Unconstructive Attitude

You know those construction crew guys whose job it is to stand out in the middle of the road holding the stop/slow signs to direct traffic during lane closures? They’re called flagmen, and it’s a stressful job, no doubt.

One would think they had it tough enough with the obvious perils and likely frustrations associated with their job. But, as it turns out, these workers have also become a catch-all for motorists who want to vent their road rage.

While reporting on this issue’s work-zone safety article, we found that several companies that handle road work and the Association of General Contractors report extremely poor treatment of their flagmen by a number of drivers.

Lane closures have been kept to a minimum during Nabholz Construction Corp.’s work on a 6.6-mile portion of U.S. Highway 62 in Rogers, said Nabholz executive Greg Fogle.

However, when closures are necessary, it gets ugly.

“My guys are cussed out on a daily basis,” he said. “People go out of their way to roll down their window as they are driving by and tell them off.”

They take out their annoyance on the workers, but Fogle blames the situation more than the drivers. “It’s like if you’re at the airport, people take out their frustrations on the people at the check-in desk, even though it’s out of their hands.”

But when it’s his workers, an executive like Fogle takes it personally. “Those guys are like my sons,” he said.

These days, most people on the road have a jam-packed schedule from when they head off for work in the morning to when they go home. But we all know it’s not the construction workers’ fault the lane is closed.

Fogle said the positive feedback his men get often makes up for the poor treatment on other occasions.

He points to an instance where a woman driving through the Highway 62 construction zone took time out to hunt down the Nabholz complaint hotline number, pull over her car and call the number. But instead of calling to give a complaint, she called to give praise to Nabholz on the state of the construction zone and how it was being handled.

She specifically commended the manners of the workers, Fogle said. “That was great.”