@#k and applaud them for it but as their Supervisor I don't know whether to say anything
What would you do ??
Stick a small surveillance set up from Dick smiths
with a few cameras up high pointed down
It they ask why you are putting it in
just say for Health and safety.
That should put them of monkeying around.! Well it might 
a small unit it not expense and maybe cheaper on ebay.
You could try it 1st before you need to have the talk!
Ask HR to run work place harassment sessions, and the ramifications they can grow into, this way they are all up to speed with latest work safe regulations. Your then on a level playing field, and can introduce measures to ensure it's not a 'tolerated' behaviour. You don't have to let on you were aware of what took place. Then again you could,but it might go pear shaped on you.
I reckon that some respect is well overdue from these guys.
Get used to 80% of your life being HR related in the workplace, and 20% running the shop 
If I was the Boss I would
try and sing "Born in the USA" without sounding like I was constipated
no longer wear skin tight jeans (so 1980's)
and change my name from Springsteen to something easier like Smith
In all seriousness
Read the OH&S Act. You will get fined more for their misadventures than they will. You need to deal with it promptly and document your instruction / training to them, as if something turns to sh!t the employer and managers need to prove their training etc was delivered to staff. If somebody clowns around like that tomorrow and dies, you lose your house, car etc.
That is worth thinking about....
You have probably left it too late.
When you arrived back you should have smiled and said if they ever do anything like that again you will nail their balls to the wall. Give them enough detail to prove you know what they did. They'll be wondering how the flock you knew ... unless they watch this forum.
Then read them the OH&S riot act. It's all fun until somebody gets a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
I agree - you have to act.
I just had a situation at work this arvo where a couple of the younger crew organise Friday arvo drinks without proper permission or planning... as a manager with a responsibility for site OHS, I had to involve HR, not to stop the drinks, but to ensure that the organiser knew his responsibilities whilst hosting an event in a workplace. The drinks went ahead after the 'host' sent a note to his 'guests' reminding them of expected conduct in a workplace - then informed both the Facilities dept and Security staff...
Management can still be held liable for the actions of others if they are aware of their occurance and do not act appropriately to ensure that the workplace and any employees [and visitors] are as safe as is practical...
I'd be holding a staff meeting to make this point. Take no action in the first instance beyond a firm warning - and state that any re-occurrence of a similar nature will result in disciplinary action. They might not like it - but the smarter ones will respect it (although they were probably not participating).
As a supervisor. I would have instantly dismissed the employee hanging from the hoist.
The second guy a written warning letter. And the oil spill a good strong verbal warning if reason was not honest, defiantly another written warning.
Then I would shout the dismissed guy a beer at the pub after work and invite the other one's along. However I would still let them know they have work tomorrow and do not be under the influence, with a toleration of zero..
Be fair but brutal. Your jobs now on the line to.
Interesting replies, unfortunately disciplinary action is out of the question as photographs exist of me jumping the mentioned golf buggy 
plus I invented the counterweighting idea so the buggy could be jumped without landing tooo heavily on it's front wheels
I think a quiet word with who i know were the main instigators and superman will have to give a presentation at the next departmental meeting about overhead crane safety.
And I have put in an order to have the crane converted to one with a wireless control so it can be put well away when not in use.
They are not stupid people and now I cannot believe some of the pranks we pulled when I was one of them and thought the bosses would not know what was going on.
morning tool box talk covering crane safe operating procedures. dealing with oil spills. get them to sign of and make sure they understand it.
Cover yourself and do a job hazard on the crane get workers to sign a operating checklist when they use it.
Same thing with keys to things such as forklifts carts etc.
As an I/C you are liable to prosecution along with management.
Dont single out individuals....Address the entire workshop.
this is why i chucked in L/H job to go back to being one of the boys, for little extra pay and all responsibility didn't seem worth it, plus was a big adjustment on social level . hell i'd rather be superman
+1 ^
In the process of chucking in my chief job and going back on the floor. Not worth the bull**.
Don't do the camera thing. It just shows you don't trust them and they'll feel like they are being spyed in. I've seen it done before in a workshop and it just caused resentment amongst the workers leading to even more problems. Cameras are for catching criminals not work mates.
^^^ +2
Chucked it in a little over a year ago and haven't looked back. For no extra money I was getting a world of extra headaches.
+3^^
for all the extra bul****/stress and bugger all extra $ I'm going back on the floor .
the appeal of only looking after 1 job ,mine,suits me fine
with a bit of o/t I'll on more $ than doing the managers job .
good luck Bundybear
"What would you do if you were boss."
I would fire your ass, then kick myself up the ass for promoting you.
Take a leaf out of the lonely islands stance on acting 'LIKE A BOSS'[}:)]
BEWARE: language and not suitable for kids.
Well, I guess you need to look at the situation from what your responsibilities are. From a safety point of view, for you to stand in a corner and watch a bunch of idiots break numerous OH&S rules and put someone at risk is extremely irresponsible. Silly antics and mucking about aside, you basically witnessed extremely unsafe behavior and turned a blind eye.
What if something had gone wrong?
I'm not an expert, but I have been working in management in heavy industry for eleven years, and I can asure you that if I had found out one of my Supervisors had witnessed what you saw and not lifted a finger, you would be out.
You are a leader and you must show leadership. It's not a popularity contest and is extremely difficult to attain. But doing nothing is not the answer.
Next time you have to leave the shop, pull your glass eye out, put it on the bench and tell them you will be watching them.
Then hope that nobody sneaks around behind it and puts a hat over it.
haha thats awesome!
A: I would have pissed myself laughing.
Then I would have told them that they were sprung and to cease all festivities immediatley. When you do stuff like that you dont do it in front of a supervisor because you know you aren't supposed to do it and you know you are in the shxt for getting caught.
Would have informally told them never to let you catch them doing that stuff again because you are now the super and it's your arse as well. (and infer when you did stuff like that you made sure you nev er got caught)
^^^^ that's really the best response above.
In reality pretty much every company has a zero tolerance for blaintant breaches of safety such as you witnessed.
Because duty of care is a real and accountable law in the Australian workplace and you can be prosercuted for neglect and yourself held personally accountable for say example if superman falls breaks his neck, dies it will 100% go to court given the circumstances, you will have to testify as to your wearabouts at the time which could go either of 2 ways. 1 being you fess up that you were watching it the whole time while it unfolded and did nothing, or 2 you purgure yourself in court & lie saying you were out on errands, get found out as someone maybe seen your car there or you standing there?
I'm no lawyer but I'd bet both counts would see you serve a few years jail time!
If you are prepared to be responsible in a position of leadership as you are, you have to stop trying to be there friend and start managing there work place ethic.
Run off Superman and the nimrod who hit the emergency stop button. A written warning at the very least.
Do you have any concept how much **** you would be in if Dumb or Dumber hurt themselves?
Girlfriend used to be a secondary teacher, until she had an epiphany and went back to uni , and I think she summed up supervisory responsibility very succinctly; The Four F's
Be very, very, very Firm;
Under no circumstances ever be too Friendly;
Be Fair; and if they still act like douche bags
Tell them they are ****ed and get them out of the classroom permanently and into a school that specifically deals with difficult students.
The simplicity of the Four F's is what makes it such a valuable management tool that can be applied across many settings, from pre-school to the workplace.
In all seriousness, I strongly suggest you read up and understand OHSE legislation before you recieve a fist in the anus from a crack legal team courtesy of the antics of a few.
geez there's some serious people on here.
All this talk about sacking them or you.
Maybe start with warnings.... like the law say you do!
