I've worked for a few large corporations in heavy industry (refineries, tire manufacturing, barge repair & maintenance, etc.) and and several small residential construction and repair outfits. I can say from experience, the big companies will talk about safety and then proceed to overlook a lot of it, especially if it slows down production. Yet at least those places know OSHA is always a concern so they do make an effort. The smaller home construction/repair businesses are the worst. To them, OSHA is just something to make jokes about. Small outfits love to hire immigrants and guys that have a record or something, so they have to do as the straw boss says "or else." Safety is so far down the list of priorities with many of these building contractors that its just ridiculous.
That definitely coincides with my observations too. The smaller contractors are often the ones that put the least skilled in the most dangerous positions. Like videos I have seen with greenhorns carrying shingles up a roof, it seems universal it’s the least experienced person and they push them to the limit physically. If the person gets hurt the company folds, only to open up under a different name. Pretty sad situation no doubt.
100% on point. I remember the dangerous cowboys i worked for in the early 1980s here in New Zealand and i seriously wonder how i got thru it unscathed??. in the end i got really pissed off with the boss for asking me to do something dangerous that wouldve cost $40 to do not only safely but correctly. And i yelled at the boss that i wasnt going to let the 17 yr old apprentice do it either. He went nuts of course... but i stood firm and watched him do it.. just to prove how safe it was stupid prick.. I resigned a month later. Sadly i heard on the grapevine 6 mths later that the 17 yr old had lost 2 fingers because no one bothered to stop for 5 minutes to work out a plan to do the man handling of a large item off the back of a trailer and it tipped on to the lowest point where he had his hand under of course. Absolutely fking disgusting maiming a 17 yr old and it was all too predictable.. I became extremely aggressive in all my following jobs and would not hesitate to jump in if i thought anything stupid was going down... When i had my own eng business my 1st day speech to all new employees would include that i will always 100% back you up if you ever feel unsafe anywhere on the job. STOP AND CALL ME... And i will never ever give you shit for it even if you are wrong as that fault lays solely with me as i clearly haven't either supervised you or trained you correctly.. safety is a zero blame culture for me.. if you don't know why you were wrong then that's not your fault. I also told my teenage kids when they started doing part time jobs for the likes of mcdonalds etc that just because your supervisor says its ok doesn't mean you don't stop for a minute and think it thru for yourself to make sure its safe to go ahead. Remember your super is probably a 19 yr old who has no real work experience or ever seen something dangerous so why would you trust them with your safety.
Thanks for sharing the stories and no doubt you’re right to stand your ground. That is so unfortunate about the 17 year old. That’s awesome that you took such a positive approach towards safety moving forward. Being safe and getting work done can co exist, and it’s worth it to have a workforce that speaks up over one that stays silent of safety issues. Staying silent just means you won’t see a major injury coming.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg yep its a culture thing and the macho "shell be right mate" BS is exactly that BS. Its all about common sense and communicating effectively and allowing everyone involved to have their say.
Good un on you!! Too many workers feel helpless when it comes to this kind of stuff. Like you said, it's not just for you but for everybody else that has and still does work at a place like this --not to mention the risk to the general public if they are that level of douchebags! Great/Important video.
It’s a bad place to be stuck in an unsafe situation and knowing you need the money. I wouldn’t have believed a place as bad as the one in the video existed in today’s world until I was part of it. I know that isn’t the only place like it, and I don’t want to see people having to be put through stuff like that. In so many cases all it takes is for one person to speak up to make a difference for a whole bunch of people.
Great topic!! My opinion is if the company is asking you knowing to do something dangerous or the company overlooks your safety it’s time to call OAHA! Or MSHAW for us Miners. I spoke with the MSHAW inspector he was a field guy talked about real life issues they are here for the workers. Working fora different company it treated employees like shit doing substandard work osha is was called in investing claims found faults and issued citations. MSHAW don’t play they can shut down a sight I’ve personally seen inspector give some leeway to a miner & have given a citation that led to employee to be discharged union backed to. If you’re not familiar the standards to me are much higher compared to OSHA. Ohye as a miner we can be personally given a citation and fined by an inspector it’s no joke when it’s peoples lives and safety.
