How hazardous is your job

[ionbeam]

Ion implantation (where the name ionbeam comes from):

Voltages up to several million volts. You don’t have to touch it, it will seek you out and touch you. One tech took a 2kV hit, knocked him backwards out of his chair and he broke 3 vertebra in his neck requiring them to be surgically fused. Another tech cheated safety interlocks to peek into an area of a machine experiencing high voltage arcing and got hit in the face (glasses frame actually) by 200kV which traveled down his body, cooking his internals as it went and then exited out his hip where he was touching a grounded frame. He survived but it was months before he was functional and a couple of years before he was back to normal.

Toxic chemicals such as arsenic, arsene gas, Boron trifluoride, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), Phosphorus and lead. Once a month I was required to submit ‘samples’ for lab testing to determine how much I was being poisoned.

Ionizing radiation too! I had to wear a radiation badge that was tested once a week to determine how much radiation I was being hit with. The entire high voltage end of the kitchen sized machine was lead lined. Some of the high voltage power supplies would arc and spew tremendous pulses of radiation in addition to the normal radiation from the arc chamber where elements were ionized.

Electromagnets that consume thousands of amps at hundreds of volts. One machine we shipped to Japan was assembled missing the bolts for the biggest of the electromagnets. Upon power-up the magnet ‘saw’ a nearby I-beam and blew out the side of the machine heading for the beam, until it ripped the power wires off.

Large masses with either crushing hydraulic/pneumatic forces or large masses with tremendous kinetic energy. We had a 200 lb; 6’ dia disk spinning along at 1,000 rpm when it popped off the spindle. It blew out the side of the machine and went through two interior walls before taking out a cinder block wall.

Vacuum systems like which Fred W uses, at near absolute zero (-452° F). In addition we also use liquid nitrogen which displaces all the oxygen in small spaces leading to people passing out.

This is not a good business for you to have a bad day.

(rhody, want to discuss element ionization, particle beams, wave guides, secondary electron emissions and valance bonds? :sleepysmileyanim: )

 

[phil]

2 SPIKES PROCEEDED RAPIDLY THROUGH THE BACK OF MY HAND. I BLED LIKE THE BLACK KNIGHT IN "HOLY GRAIL."

And it clearly has affected whatever digit you would normally use the shift key for. We all can't wait until it heals so we don't think you're shouting at us.

ACTUALLY, I SHOUT BECAUSE I AM HARD-OF-HEARING.

 

[juniorfjr]

I sell glasses to middle aged, hormonal women, and men that have absolutely no idea why they can't see the phone book any more. If you tell them the truth, they can go off at a moment's notice. I find a small stash of chocolates in the office is a great tool.

Added to that, they don't understand why they don't look like the model on the posters.

Then finally they can't understand why a miracle can cost 700 dollars and their insurance only pays a small portion of the total cost. Then they get in their lexus and go to walmart.

Been doing it for 30 years, am I getting synical?

And then you put a pair on a two year old who has never seen well, and watch their face lite up.

Guess I will go back monday

 

[Old Michael]

A weenie dog snapped at me the other day.

 

[Fred W]

I sell glasses to middle aged, hormonal women, and men that have absolutely no idea why they can't see the phone book any more. If you tell them the truth, they can go off at a moment's notice. I find a small stash of chocolates in the office is a great tool. Added to that, they don't understand why they don't look like the model on the posters.

Then finally they can't understand why a miracle can cost 700 dollars and their insurance only pays a small portion of the total cost. Then they get in their lexus and go to walmart.

Been doing it for 30 years, am I getting synical?

And then you put a pair on a two year old who has never seen well, and watch their face lite up.

Guess I will go back monday

Wow. $700 for a pair of glasses? Things sure are pricey out there on the left coast. You guys still using American dollars?

...or were you talking about some different sort of miracle?

 

[Fred W]

Ion implantation (where the name ionbeam comes from):Voltages up to several million volts. <snip>Toxic chemicals such as ... <snip>Ionizing radiation too! <snip>Electromagnets that consume thousands of amps at hundreds of volts. <snip>Large masses with either crushing hydraulic/pneumatic forces or large masses with tremendous kinetic energy. <snip>

This makes me ponder how much people take electronic gadgetry for granted, never thinking about all the dangerous, hazardous, nasty stuff that goes on behind the scenes to make those high density electronic devices. It's just like, "Yeah, I seen inside one of those thingees. Its those little black plastic chips what do the magic." :blink:

A weenie dog snapped at me the other day.

Mailman?

 

[Old Michael]

Been doing it for 30 years, am I getting synical? And then you put a pair on a two year old who has never seen well, and watch their face lite up.

Guess I will go back monday

Thanks for that brother.

 

[wheatonFJR]

-Tripping on the carpet back and forth from coffee break.

