![\"Mind](\"https:\/\/norimen.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9f5f954dc6e4e039e4d29ea891309d4a.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHello, everyone.<\/p>\n
This is Enta.<\/p>\n
Haven\u2019t you seen a craftsman like this at least once on a job site?<\/p>\n
\"That's not my job.\"<\/p>\n
\"Isn't that Mr.\/Ms. \u25cb\u25cb's responsibility?\"<\/p>\n
\"I only do what I'm told.\"<\/p>\n
This is it. This is the one.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just slope workers\u2014there are definitely a certain number of them at construction sites.<\/p>\n
A craftsman who thinks, \u201cThat\u2019s not my job.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To be more specific, it looks something like this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Let's say you're drilling holes at a site where ground anchors and shotcrete work are being done, and there are people applying the shotcrete. (Everyone is a colleague from the same company.)<\/p>\n
The drilling machine stopped due to a mechanical problem, so we had some downtime from drilling.<\/p>\n
The drilling workers said, \u201cSpray coating isn\u2019t our specialty,\u201d and even though they\u2019re from the same company, they wouldn\u2019t help with cleanup after the spray coating work.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At the steel framing site, the spray team and the assembly team are on site.<\/p>\n
After the formwork was completed, debris was scattered around the construction site.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like the assembly team\u2019s workers just say, \u201cThe spray team will clean it up, right?\u201d and then head home...<\/p>\n
Even though we're at the same company...<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ah... You know that feeling when you're like, \"Oh, there they are!\" right? lol<\/p>\n
I don't think this is limited to the construction industry; I believe it's a common occurrence in manufacturing and the food service industry as well.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just that, since construction sites often involve multiple trades working together, I feel like this issue tends to stand out more.<\/p>\n
You know how there are people who come in having already decided that this is all they're going to do today?<\/p>\n
![\"Gazing](\"https:\/\/norimen.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1b2d68dc0d07a89ad7511068f818556f.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I actually heard this at a safety meeting somewhere a while back.<\/p>\n
From a psychological perspective, several concepts fit the situation perfectly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2460 Role Theory (based on the Google search below)<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a concept from sociology and psychology that suggests people tend to act only within the scope of the roles assigned to them.<\/p>\n The key point is that \u201cthe clearer a role is, the more one should avoid getting involved in matters outside of that role.\u201d<\/p>\n The more clearly roles are divided on-site\u2014such as \u201cdrilling,\u201d \u201cspraying,\u201d and \u201cscaffolding\u201d\u2014the less workers tend to get involved in tasks outside their assigned roles.<\/p>\n In the field of organizational psychology, \u201cRigid Role Boundaries<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\"It seems to be a phenomenon known as...\"<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2461 Bystander Effect<\/strong><\/p>\n This psychological phenomenon was studied in response to the Kitty Genovese case, which occurred in New York in 1964. Simply put, it\u2019s the psychological tendency to think, \u201cThe more people are around, the more likely someone else will help, so I won\u2019t do anything myself.\u201d<\/p>\n There are five workers on site. Right in front of them, someone is in trouble. But no one does anything.<\/p>\n The mindset behind saying, \u201cSomeone else will do it, right?\u201d<\/p>\n It seems that the larger the scale of the incident, the more pronounced the bystander effect becomes!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2462 Lack of psychological safety<\/strong><\/p>\n This was proposed by organizational psychologist Amy Edmondson (Harvard University).<\/p>\n Driven by the fear of being seen as \u201coverstepping their authority\u201d or \u201cgetting in trouble for meddling,\u201d people tend to avoid getting involved in matters outside their area of responsibility.<\/p>\n In particular, at that worksite, there is a tendency to be especially harsh toward \u201cnewcomers or people who have been scolded in the past for meddling.\u201d<\/p>\n The point is that if you say this on a job site\u2014even just once\u2014to someone who\u2019s been told, \u201cOh, you don\u2019t need to touch that,\u201d they\u2019ll absolutely refuse to move from that point on.<\/p>\n You know how I feel, right...<\/p>\n I don't want to get any complaints, either.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Supported by rule of thumb<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s a huge difference in the scope of work a few years down the line between a craftsman who\u2019s been scolded for overstepping their authority and one who\u2019s been praised for being willing to do anything.<\/p>\n The former\u2019s scope of responsibility keeps getting narrower, while the latter is becoming someone people rely on more and more.<\/p>\n Craftsmen who take the lead tend to be well-liked.<\/p>\n If we just brush this off by saying, \u201cIt\u2019s that person\u2019s fault for not helping,\u201d nothing will change, so let\u2019s also talk about how to deal with it.<\/p>\n First and foremost, it is a mistake to dismiss artisans who think, \u201cThat\u2019s not my job,\u201d as simply a matter of personal character, and<\/p>\n As you can see from the psychological background, this is clearly a structural problem, isn't it?<\/p>\n There are two main things you can do as a site supervisor or foreman.<\/p>\n \u2460 Evaluate \u201cgoing the extra mile\u201d (make it clear from the start that you want them to do this)<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, making a point of noticing and verbally praising actions like \u201ctaking the initiative to do something outside their assigned responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n \"It really helped that you gave me a hand,\" or something like that.<\/p>\n With just these few words, that person's next action is sure to change.<\/p>\n It is said that both the bystander effect and a lack of psychological safety can be significantly mitigated simply by making people aware that \u201csomeone is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2461 Designing the \u201cGray Zone\u201d in the Scope of Work<\/strong><\/p>\n Instead of saying, \u201cThe person in charge of drilling is only responsible for drilling,\u201d include tasks outside their assigned responsibilities in their role from the start, such as, \u201cOnce you\u2019re done drilling, please tidy up the area around the worksite.\u201d<\/p>\n These are the steps you should take when you start work or before beginning a task.<\/p>\n If you bring it up later, they'll just say, \"I didn't hear that.\"<\/p>\n Construction projects involve multiple trades working together at a single site.<\/p>\n Drilling, grouting, head treatment, formwork, shotcrete, scaffolding... it's all interconnected.<\/p>\n It\u2019s that \u201cThat\u2019s not my job\u201d mentality among workers in a single trade that throws off the entire workflow on site, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n I'm not saying it's great just because there are a lot of people, but when others take care of the little tasks I haven't gotten around to, I can go home early lol<\/p>\n And it\u2019s always the \u201cjack-of-all-trades\u201d and the site supervisor who end up bearing the brunt of it.<\/p>\n I believe that it is the job of supervisors and foremen to consider how to create a \u201cwork environment that fosters craftsmen capable of handling any task,\u201d based on an understanding of the psychological background.<\/p>\n So let them keep at it\u2014if you train them to be craftsmen who can handle every type of work, the whole team will improve.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n See you later.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, everyone. This is Enta. Haven\u2019t you seen workers like this at least once on a job site? \u201cThat\u2019s not my job.\u201d \u201cIsn\u2019t that Mr.\/Ms. \u25cb\u25cb\u2019s responsibility?\u201d \u201cI only do what I\u2019m told to do.\u201d This is exactly what I\u2019m talking about. It\u2019s not just slope workers\u2014there are definitely a certain number of them on every construction site\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[203,2494,14213,14214,14215,14216],"class_list":["post-58532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-others","tag-203","tag-2494","tag-14213","tag-14214","tag-14215","tag-14216"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n(Research by psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latan\u00e9, 1968).<\/p>\n
\nSo, how should we handle this on the ground?<\/h2>\n
![\"Work](\"https:\/\/norimen.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ddde85217d1ba524b1dcd4e809a16102.jpg\")
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