I had no idea about the mining industry having that setup. I am glad to hear it, since the mining industry has historically been one of the worst/most dangerous jobs in existence. The amount of men that had health problems or didn’t make it to retirement is staggering in the mining industry. Not to mention how the companies had everyone under control via pay and didn’t care about people. It’s good to know it’s not like what I have read in books/articles anymore.
Hi Greg, sounds like some movies I’ve seen on tv and a few episodes of Walker Texas Ranger based content on this. I have no employees in my mine but if I did I’d NEVER treat my employees that way. There’s no way in hell I’d even think of making them do anything I wouldn’t do or put them in unsafe situations. It’s not only because of OSHA rules and regs but mainly respect and well being of the employees because if it wasn’t for those employees, your company simply wouldn’t exist in a matter of speaking. In the mining industry, whether it’s a large mining company or a small operation, OSHA, MSHA as well as other state and federal laws comes into play. State mine Inspectors could show up at any time. As for me I have a state mining inspectors handbook of any regulations that I keep in compliance with and see to that my mines are in compliance with. And I also have a copy of OSHA and MSHA regulations that I keep on hand to ensure the safety of myself. I don’t allow others in my mines simply because I can’t carry the insurance it takes if they get hurt so it’s best I don’t allow vistors at all, no matter how safe my mines are. There’s ALWAYS that chance of things going wrong then I find myself up sh!t creek without a paddle no matter how safe I made my mines and how many regulations I tried to follow. Even though I keep these compliance handbooks on hand and even though most of the regulations in them don’t even apply to my type of operation and although there IS a small handful in the manuals that does or would apply to my type of operation, they are still good to know. The small handful of regs I’m referring to is in general safety such as hard hats, visibility vests, PPE for blasting and silica dusts, ladder specs, ventilation,etc. Since my operation doesn’t involve manways cages and elevators and other stuff like much bigger mining corporations usually have then those types of regulations don’t apply to my type of operation. I’m sure you get the picture on all that.
No doubt the mining industry can be dangerous. Like you said the variables and environment can only be controlled so well. Until recently I didn’t realize the mining industry has its own safety regulations. I can’t even imagine the insurance cost for having employees in a mine. On one hand doing things illegitimately makes it possible to do a lot for little money (aka disregard for safety) but on the other hand the loss of health and life isn’t hardly worth it. The stories I have heard of mining companies more or less owning employees makes me thankful things are far safer.
So I have seen those, held them, and like an idiot I passed on trying one out. Their main claim to fame is the ability to weld/cut very thin sheet metal far better than a conventional torch. For welding/brazing super thin material I actually have a smith little torch that works excellent and is far more affordable than the Detroit, however it can’t really cut. Although the Detroit is fuel efficient, it’s not a cheap method to actually cut steel. The big issue is upfront cost of the torch plus the bottles. The smaller bottles of portable torch sets are highway robbery to swap out (cost wise) and due to acetylene becoming unstable at high draw off rates you must get bigger bottles to safely cut thick material. By time you factor in the cost of even medium bottles and the torch setup you are higher than an entry level plasma. Granted you have the ability to weld with a torch over plasma. To me the dhc/cobra torches are a boutique option that’s excellent for automotive body work on vintage stuff and for general use. I would consider buying one to try out but the benefits of what it is good at doesn’t really benefit me. If you think what it’s good at would benefit you no doubt it is a quality piece.
