A survey of UK construction workers undertaken by legal consultant Protecting.co.uk has found that three quarters of tradespeople admit to doing at least one "Friday job" – in which they cut corners in order to steal a march on the weekend.
I knew that light switch was upside down, but it was time to go to the pub
The study, which surveyed 500 workers, showed that 76% admitted to rushing work, as opposed to 15% who said they never had.
One worker commented: "It was Friday afternoon – I knew that light switch was upside down, and shame on me, but it was time to go to the pub."
Another, who confessed to rushing interior decorating jobs in the run-up to the weekend, said: "It’s almost traditional now. Friday afternoon jobs get done quickly so you can have an early finish for the weekend. Everybody does it."
A decorator from London commented "I didn’t use masking tape and let’s just say I hope that customer is blind as those lines are not straight."
Chris Hall, spokesperson for Protecting.co.uk, said: "Not only do these ‘Friday jobs’ tend to result in problems which can cost consumers dearly further down the line, they also open up a can of worms when it comes to health and safety. If the correct precautions aren’t taken due to workers being preoccupied, trade businesses could be liable for much more than just complaints and money spent fixing botched jobs."
He added that firms could introduce "early finish Fridays" to reduce the temptation to speed through jobs.
Image: Near enough … (GCR)
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It’s no wonder that the Construction Industry gets a bad name with comments like this. I am from the old school where pride in my work was paramount. That is not the case nowadays by the sounds of it. I’ve also noticed that workers from Poland and other countries that come here to work put pride of work high on their endeavors to impress others. We need to change our attitudes; the client deserves better.