American Time Blog

Accurate, synchronized clocks in your building, school or facility are more than a convenience. When clocks display the wrong time or different times from each other, major disruptions and even risks can happen, such as….

• Meetings, classes or shifts start and end at different times, causing confusion and inefficiency
• Wages or compensation are disputed
• Critical tasks like surgeries, food prep or manufacturing processes aren’t tracked or reported accurately
• Maintenance staff spend too much time on clock repairs and adjustments

With Daylight Saving Time (DST) coming up, you may discover that some of your clocks don’t adjust properly after the change happens. As a result, you could end up dealing with employee or staff complaints, classes or shift changes that may be off, and maintenance teams that are bogged down with work orders.

To prepare, here are some quick troubleshooting tips for clocks that don’t adjust correctly for DST.

Daylight saving time (DST) changes were formally established in most of the United States almost 60 years ago, but the biannual changes continue to be a hassle for maintenance teams, facility managers, IT staff and anyone else in charge of keeping a building running smoothly.

Here are some tips for preparing your clocks for DST and troubleshooting if things don’t go as planned.

Follow the tips below to ensure your clocks and clock systems are ready for the time change.

Routinely check your clocks leading up to Daylight Saving Time

The beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time serve as natural reminders to make sure your facility's clocks are reliably keeping everyone on schedule.

To ensure that a wired system clock is syncing correctly, unplug it, wait at least 10 seconds, and plug it back in. The clock should be receiving synchronization signals from the master controller and display the correct time within 24 hours.

You can take a similar approach to your wireless system battery-operated clocks. Take the battery out, assuring the clock hands come to a complete stop, and reinstall it.

This is a good time to check the life of your batteries, too. If a battery is supplying 1.5 volts or more, it should be good to go. The clock will automatically be on time within 12 hours or sooner.

How much time do you spend making coffee in the morning, making the bed, brushing your teeth – heck, how about putting on your socks? Wait, don't answer that question; it's best not to think about how many hours of your life are consumed with mundane tasks.

The reality is that while we pursue meaningful lives, so much of our days are used up by chores that we would automate if we could, freeing up more time for the things we actually care about. This translates to work, too.

For facility managers, there are few aspects of routine maintenance that can be put on autopilot, but adjusting the clocks is one of those. Here, we'll calculate just how much time you have to spend making sure your clocks are on pace, time that you could get back with a synchronized clock system.

It's a fast-paced world out there. Hesitate for an instant and an opportunity of a lifetime can become the opportunity of someone else's lifetime. There are moments, though, when we can forgive ourselves for feeling a little off. Two moments, exactly: One day every spring and fall, when the clocks move forward or backward as we go through the ritual period of recalibration we call Daylight Saving Time.

Still, in this periodically forgiving model of reality, there is one place where you can never be off. If you work in a hospital, you aren't allowed to have a bad day. That's because people's health depends on hospital staff being at their best.

To get the most out of your staff, it helps if they arrive to work every day at a smoothly operating facility. There's one foundational technology at the heart of every such place: the clocks.

There are many societal norms we can rebel against if we want. Not hungry in the morning? You can skip breakfast. Tired of the 9 to 5? You can buy a Volkswagen van and tour the country until you run out of money.

Usually, if something doesn't feel right, you can just opt out, practical repercussions aside. But there is one imperial force against which individual rebellion is futile: Daylight Savings Time begins November 3rd.

Not every region follows the practice, but if you happen to find yourself in the vast majority of the U.S. where clocks are set forward an hour in the spring and back again in the fall, this is one instance where you'll make it easier on yourself by going with the flow.

How long will you let the clock in your car show the wrong digits after Daylight Saving Time kicks-in on March 11? A day? A month? Do you just ride it out and wait for the time to switch back?

You might be able to get away with such a carefree approach in your personal vehicle, but it's different if it's your job to keep a facility running smoothly – be it a school, hospital or factory. So, if you need to make sure your clocks are on time all the time, here are a few ways you can prepare to spring forward.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is coming to an end Nov. 3 throughout the U.S. — except in those places like Hawaii and most of Arizona where DST isn't practiced. It's time to set our clocks back to Standard Time. While this might cause your body's internal clock to go haywire, it shouldn't cause your company operations to be chaotic as well. Here are a few tips to prepare for the end of Daylight Saving Time.