I used to work for a municipality on Long Island New York, we were not covered by OSHA, we were covered by PESH - Public Employees Safety and Health it may be the same for other states, bottom line it had the same regulations as OSHA. If there is a hazard, report it! I worked my way up to being the boss of my department and I took safety seriously due to being told to do (and I did many times) unsafe things in the wastewater treatment field. That stuff stopped when I took over the reins
Glad to hear you ended the unsafe stuff. It’s pretty common to simply have safety ignorant leadership and that trickles down. I was always amazed at how much training I had to do as a worker but management never went through the same training. Then minutes after training they tell you to do something unsafe that was just talked about in the training lol. Great point on the fact there are often industry specific organizations that are workplace safety orientated. I wish I would have included that in the video since many people have mentioned that is a thing. I have never worked for a place that had other organizations that would cover/have jurisdiction over the worksite.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg yeah, I always hated the "I had to do it now you have to" attitude, I strived to make the workplace not suck, at least suck less. I was there 37 years and had to try to end alot of the nonsense
Here in Africa many small companies dont care. Hell we were in a car accident once and I injured myself pretty badly ( back injury) . They got the other vehicles details for insurance and wanted to leave me to wait for a ambulance on the side of the road so that they weren't late for the appointment. Btw I was told no sick pay or sick leave and would loose my pay that day. Ended up loosing 2 weeks of pay because I couldn't work .
The fines OSHA issue are not the only sanction that may happen. A negative finding can become the basis for civil complaints later on. What can help is if there is also a trade union that will help the employee get legal representation they may not be able to afford otherwise.
I was an electrician and MANY years back there was no safety rules as such but then I went to work for a company that required every year or two that everyone to had to take an OSHA safety class . Then if you were to be a sub for some Large contractors you had to take there class also and do drug testing ( I was not required to do the drug part because my union required random drug testing ) The worst was at a federal facility . To drill a half inch hole 3 inches deep in the concrete for an anchor bolt we had to One rope off the area with cation tape 2 - hang cation signs 3 - put on masks , eye and ear protection then 4- someone had to pour water on the drill bit to keep the dust down. There was a full day class on safety .
It can be a bit crazy to go from a “no rules” to a “by the book overly safe” workplace. I have heard stories about what’s required at federal facilities and your story sounds inline lol.
I’d honestly prefer that kind of over board crazy safety than “hey I’m going to pay you 10 bucks to stick your hand in that moving saw, if you don’t do it your kids don😢't eat tonight sorryyyy :p”
I think bad habits about safety and PPE carry over from work, side jobs, and home. Slowly and then all of a sudden, that abuse to your body catches up, and one morning you wake up and realize it's hard to breathe, or you hurt all the time, or you have Parkensons or cancer. You gotta look out for your health. .... do it for your children and your grandkids. .... Also, look out for your friend Bubba. He's always doing stupid stuff.
Without a doubt you’re right. One day turns into a year and a year turns into a decade of doing things with disregard for your health. 2-3 decades is more than enough to cause major issues for anyone’s lungs/body. Being smart about things and consistently smart is the only way.
The crap from the company you mentioned is something you would normally expect to hear from some 3rd world country; where workplace 'protections' are minimal, if they exist at all... Knowing that it came from a company operating in the USA just makes me sick. "Made in the USA" shouldn't just be an emblem of quality. But also of proper working conditions for those that produced the product. This is should also be true for all the '1st world' countries in the world, not just America... And while I'm glad to hear that officials took notice and action against this particular business, we all know there are more out there... Further more, just know that when you're buying stuff from overseas, there's a chance that you're buying a product from a place where these type of work conditions are effectively 'normalized'. I don't like painting with too broad a brush, and as such, not every oversea facility will be the same. But let's be real.. if we can't stop this from occurring here, then how can we possibly stop it from occurring elsewhere?
What you described is exactly what I thought when I heard about that place. So appallingly bad how could it exist in America? I forgot to mention something else, the place was a “union” shop and people like my friend paid dues to a steel worker union. It is scary to think that place isn’t a one off, I bet there are others out there like you said.
I'd say it's probably a mistake to assume dangerous situations are always obvious. Sorry to say but there's a lot of "not so smart" folks out there and just to say, that's no crime either, but it's really not reasonable to expect such people to recognise what may hurt them, or others, in the workplace. Been there, seen it happen and yeah, can you really fault someone when he doesn't understand a pretty complex warning label if the guy can hardly write his own name? I think not and that sort of a thing is clearly within the realm of an employers' responsibility.
