What are some industries that you wouldn't want to work in?

[Steve Bailey]

If you want someplace healthy, find someplace where there are lots of spiders and other bugs...if they don't live in the building you are thinking of working in there is probably a reason why

One of my customers is a waste-to-energy facility. They burn household trash to generate electricity. By the above standard they're one of healthiest places I work in 'cause there's all sorts of critters. Flies all over the place in the summer, gulls in the parking lot, rats and feral cats in the trash piles, and then there's the smell...

Seriously, as others have mentioned, it's not the specific industry that should concern you as much as the health and safety culture of the facility itself. It's possible to work safely in a dangerous environment as long as everybody takes safety seriously. It's equally possible to get hurt in a place you wouldn't naturally consider hazardous.

 

[leitmotif]

If you want someplace healthy, find someplace where there are lots of spiders and other bugs...if they don't live in the building you are thinking of working in there is probably a reason why...

Hmm the bugs n spiders as an index indicator of safe work place. Never thought of it this way. Makes sense.

There is a precedent - cararies in coal mines.

Dan Bentler

 

[KB1GNI]

Not necessarily dangerous, but I'd have to think long and hard before working in a dairy facility.

 

[gas]

As a retired and part time guy I have found that the dirtier and smellier the more you can charge.
Go home, shower, throw your clothes in the washer and write a BIG bill while the washer is running.
You do have to carefully watch out for your own safety though.

 

[Cow]

Not necessarily dangerous, but I'd have to think long and hard before working in a dairy facility.

I do a ton of dairy work and my folks own a dairy to boot. Only city folk worry about a little cow poop....

If you don't like dairies, I bet you'd really love wastewater plants....those are DISGUSTING!

 

[KB1GNI]

I worked on a dairy farm for a number of years, so the whole shoveling shiite thing doesn't bother me in the least. Farm work is no problem.

Sour milk, on the other hand...

I have also worked in the waste water industry and some of the waste streams we dealt with were... unpleasant to say the least.

Back on topic, the plating lines were probably not a place I'd care to work at long-term either, due to the fumes, etc. at some of the places I visited.

 

[Tom Jenkins]

If you don't like dairies, I bet you'd really love wastewater plants....those are DISGUSTING!

Oh, I don't know, Cow. It smells like money to me.

There are two things I avoid. One is people that not only don't know, but don't give a darn. If they also ridicule safety precautions, I'm out of there. It doesn't matter what industry it is.

The other thing I avoid is boring and repetitive work. Wastewater qualifies there in spades. I've been in hundreds of plants all over the world, and never saw two the same, or even two with the identical process mix.

 

[SSeven]

The Absolute worst place to work.

I had to post something here!
I have worked in some of the worst environments you can possibly think of and felt safe!
That would include working in the environs of some of the most carcinogenic chemicals known to man!
I grew up on a farm and it has been drilled in to me about safety in dairying. Get enough cow poop in an enclosed space and it will kill you.
But I have to say the worst place I have ever worked in, and I mean the worst place!
Is having to work with work colleagues who had a "self medication" problem. No amount of health and safety will solve that problem!

I suppose this is a nice introduction for my first post

 

[leitmotif]

Why is it everyone jumps into the manure pile regarding dairies? If I were to work there that would be the least of my concerns on a daily basis.

My biggest concern would be being able to walk on the super slick floors. If I worked near the animals my concern would be one kicking me. I saw the training program put together by State of Wisconsin regarding kick prevention (and I am not talking football or soccer here)

Dan Bentler

 

[curlyandshemp]

Why is it everyone jumps into the manure pile regarding dairies? If I were to work there that would be the least of my concerns on a daily basis.

My biggest concern would be being able to walk on the super slick floors. If I worked near the animals my concern would be one kicking me. I saw the training program put together by State of Wisconsin regarding kick prevention (and I am not talking football or soccer here)

Dan Bentler

Dairy plants don't have the cow poop issue, it is dairy farms where the raw cream is retreived from.
In fact all modern dairy plants keep the drivers of dairy farm trucks isolated from the rest of the plant when they unload raw cream.
Even the CIP system that wash dairy trucks is a separate system , usually single use meaning after evey wash the recirculated chemical is dumped to drain and never reused.

 

[leitmotif]

Dairy plants don't have the cow poop issue, it is dairy farms where the raw cream is retreived from.
In fact all modern dairy plants keep the drivers of dairy farm trucks isolated from the rest of the plant when they unload raw cream.
Even the CIP system that wash dairy trucks is a separate system , usually single use meaning after evey wash the recirculated chemical is dumped to drain and never reused.

Yup. Biggest hazards in milk processing facilities are the slick floors and forklift drivers.

Dan Bentler

 

[curlyandshemp]

Yup. Biggest hazards in milk processing facilities are the slick floors and forklift drivers.

Dan Bentler

Actually the biggest hazard to a controls guy is the operator with a high pressure hose, hosing everything in site.

Water and laptops still don't mix.

Also have issues with HMIs, and I dont know why they all do this, all usually have an open vent grill at the top back, the part inside a panel.

Tops of HMIs and water also do not mix.

 

[geniusintraining]

Any plant that has a boiler/thermal oxidizer that I need to restart and re-heat the system

I had to change the oil in a system this was about 20k gallons and took a few days, the oil heated the water/boiler so we needed to heat it back up and it also took a few days

After everything cooled then heated back up we had a ton of leaks (water and oil) that needed to be fixed

First time I saw a heat ex-changer jump about 2 feet, it was about 30ft long and 6ft in diameter

The whole time the plant manager saying "we need to run production now!"

 

[icky812]

Any plant where I walk into the boiler room in the middle of August at 7am and don't get to leave until 1am. I think I lost about 20 pounds that day.

 

[leitmotif]

Actually the biggest hazard to a controls guy is the operator with a high pressure hose, hosing everything in site.

Water and laptops still don't mix.

Also have issues with HMIs, and I dont know why they all do this, all usually have an open vent grill at the top back, the part inside a panel.

Tops of HMIs and water also do not mix.

When THAT guy comes in I go out. I had only one experience with him. Left, went to shop and put on dry coveralls.

Dan Bentler