Stupid workplace safety rules

[3 Horse Ranch]

When working on large jobs where the object is to raise the grade by several feet, the common practice with a dump truck and trailer was to raise both boxes about 6 inches above the top of the second stage, just enough to make some of the material slough back against the tailgate, communicate with the spotter, drive by him at about 10 mph and 3 feet away, watch is hand signal and pop the trailer tailgate, count to two, pop the truck tailgate then work the levers for the boxes raising them to the top and dropping them when empty. The result was a nice continuous 8-10" spread of both boxes. We did it this way for years, it was fast and safe. The next truck would come along about 45 seconds behind and spread beside the previous truck.
We started doing this at one local refinery and were told that is was forbidden as unsafe. (We had done this at two previous refineries) Their solution was for us to stop raise our trailer box, and try to get a loaded truck moving again on fairly soft ground without getting stuck. If we succeeded we then had to back our trailers onto the spread we just laid down as straight as possible, meanwhile the next truck was coming by three feet away laying down his trailer. It scared the crap out me at times because it was next to impossible to keep completely in my lane while backing because the trailer wanted to take the path of least resistance. The spotter was required to be well away from the trucks and had to describe where he wanted the gravel on field of gravel. After the job was finished I met one of the general contractor's supervisors at a different job and he mentioned some of the rules they came up with for his operators. In talking about the refinery job, we concluded that it was so safe that is was dangerous.
It's not always the government regulators, sometimes it's somebody who is unfamiliar with how it is done safely.
As a post script, even though this was at a refinery, it was on an undeveloped part of the property with no tanks, oil lines, steam lines or electrical within 300 yards of the job.

 

[turnkey4099]

Probably three! Men, Women and Gender Neutral!

And all handicap accessible.

Yep. And then there was the one about toilet seats. Had to have the cut-out in front so we would mash winkie under it.

 

[mcfarmall]

Here's a genius one for you. "All hand injuries can be prevented by wearing appropriate gloves at ALL TIMES." This is a good one when you are trying to start some M4 button head screws through a guard or cover somewhere. Then they took all the Stanley knives and razor blade scrapers away and gave us the stupid self retracting knives with round tip blades and get this...plastic razor blades!

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Here's a genius one for you. "All hand injuries can be prevented by wearing appropriate gloves at ALL TIMES." This is a good one when you are trying to start some M4 button head screws through a guard or cover somewhere. Then they took all the Stanley knives and razor blade scrapers away and gave us the stupid self retracting knives with round tip blades and get this...plastic razor blades!

Just curious, but did they also give you big crayons to avoid accidental stabbing with pencils?
I remember the woodshop teacher in high school warning everyone not to wear gloves around saws, pulleys, etc because the saw can grab the glove and suck it along with your hand into the saw or wrap around a pulley. I can even remember a short but graphic instructional film on the subject. That was fifty years ago so maybe things have changed.

 

[Mendonsy]

Just curious, but did they also give you big crayons to avoid accidental stabbing with pencils?
I remember the woodshop teacher in high school warning everyone not to wear gloves around saws, pulleys, etc because the saw can grab the glove and suck it along with your hand into the saw or wrap around a pulley. I can even remember a short but graphic instructional film on the subject. That was fifty years ago so maybe things have changed.

I think they have eliminated all the school shop classes.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think they have eliminated all the school shop classes.

Right, you aren't supposed to learn anything in school now days, just pass thru so the teachers don't look bad. After all, kids are supposed to go to college to learn something so they can get a white collar job and then hire any "shop taught" things done.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I got stabbed as a kid with a pencil, from a kid coming back from the pencil sharpener. I still have the mark in my abdomen. That and stepping on thumb tacks. No one cared! God, I love those days!

 

[bunyip]

We gave our daughter some of those big crayons to play with outside when she was about 5, they went missing one night and she was quite distraught, we searched everywhere outside for them and had no idea where they had gone until we found a large rainbow dog faeces and a very guilty looking Corgi

 

[3Ts]

Quote Originally Posted by Mendonsy View Post
I think they have eliminated all the school shop classes.

Right, you aren't supposed to learn anything in school now days, just pass thru so the teachers don't look bad. After all, kids are supposed to go to college to learn something so they can get a white collar job and then hire any "shop taught" things done.

About passing kids thru - We have a kid in our neighborhood that just graduated high school but has difficulty reading more than 2 syllable words. Then they tried to get him to attend a remedial school after graduation to get him to where he needs to be, but last I heard, he dropped out. He thinks he's doing fine!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Yep. And then there was the one about toilet seats. Had to have the cut-out in front so we would mash winkie under it.

:thumbsup: Yep... failed a final building inspection on that once... Plumber got wrong seat, figured what could go wrong...

