in a foundry youre never really safe when you think you are

a reply to: ketsuko



I had the same problem with my previous car.I got too comfortable driving
it and I T-boned an explorer that ran a red light. I have had my "new" car
for nearly 12 years now.I am still a wee bit concerned at busy intersections.

You always have to be aware that anything can happen in a heart beat.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

the thing that makes me most uncomfortable is having to get # or put # up on the high racks that are probably 25 feet up. i always try to grab a guy from shipping but sometimes they are not around and i need to get # done.
it all just depends. depending on what it is, where it is and where it is oriented sometimes i just dont because it freaks me out.

a lot of our bars are 144" long and they might be loose. they might be banded up. they might be loose behind other bars that i need to move. it is pretty freaky man.

a reply to: TinySickTears

It sounds freaky. Yeah I wouldn’t cut any corners to save time.

a reply to: TinySickTears

.5 over or under and the job is scrap. it is very touchy to get in the range.

Pin tube samples taken when melt is homogenous and analyzed via gas chromatograph...

Complex science alright.

a reply to: intrptr

we dont use pin tubes though.
just a different kind of sample. use spectro's in the lab.

i use a handheld xrf gun quite a bit

www.bruker.com...

something like that but made by a different company

a reply to: TinySickTears

Nice toy. Newer tech, for an old school scrapper.

My husband works in a medical supplies factory, and he's always amused (albeit sarcastically) by the fact that despite what they make, there's always an idiot somewhere in there waiting to f# up everyone's day & warrant an ER trip. It's not usually the operators making serious safety errors, his beef is with mechanics/techs who should know better. He's had to deal with people not depressurizing high pressure lines & getting bit in the ass for it, to press temps being set way too high and igniting the materials. As he likes to say, "It's all fun & games until someone goes full retard. Then it's just a lot of paperwork for me and no job for them."

a reply to: TinySickTears

Thats why I say, lower your truck height as soon as you choose where you are going and see how tall it is.

GET OUT to see how tall and if there are obstacles, like a door that wasnt opened all the way....

Glad no one was hurt.

originally posted by: incoserv
The reality is that in life you're never really safe when you think you are. Nowhere, no place, us completely safe. We all live daily on the edge of destruction. It's a big, dangerous world.

Very true. Even in a downtown city with low crime, you have to worry about fast moving buses, construction workers on scaffolding, vehicles coming out of nowhere, debris falling from roofs.

I remember being 10 years old walking through a large DIY warehouse store with my parents. This place had a workshop for making custom orders at the back. One moment, there was a ringing sound, my dad grabbed me before I walked into the aisle at the far end (opposite the workshop door), followed by a tap-tap-tap bang sound. When we went to that aisle, there was a large buzz saw blade embedded in the plaster wall by about three inches.

There is always risk to working for a living, whether working construction work or factory work. I have seen some accidents with fork lifts in Kohler when I was there, nobody was killed though. On construction I have seen some accidents happen and people get hurt pretty bad, mostly backs and gashes. I have fallen from ladders a few times in my life, and a few workers fell from roofs over the years, both roof falls landed them in the snowbank, they didn't get hurt, shoveling roofs are a bitch, but a one story fall doesn't usually cause much problem other than being stuck in the snowbank up to your waste and needing assistance getting out.

After reading the OP and posts here , I am, glad I left my days in manufacturing way behind. Yes , I can still operate a fork-lift or pole lift with the best of em. Yeah , I can still lift and carry a god awful amount of stuff over and over
But , working from home is much safer (or seems to be) . I now just strain my brain , and not my back.

Thanks for the memories , but no thanks.

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
.I wouldnt want any foundry worker job at any pay...

its rough and i hate it a lot of the time but i like it a lot of the time too. while i have to work on the melt deck sometimes and on the foundry side sometimes i am in a little better spot cause i am tech. i spend a lot of time in the lab. a lot of time on the warehouse side after # has been cast. im good at what i do. that helps

the big thing for me is i have to deal with very few people and of course they are all roughnecks like me. no customer service stupid # with people complaining. i have to sit in meetings and i dont like that.

if i could make the same money at wal mart or at a restaurant or something i would not do it. that would be far worse for me.

Gotcha...Hey TST? Be careful anywhere around your job site, whether foundry, slag, office, dock...even dum-ass co-workers...anywhere. It only takes a split second as your OP demonstrates. And we wouldnt want to lose you here!