16 - Osha O’clock - the most dangerous time of the day.

With the advent of the internet and our egos generally not getting any smaller, we often think as humans we can do / fix whatever, whenever.  Sometimes we shouldn’t, especially at “Osha O’clock.”  This time would be categorized in your mind as “Safety Second.”

Osha O’clock is that special time of the day when mistakes, cuts and bruises are most likely to happen.  It happens to the best of us but most often to landlords who feel they are invincible and want to save a dollar.  This special time is first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  First thing in the morning the coffee is still kicking in, and as you get the tools together your brain is almost clear.  Since what you are doing you probably do not do everyday, this is a great time for the saw you just plugged in to “happen to slip” and slice a body part, or that lumber you just picked up to hit you in the head / or hit that light bulb above your head.  It becomes less of the accident you had, and more about the collateral damage that occurred because you don’t do the job everyday.

The other special Osha O’clock time occurs right before you should be going home.  Inevitably there is some sense of angst…you are just trying to get that last piece of the project done or a tenant waited until the last possible second to say something had to be fixed.  Now your body is tired and your mind already is diverted to the beer in the fridge and here you are with tools in your hand.  This is not the time to start a new construction project. It is the time to find yourself in the emergency room or rushing to find an extra widget to fix something, then not fix it right.

Because of two factors, Osha O’clock and the fact that you don’t fix stuff everyday it is often better to keep a shortlist of professionals on hand to take care of these times.  A professional is considered someone with a license to do the work.  You may pay premium money one time, but when it has to get done right, hire someone to do the work, send you a pic of it done, then take that monkey off your back.  Nothing is worse in the kingdom of landlording than a festering wound…physically or mentally.

Focus on maintaining right, rework never.