Executive Summary. Listen to my chat, on the live jobsite, with Paul Hartmann who is a big job rebar foreman. We talk about his career, advice to others coming up in the trades, and the industry as a whole.

Life of a steel guy on the big job. Paul is a towering human being on the jobsite and runs his scope of work with efficiency, toughness, and respect to both his workers and his client (the general contractor, first, and the project owner, second).

The general contractor’s superintendent relies on Paul and his “family”, as he called it, to get the rebar in place, correct, and on time to support the aggressive schedule. Paul is orchestrating thousands of tons of rebar, one rebar stick, a hundred pounds, at a time. He does a great job.

Paul Hartmann, left, and Scott Jennings discuss Paul’s experience in the trade and advice to younger folks coming up in the trade or through

Our chat. Keeping it real. Paul took me in the mind of being a supervisor of one of construction’s toughest jobs: rodbusting. Our talk was interrupted maybe three times by a phone call and one of his guys needing direction. It was real.

My story. Steel is heavy, and when extruded in the shape of a rod, it does a great job of penetrating the human body. I shared a story of being in the hospital with a victim’s wife, and Paul shared his story of personal impalement. This is a ‘no joke/safety first’ trade, and one to be proud of. Thanks Paul for the great talk!

Work safe!