From fetching a bucket of sparks to being asked to go to the shop for a long weight – pranks are part-and-parcel of being on a manual labour site.
It is tough work, so team members use practical jokes as a way to make the days feel shorter, as well as teach each other valuable lessons.
With over 15 years of experience working in the home services industry, Go Assist’s team of appliance engineers and plumbers is no stranger to playing pranks on the job.
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In fact, they’ve found that over 8 in 10 people (86.4%) believe that pranks are a positive way to bring newcomers into the fold.
Participants say it can help boost morale and build team spirit.
Builders have also shared videos of the funniest jokes they have pulled on each other.
Out of a list of 11 pranks, Go Assist tried to determine which one was at the top of the pile and the votes were in.
Brits were tasked with rating each story from 1 to 5, with one being ‘stiff upper lip, no reaction’ and five being ‘absolutely creased, rolling with laughter’.
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The number one prank played on site? Shaking a spray can that will never stop rattling.
“Whilst out on a job the apprentice was tasked with getting the spray can ready, ‘shake it until it stops rattling,” said Go Assist.
“45 minutes later the youngster finally clocked onto the joke.”
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It is a simple yet effective prank!
The brilliant spray-can-themed joke scored a crucial 54.5% to claim the top spot amongst the voters.
In second place at a respectable 51.8% score was a story about an apprentice who was asked to find a peculiar saw.
“Whilst on site the builder was lacking a particular tool, sending the apprentice round to the other workers for a ‘Dino Saw’,” said Go Assist.
Youngsters on site wanting to prove their worth will always fall for this one.
A forklift-themed bit of fun pipped onto the podium too, scoring 46.4% in the votes for third place.
The joke goes: “A new hire was approached by the forklift driver who informed him the tyre was flat, halfway through calling the engineer the loud laughter in the warehouse made them notice the ‘non-inflatable’ tyres fitted on the truck.”
Other popular pranks have been filmed by builders on-site and shared online, with TikToks getting hundreds of thousands of views.
VIDEO: ‘GLUE HIS HELMET ON’
One builder’s colleague wouldn’t stop leaving his helmet on the saw.
To highlight safety on work sites, Chris Rose, 32, lined the rim of the headgear with glue.
It’s safe to say the worker learnt his lesson after eventually ripping the hard hat off his head.
VIDEO: ‘USE THESE TOOLS AT YOUR OWN RISK’
In another video, an apprentice who had left his toolbox in the middle of the room was also subjected to a funny practical joke.
In the video, you can see a senior electrician screwing it to the floor.
VIDEO: ‘CAN I HAVE SOME TARTAN PAINT, PLEASE?’
One of the most classic pranks on a building site is to ask a new, less experienced worker to the shop to get a strange item.
In another video, a senior team member from JK Electrical requests a tin of tartan paint from B&Q.
His young apprentice dutifully agrees to head to the store.
Even the shop worker has a laugh when the colleague of the apprentice appears from around the corner laughing and recording.
A happy workforce makes for great results for customers, and pranks certainly boost morale on the job.
It’s not all fun and games for Go Assist though, having attended over 200,000 repairs across the UK over the past 15 years with over 13,000 five-star reviews.
Whether it’s an appliance repair, a plumbing issue or a boiler fault, contact Go Assist for a helping hand.
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