Great point and you’re right. My friend is a good example of that, when he told me what he was doing he didn’t seem to be bothered by it, as I was sitting there shocked at what I heard. He has a tendency to embellish the truth a bit but when I saw pictures and everything I realized how bad it was. The place went through countless workers and hired temps a lot which resulted in high workforce turnover mixed with most of the workers simply not caring about what was going on. Such an employer would rely heavily on an under educated work force to get away with what they were doing no doubt.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Yeah, for sure. That sort of a thing happens here a lot too. In fact, in general contracting lots of people from Eastern Europe get hired by less-than-reputable sub contractors and man, you just don't wanna know how these guys get treated, exploited and put in danger and all for a few measly bucks. Their "contracts" aren't worth the paper they're written on and very often they get scammed out of even more money for "housing" (like sticking 30 of them in a small apartment and such like). A lot of them don't even know what their legal rights are and even if they have some idea, they can be kicked out at any time and then what? Whatever way you look at it, it's just plain wrong, decent people don't treat others that way.
Not joking imagine letting that stuff drip onto a drain table and into a drum mixed with 200 other unknown chemicals. Thats exactly what was going on. All with no licenses, no permits to operate, no training, and higher ups knowing what’s going on. Scary crap 😱
It definitely is. I just wished the injuries that can happen from a simple lapse of judgement were somehow less than what they can be. Big equipment can cause fatal or near fatal injuries in an instant. Best to keep your head on a swivel and pay attention for sure.
100% it is. Imagine how bad the guys lungs got hit welding in stainless totes all day with no ppe. Even worse, they didn’t fully clean them out prior to repair work. Yikes 😮
I am just here to say that I love ALL your videos and to ask that you keep making them. Thanks!
No problem 😀👍
great subject matter.....thank you for addressing this Greg.....cheers from Florida, Paul
I've worked for a few large corporations in heavy industry (refineries, tire manufacturing, barge repair & maintenance, etc.) and and several small residential construction and repair outfits. I can say from experience, the big companies will talk about safety and then proceed to overlook a lot of it, especially if it slows down production. Yet at least those places know OSHA is always a concern so they do make an effort. The smaller home construction/repair businesses are the worst. To them, OSHA is just something to make jokes about. Small outfits love to hire immigrants and guys that have a record or something, so they have to do as the straw boss says "or else." Safety is so far down the list of priorities with many of these building contractors that its just ridiculous.
That definitely coincides with my observations too. The smaller contractors are often the ones that put the least skilled in the most dangerous positions. Like videos I have seen with greenhorns carrying shingles up a roof, it seems universal it’s the least experienced person and they push them to the limit physically. If the person gets hurt the company folds, only to open up under a different name. Pretty sad situation no doubt.
100% on point. I remember the dangerous cowboys i worked for in the early 1980s here in New Zealand and i seriously wonder how i got thru it unscathed??. in the end i got really pissed off with the boss for asking me to do something dangerous that wouldve cost $40 to do not only safely but correctly. And i yelled at the boss that i wasnt going to let the 17 yr old apprentice do it either. He went nuts of course... but i stood firm and watched him do it.. just to prove how safe it was stupid prick.. I resigned a month later.
Sadly i heard on the grapevine 6 mths later that the 17 yr old had lost 2 fingers because no one bothered to stop for 5 minutes to work out a plan to do the man handling of a large item off the back of a trailer and it tipped on to the lowest point where he had his hand under of course. Absolutely fking disgusting maiming a 17 yr old and it was all too predictable..
I became extremely aggressive in all my following jobs and would not hesitate to jump in if i thought anything stupid was going down...
When i had my own eng business my 1st day speech to all new employees would include that i will always 100% back you up if you ever feel unsafe anywhere on the job. STOP AND CALL ME... And i will never ever give you shit for it even if you are wrong as that fault lays solely with me as i clearly haven't either supervised you or trained you correctly.. safety is a zero blame culture for me.. if you don't know why you were wrong then that's not your fault.
I also told my teenage kids when they started doing part time jobs for the likes of mcdonalds etc that just because your supervisor says its ok doesn't mean you don't stop for a minute and think it thru for yourself to make sure its safe to go ahead. Remember your super is probably a 19 yr old who has no real work experience or ever seen something dangerous so why would you trust them with your safety.
