Clean Construction
I`ve often commented about how the construction in Japan is several billion times cleaner than the construction I experienced back when I was in the business in New York. This scene below is common: a large construction site where workers are building several multi-story steel structures while managing large trucks and excavators going in and out carrying boat loads of dirt and other materials -- and not a single pebble is left on the road outside. The truck tires are hosed down with water while inside the site, the road is scrubbed after the trucks leave, and traffic is carefully directed as equipment enters and exits. This takes place all day long. I see this all the time.
Now, this may add cost to the project, but it also adds safety. Thinking to this level of detail about how your project affects the surrounding community is a critical safety factor. Back in New York I used to see overloaded trucks spill over while leaving sites. I`ve seen trucks dump multi-ton stumps and steel reinforced concrete slabs on the road. I`ve seen cars crash as a result construction sites bleeding out into adjacent roads. Somehow or another, the guy cleaning the road after a truck has left the site leads me to believe these guys care deeply about the quality of their work and don`t want anyone getting hurt as a result of their activities.
Hi,
I agree, the Japanese are masters at construction. They just have different values over there than we here in the USA. Just the difference in culture I think. I saw a program the other day about their high speed rail system that runs all over their country. You know the trains that go hundreds of miles per hour and are always on time. It also talked about how the Japanese hire these people as "Pushers" to push people into the trains or subways cramming them in there so that they can get the maximum number of people on board. There are many things we could copy from other cultures to make things better.
I don't think that cramming people that way would go over very good here in the USA though!
Posted by find personfree on January 15, 2009 at 01:47 AM JST #
You are not the first person I read this kind of comments.
What do you think we should do in order to change this in our contries?
Posted by paurullan on January 15, 2009 at 08:01 AM JST #
The construction business in Japan is as corrupt as can be :) More people (as a percentage of the total work force) are employed in construction than most industrialised nations, and largely this is done as a result of bureaucratic largesse. So while it might be nice that they keep things clean while they build pointless monuments to japans inability to govern itself efficiently, it still leaves me feeling pretty dirty ;-)
Posted by Jon Ellis on January 15, 2009 at 10:10 AM JST #
Jon ... well, the construction business in NY was painfully corrupt, too, and I experienced that rather directly (and violently, actually). I can`t imagine Japan is any worse or any better from a business perspective. In fact, I can`t think of any large business or organization that is not corrupt to one degree or another. That`s human nature and it probably cuts across all cultures pretty evenly. But the point I`m getting at is not that Japan is better at building things than the U.S. -- it`s *clearly* not -- it`s that I never experienced in NY the care with which those guys are cleaning their street in Japan. It`s shocking to me, actually. I get the same reaction when I see guys on their hands and knees cleaning gum from the station floors with tweezers. You simply never see that in the US. Is it necessary? Probably not. Does it have some good features? I`d argue yes. Construction sites are very, very dangerous places, so a little care from the guys in hard hats goes a long way. :)
As far as the percentage of people in the construction business (including the country`s current leader, Aso), I wonder if that`s a result of the rebuilding after the war. Don`t know. I don`t know enough of the history here. It`s interesting, though.
Posted by Jim Grisanzio on January 15, 2009 at 11:19 AM JST #
paul ... I`m not sure, actually. :) In NY laws were put in place when people got killed as a result of idiotic -- and dangerous -- building practices. I doubt you`d get Americans doing what the Japanese do, though. The behavior I see among Japanese workers is largely cultural, in my opinion. And that`s not to say that I agree with it all, too. I think some of the cultural work practices here are just as idiotic as some other things are in the U.S. It`s just different. And there are clear advantages and disadvantages to both systems.
Posted by Jim Grisanzio on January 15, 2009 at 11:25 AM JST #
find ... I haven`t seen the pushers you cite. I`ve seen videos of them from the 80s, but I have not seen them since I`ve been here. People are capable of pushing themselves on to trains -- and they do, believe me. There is enough room now with flex time.
Posted by Jim Grisanzio on January 15, 2009 at 11:27 AM JST #
I have worked in Japan in const and I think they have high standards,but these standards are a part of there everyday life,it carries over into everything they do.I very much enjoyed workin there and would jump at the chance to go again.
Posted by reg on October 14, 2009 at 08:11 AM JST #