Responsibility

I am on a rant again about responsibility. The production hours at work changed today. A normal start time of 7am was moved to 5am so the operators could get out at 1 and rest up for their New Years celebrations. Very nice on the part of their boss who usually won't allow this to happen. In the past there have been communication issues when hours have changed. Forgetting to notify QC or maintenance of the change and operators forgetting to set timers for the change. I was notified of the change two days ago and wasn't to happy. I only had to work 3.5 hours in the first place and would have liked the extra two hours of sleep, but I complied with the operators wishes.
The four operators that were to work today were the one's that pushed for the time change. When I got in this morning they were all sitting in the lunch room as usual. For the past year or so I've been in earlier then them and have gone and turned on some melters to allow them to start up on time. I told them yesterday that I wouldn't be in until 5, therefore they would have to turn the glue on. No one did. They all forgot. As I went out to turn it on I noticed that the major melters were not running. They are on a clock which should have been changed yesterday to reflect the starting time change. No one did it. This glue takes 1 1/2 hours to heat up from cold. This caused a 1 1/2 hour delay in their start up time. The acting Production Supervisor took the fall for this. I say it wasn't his fault. He notified them that their wishes for an earlier time change had been granted. It is not up to him to make sure the line is ready to start up. These people work on a line every day and know their start times. They tried to lay it on the operator who isn't here today. I say no! One of them should have taken the initiative to make sure the timers were set. He could care less, he's off today. He probably could have looked into it but in the long run these operators should take the fall. This is why their boss doesn't allow different start times. This is why I am no longer a boss...I cannot stand when people cannot take the blame for their own mistakes. Sad thing is that I know come Monday when the Production Supervisor is going through the numbers from today he will announce the delay and stand there and take the fall. Not one of them will speak up and claim responsibility.

Happy New Year to all! May you all have a safe and fun evening.