Thanks for sharing the stories and no doubt you’re right to stand your ground. That is so unfortunate about the 17 year old. That’s awesome that you took such a positive approach towards safety moving forward. Being safe and getting work done can co exist, and it’s worth it to have a workforce that speaks up over one that stays silent of safety issues. Staying silent just means you won’t see a major injury coming.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg yep its a culture thing and the macho "shell be right mate" BS is exactly that BS. Its all about common sense and communicating effectively and allowing everyone involved to have their say.
Very needed good info.
Good un on you!! Too many workers feel helpless when it comes to this kind of stuff. Like you said, it's not just for you but for everybody else that has and still does work at a place like this --not to mention the risk to the general public if they are that level of douchebags! Great/Important video.
It’s a bad place to be stuck in an unsafe situation and knowing you need the money. I wouldn’t have believed a place as bad as the one in the video existed in today’s world until I was part of it. I know that isn’t the only place like it, and I don’t want to see people having to be put through stuff like that. In so many cases all it takes is for one person to speak up to make a difference for a whole bunch of people.
Great topic!! My opinion is if the company is asking you knowing to do something dangerous or the company overlooks your safety it’s time to call OAHA! Or MSHAW for us Miners. I spoke with the MSHAW inspector he was a field guy talked about real life issues they are here for the workers.
Working fora different company it treated employees like shit doing substandard work osha is was called in investing claims found faults and issued citations.
MSHAW don’t play they can shut down a sight I’ve personally seen inspector give some leeway to a miner & have given a citation that led to employee to be discharged union backed to. If you’re not familiar the standards to me are much higher compared to OSHA.
Ohye as a miner we can be personally given a citation and fined by an inspector it’s no joke when it’s peoples lives and safety.
I had no idea about the mining industry having that setup. I am glad to hear it, since the mining industry has historically been one of the worst/most dangerous jobs in existence. The amount of men that had health problems or didn’t make it to retirement is staggering in the mining industry. Not to mention how the companies had everyone under control via pay and didn’t care about people. It’s good to know it’s not like what I have read in books/articles anymore.
Hi Greg, sounds like some movies I’ve seen on tv and a few episodes of Walker Texas Ranger based content on this.
I have no employees in my mine but if I did I’d NEVER treat my employees that way. There’s no way in hell I’d even think of making them do anything I wouldn’t do or put them in unsafe situations. It’s not only because of OSHA rules and regs but mainly respect and well being of the employees because if it wasn’t for those employees, your company simply wouldn’t exist in a matter of speaking. In the mining industry, whether it’s a large mining company or a small operation, OSHA, MSHA as well as other state and federal laws comes into play. State mine Inspectors could show up at any time.
As for me I have a state mining inspectors handbook of any regulations that I keep in compliance with and see to that my mines are in compliance with. And I also have a copy of OSHA and MSHA regulations that I keep on hand to ensure the safety of myself.
I don’t allow others in my mines simply because I can’t carry the insurance it takes if they get hurt so it’s best I don’t allow vistors at all, no matter how safe my mines are. There’s ALWAYS that chance of things going wrong then I find myself up sh!t creek without a paddle no matter how safe I made my mines and how many regulations I tried to follow.
Even though I keep these compliance handbooks on hand and even though most of the regulations in them don’t even apply to my type of operation and although there IS a small handful in the manuals that does or would apply to my type of operation, they are still good to know. The small handful of regs I’m referring to is in general safety such as hard hats, visibility vests, PPE for blasting and silica dusts, ladder specs, ventilation,etc. Since my operation doesn’t involve manways cages and elevators and other stuff like much bigger mining corporations usually have then those types of regulations don’t apply to my type of operation. I’m sure you get the picture on all that.