 

[Industrial Toys]

In a nearby town we had two Police stations virtually side by side. Federal and Provincial. The codes for the washrooms were totally different making life difficult and expensive for the contractor that was doing both.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Then there are the air pressure regulators that are so limited that you could probably blow harder all due to the idiots using the air guns to blow themselves off. And yes, I do know that the latter can kill you.

Interesting article on the CNN website about the "radium girls". Women working with radium paint on watch faces early in the 20th century.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Those poor girls used to lick their brushes to make them nice and pointed for precision work.

 

[David Wayne]

Here's a genius one for you. "All hand injuries can be prevented by wearing appropriate gloves at ALL TIMES." This is a good one when you are trying to start some M4 button head screws through a guard or cover somewhere. Then they took all the Stanley knives and razor blade scrapers away and gave us the stupid self retracting knives with round tip blades and get this...plastic razor blades!

If I were to guess I'd say you work in a box shop

 

[rustyshakelford]

It’s goes along with some northern union headaches. Full disclosures I’m a union member but think many are abused.

Buddy was an electrician up north. They were doing work in a stadium of some sort. He needed to put a plug plate on the wall outlet. A plumber had set his tool bag in front of the outlet. Buddy goes to move the bag and a union guy loses his mind saying he cannot do that. They have to get the plumber to come over and move the bag 3’ over to the side. Plumber shows up 10 mins later and moves the bag. Plug cover is installed in 15seconds. Total time to complete 15 second job was 15minutes.

Brett

 

[Steppenwolfe]

It’s goes along with some northern union headaches. Full disclosures I’m a union member but think many are abused.

Buddy was an electrician up north. They were doing work in a stadium of some sort. He needed to put a plug plate on the wall outlet. A plumber had set his tool bag in front of the outlet. Buddy goes to move the bag and a union guy loses his mind saying he cannot do that. They have to get the plumber to come over and move the bag 3’ over to the side. Plumber shows up 10 mins later and moves the bag. Plug cover is installed in 15seconds. Total time to complete 15 second job was 15minutes.

Brett

Not buying it... 80% of the work we do is Union; multiple trades, 5 to 8 easily... NEVER seen what you describe. Most of these guys know each other, shoot... half of the first day is like a bloody family reunion. Give me a Union guy any day, shows up for work at 6:30, with tools in hand, knows his trade, and is a professional at it.

 

[bunyip]

I have seen it happen here but it was over 40 years ago before the unions were reigned in a bit, unfortunately those types of unions only served to cripple industry and the country but they couldn't see it that way.

 

[Howling]

I do automation systems and work in many different client factories. Idiots and kingdoms are everywhere. The differences come in how the corporate and shop floor cultures deal with it.

Large corporate structures where top brass driven by MBAs and bean counters tend to have safety groups that respond and regulate out every stupid thing the idiots have done over time. This tends to build up to a system that interferes with productive work.

The government regulatory agencies are doing similar things. To reasonable people a lot of regulation appears to be over kill and not necessary. But they are created because of folk with a lack of common sense that do stupid things are ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Not buying it... 80% of the work we do is Union; multiple trades, 5 to 8 easily... NEVER seen what you describe. Most of these guys know each other, shoot... half of the first day is like a bloody family reunion. Give me a Union guy any day, shows up for work at 6:30, with tools in hand, knows his trade, and is a professional at it.

I have. Was in IBEW (manufacturing for 20 years until the work went away...). For example, a fuse blew on a machine, maybe ten minutes to get it back up before 20-30 grand went into the dumpster. Asked one of the tech's to change it out. "Sorry, I am on my break". Never mind that there was a list of chores waiting to be done and this slacker had not moved from his bench since punching in. This was not uncommon as was the phrase "your picking on me".

Electronic manufacturing is cyclical but during some of the peak's there would be upward of 6,500 people on that campus, upward of 10,000 if you included two other locations within 30 minutes drive. Might be 500 today if lucky?

Even when the CEO told people that the plant would be phased out in a couple of years, some of the comments were "they need this place, they will never close it".

Truthfully, mismanagement did not help either.

That said, I have been on non-union jobs where the builder had the local hall send out say an electrician or a plumber and got good workers who knew their "stuff".

 

[mcfarmall]

Just curious, but did they also give you big crayons to avoid accidental stabbing with pencils?
I remember the woodshop teacher in high school warning everyone not to wear gloves around saws, pulleys, etc because the saw can grab the glove and suck it along with your hand into the saw or wrap around a pulley. I can even remember a short but graphic instructional film on the subject. That was fifty years ago so maybe things have changed.

I like your sarcastic thought process FrankRetired! Believe me, I fired the same stuff back at them. I basically told them they can stuff their gloves where the sun doesn't shine. Long hair, long sleeves, floppy shirts, and gloves around shop machinery is just asking for trouble. The only time I wear gloves in the shop is during a messy tear down and a clean reassembly job and I use nitrile examination gloves for dexterity and preventing product contact.