>i was thinking how this perception of requiring three people per station
>got started, and (as i have said before) it might have been when my new
>sign up sheets were redesigned with the three named positions you
>mention, resulting in this new minimum 'requirement'. the design of a
>sign up sheet should not result in a change in requirement for staffing
> a workstation.
We had these positions before the sheet was redesigned...
>then, 7 those very nice numbered workstation signs were made, and now
>all of sudden we need 7 work stations every event.
FWIW, there are 8 station signs. We occasionally put out all 8, usually
only 7 or sometimes 6 for our shorter courses.
As we are designing our courses now (i.e. being blessed with relatively
large sites and thus spread out courses), 7 stations is usually appropriate
IF you want to avoid reruns and holding the start.
As in, we can get by with fewer stations, but it will likely take more than
20 seconds to reset at least some of the cones. Our current "between car"
interval most of the time is 25 seconds, but it takes several seconds to
react and you don't want the worker resetting the cone RIGHT before the next
car is there.
When you place (lack of) workers and stations to have more than this 20
seconds or so to reset cones, you end up with more downed cones being
stopped for (i.e. rerun), more held starts, and a slower "flow" to the day.
Alternative is to purposely shorten the courses so that fewer stations cover
it with the same number of workers per station. I haven't seen any great
"call" out there in SFR for shorter courses :).
Other alternative is fewer stations but with more cone chasers per station
to cover the cones safely in well under 25 seconds (i.e. one cone chaser at
station 2 covers half of the station's cones, another covers the other
half). It might not buy you much in terms of getting by with fewer workers
(i.e. 5x4 is only one less than 7x3).
>id like to demonstrate at the next event how i can safely work a station
>by myself. certainly two experienced people (one flagger and one
>radio/shagger) are plenty.
One person alone at a station is a safety hazard if you are running more
than one car on course at a time (i.e. ALL of our events), and a safety
steward should (rightfully) stop the event immediately if it happens.
Namely, if you are out getting a cone and get a call to throw out the red
flag, you will NOT be in position to effectively throw it. You also are
likely not looking for cars as dilligently as you should be if you are
trying to juggle the flag at the same time AND operate a radio.
I would agree that two VERY experienced people can operate a station safely
in a pinch (one doing flag and radio, other running for cone), since they
are (much) more likely to make the call to hold start or throw a red flag in
an unsafe situation. Note the side effect that this slows down your course
operation.
I would also throw out the fact that we tend to NOT send out ONLY
experienced people on course....especially in situations where we are short
handed. Of course, if you are a shorthanded event chair and make the
decision to throw all the rookies in the motor home while putting all the
experience on course.....well, good luck :)
Ed
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