No doubt the mining industry can be dangerous. Like you said the variables and environment can only be controlled so well. Until recently I didn’t realize the mining industry has its own safety regulations. I can’t even imagine the insurance cost for having employees in a mine. On one hand doing things illegitimately makes it possible to do a lot for little money (aka disregard for safety) but on the other hand the loss of health and life isn’t hardly worth it. The stories I have heard of mining companies more or less owning employees makes me thankful things are far safer.
I wish you would review a Detroit Torch DCH2000. I am looking for a way to save gas and cut without a plasma cutter, plus be able to weld with it.
So I have seen those, held them, and like an idiot I passed on trying one out. Their main claim to fame is the ability to weld/cut very thin sheet metal far better than a conventional torch. For welding/brazing super thin material I actually have a smith little torch that works excellent and is far more affordable than the Detroit, however it can’t really cut.
Although the Detroit is fuel efficient, it’s not a cheap method to actually cut steel. The big issue is upfront cost of the torch plus the bottles. The smaller bottles of portable torch sets are highway robbery to swap out (cost wise) and due to acetylene becoming unstable at high draw off rates you must get bigger bottles to safely cut thick material. By time you factor in the cost of even medium bottles and the torch setup you are higher than an entry level plasma. Granted you have the ability to weld with a torch over plasma.
To me the dhc/cobra torches are a boutique option that’s excellent for automotive body work on vintage stuff and for general use. I would consider buying one to try out but the benefits of what it is good at doesn’t really benefit me. If you think what it’s good at would benefit you no doubt it is a quality piece.
I used to work for a municipality on Long Island New York, we were not covered by OSHA, we were covered by PESH - Public Employees Safety and Health it may be the same for other states, bottom line it had the same regulations as OSHA. If there is a hazard, report it! I worked my way up to being the boss of my department and I took safety seriously due to being told to do (and I did many times) unsafe things in the wastewater treatment field. That stuff stopped when I took over the reins
Glad to hear you ended the unsafe stuff. It’s pretty common to simply have safety ignorant leadership and that trickles down. I was always amazed at how much training I had to do as a worker but management never went through the same training. Then minutes after training they tell you to do something unsafe that was just talked about in the training lol. Great point on the fact there are often industry specific organizations that are workplace safety orientated. I wish I would have included that in the video since many people have mentioned that is a thing. I have never worked for a place that had other organizations that would cover/have jurisdiction over the worksite.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg yeah, I always hated the "I had to do it now you have to" attitude, I strived to make the workplace not suck, at least suck less. I was there 37 years and had to try to end alot of the nonsense
Here in Africa many small companies dont care.
Hell we were in a car accident once and I injured myself pretty badly ( back injury) .
They got the other vehicles details for insurance and wanted to leave me to wait for a ambulance on the side of the road so that they weren't late for the appointment.
Btw I was told no sick pay or sick leave and would loose my pay that day.
Ended up loosing 2 weeks of pay because I couldn't work .
Man that’s not good at all, I am sorry to hear that. I hope you have recovered decently from that.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg
It seems ok . It happened about 15 years ago . Some of the small businesses here take advantage.
👍👍
The fines OSHA issue are not the only sanction that may happen. A negative finding can become the basis for civil complaints later on. What can help is if there is also a trade union that will help the employee get legal representation they may not be able to afford otherwise.
Great points. I never thought about the trade union route and that is definitely a possibility.
I was an electrician and MANY years back there was no safety rules as such but then I went to work for a company that required every year or two that everyone to had to take an OSHA safety class . Then if you were to be a sub for some Large contractors you had to take there class also and do drug testing ( I was not required to do the drug part because my union required random drug testing ) The worst was at a federal facility . To drill a half inch hole 3 inches deep in the concrete for an anchor bolt we had to One rope off the area with cation tape 2 - hang cation signs 3 - put on masks , eye and ear protection then 4- someone had to pour water on the drill bit to keep the dust down. There was a full day class on safety .
It can be a bit crazy to go from a “no rules” to a “by the book overly safe” workplace. I have heard stories about what’s required at federal facilities and your story sounds inline lol.
I’d honestly prefer that kind of over board crazy safety than “hey I’m going to pay you 10 bucks to stick your hand in that moving saw, if you don’t do it your kids don😢't eat tonight sorryyyy :p”
I think bad habits about safety and PPE carry over from work, side jobs, and home. Slowly and then all of a sudden, that abuse to your body catches up, and one morning you wake up and realize it's hard to breathe, or you hurt all the time, or you have Parkensons or cancer. You gotta look out for your health. .... do it for your children and your grandkids. .... Also, look out for your friend Bubba. He's always doing stupid stuff.
Without a doubt you’re right. One day turns into a year and a year turns into a decade of doing things with disregard for your health. 2-3 decades is more than enough to cause major issues for anyone’s lungs/body. Being smart about things and consistently smart is the only way.
The crap from the company you mentioned is something you would normally expect to hear from some 3rd world country; where workplace 'protections' are minimal, if they exist at all... Knowing that it came from a company operating in the USA just makes me sick.
"Made in the USA" shouldn't just be an emblem of quality. But also of proper working conditions for those that produced the product. This is should also be true for all the '1st world' countries in the world, not just America...
And while I'm glad to hear that officials took notice and action against this particular business, we all know there are more out there... Further more, just know that when you're buying stuff from overseas, there's a chance that you're buying a product from a place where these type of work conditions are effectively 'normalized'.
I don't like painting with too broad a brush, and as such, not every oversea facility will be the same. But let's be real.. if we can't stop this from occurring here, then how can we possibly stop it from occurring elsewhere?
What you described is exactly what I thought when I heard about that place. So appallingly bad how could it exist in America? I forgot to mention something else, the place was a “union” shop and people like my friend paid dues to a steel worker union. It is scary to think that place isn’t a one off, I bet there are others out there like you said.
I'd say it's probably a mistake to assume dangerous situations are always obvious. Sorry to say but there's a lot of "not so smart" folks out there and just to say, that's no crime either, but it's really not reasonable to expect such people to recognise what may hurt them, or others, in the workplace. Been there, seen it happen and yeah, can you really fault someone when he doesn't understand a pretty complex warning label if the guy can hardly write his own name? I think not and that sort of a thing is clearly within the realm of an employers' responsibility.
Great point and you’re right. My friend is a good example of that, when he told me what he was doing he didn’t seem to be bothered by it, as I was sitting there shocked at what I heard. He has a tendency to embellish the truth a bit but when I saw pictures and everything I realized how bad it was. The place went through countless workers and hired temps a lot which resulted in high workforce turnover mixed with most of the workers simply not caring about what was going on. Such an employer would rely heavily on an under educated work force to get away with what they were doing no doubt.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Yeah, for sure. That sort of a thing happens here a lot too. In fact, in general contracting lots of people from Eastern Europe get hired by less-than-reputable sub contractors and man, you just don't wanna know how these guys get treated, exploited and put in danger and all for a few measly bucks. Their "contracts" aren't worth the paper they're written on and very often they get scammed out of even more money for "housing" (like sticking 30 of them in a small apartment and such like). A lot of them don't even know what their legal rights are and even if they have some idea, they can be kicked out at any time and then what? Whatever way you look at it, it's just plain wrong, decent people don't treat others that way.
Yeah some companies hire people with mental disabilities because they know they’ll be able to take advantage of them.
Hydrofluoric acid!😳
Not joking imagine letting that stuff drip onto a drain table and into a drum mixed with 200 other unknown chemicals. Thats exactly what was going on. All with no licenses, no permits to operate, no training, and higher ups knowing what’s going on. Scary crap 😱
I work in heavy industry. Here’s my advice about safety:
The world is a very dangerous place if you’re an idiot.
It definitely is. I just wished the injuries that can happen from a simple lapse of judgement were somehow less than what they can be. Big equipment can cause fatal or near fatal injuries in an instant. Best to keep your head on a swivel and pay attention for sure.
Hexchrome inside that stainless tank bad news
100% it is. Imagine how bad the guys lungs got hit welding in stainless totes all day with no ppe. Even worse, they didn’t fully clean them out prior to repair work. Yikes 😮
Cr+6 is nasty.. both short term and long term effects. Scary stuff