-Hitting my head on my desk from falling asleep after lunch

-Contractor reaching thru the phone to choke me 'cuz his unapproved and inadequate alternate detail -which he just installed-has to either come down or be modified.

-Falling or having things falling on me while observing the structural frame at a jobsite.

-paper cut-owee-

 

[6mmbr]

have almost exceeded the lifetime FDA recommended dose of radiation to the whole body and eye.

Hoping to postpone the leukemia for another 11 years until my boys get through college.

 

[Niehart]

Retired now but I was working from home with a wife in the house, now that's dangerous!

 

[evilmedic13]

Let's see, aside from the usual healthcare threats(contagious disease and needlesticks)? Hmmm, been shot at, twice, one punk tried stabbing me 3 weeks ago, too bad his wrist got broken somehow and all the other ways to be assaulted by dickweeds on the street,drunk/high and sober. Then there's the occasional fire we get to walk into.

My favorite is the meth labs, of course they had no idea they were standing in one <_< and can't figure out where everyone went. They're never happy about the Hazmat response for some reason though. Oh yeah, lifting 400+lb fuckers down at least 4 flights of stairs! Fat ***** made it up there now let gravity assist your fat ass down. There's a reason elephants don't live in the mountains, *******! :angry2:

All in all, pretty safe compared to some other jobs I've had, at least the hazards I deal w/ now are exceptions as opposed to the rule of past employment.

 

[Fencer]

Toxic chemicals such as arsenic, arsene gas, Boron trifluoride, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), Phosphorus and lead. Once a month I was required to submit ‘samples’ for lab testing to determine how much I was being poisoned.

I had overlooked the chemical aspect of it till you mentioned arsenic. (it is/was a wood preservative until 2004 EPA guidlines changed treating methods). Now I handle stuff with 12 syllables in the name and I sound Chinese if I try to pronounce it . Its a tetra-hydra- quadra something or other.

If we throw in past lives, I can 1 up you educators.

I worked as an outdoor bootcamp counselor. Try teaching your throw-aways to want to come back and be productive h34r:

Me with 17 kids about my size - some larger (and I worked out back then - kinda had to) and the nearest help was 10 min away at a dead run - IF you could get to the walkie/talkie. I luckily had very few run-ins with my kids and have a few scars from the couple I did have. They did hit one fellow over the head with a fire extinguisher and made an escape. Made it for a week till they were back. I had a few rocks, sticks, hatchets, and Axes thrown at me. Those typically ended with me dodging and "forgetting" the "proper" restraining technique.

In the past decade I have run into 2 of my kids, one at the mall - he joined the Navy and became a fine young man, and one at a local restaurant. he too was a fine man who has not had his fortune shine on him yet. Both thanked me for the time I spent with them - I guess some of my stuff worked after all :yahoo:

 

[TriggerT]

I guess it depends on which of my jobs you want to talk about.

At work on Friday I stepped on a screw, which went through the bottom of my boot and stopped when it hit the bone in the ball of my foot. I had to have one of the guys working on the job site go find me a pair of pliers to pull out the screw from my boot before I could get the boot off. Made riding the bike for the rest of the day, and walking around other job sites quite painful.

My foot still hurts today.

other hazards from previous jobs include, thumb through table saw, a really fun case of dysentery, pulling bodies out from under the ice of the Wisconsin river.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

I'm almost embarrased to add my list after reading onbeams, but here it is:

Cutting tools.

The suckers are sharp. They don't usually bite you when the're spinning because you have enough sense to stay away from them. It's when they are still, just resting in their holders, waiting. That's when you'll reach for something and catch some skin on one. Actually you don't catch skin on the good ones. When they are really sharp, you don't even feel them cutting into you; until the air hits it.

After exposed cutting tools the next hazards are spinning abrasives; grinding wheels on surface grinders, grinding wheels and buffing wheels on pedestal grinders, belt sanders, disc sanders, diamond tool and cutter grinders. All spinning on nice, quiet, powerful motors. All looking just about the same whether they are at rest or spinning.

Come to think of it, danger usually comes on a spinning shaft in my line of work. Lathes, mills, CNCs, etc. An article of clothing, some hair, or jewlry get caught and your screwed.

We use all this equipment to produce parts. Depending on the operation that produced the parts, they may have sharp burs or razor sharp edges. It' a good idea to be careful while deburring them.

What else...

Dust. Carbide dust (containing tungsten), all sorts of nasty fine particulates that are produced when working with tool steels (aluminum oxide, cobalt, chromium, nickel, etc.)

Sometimes smoke; EDM smoke is probably the worst.

Fire. There's nothing more exciting than having all of your attention on a work piece (turning Titanium on a lathe for example) and have a chip burst into brilliant white sparks. Yeah its even cooler when the chip lands where all the other chips have landed, in a pile. Guess what happens after that.

I've managed to stay pretty much out of Harm's way. If I didn't my coworkers would question if I knew what I was doing.

My most frequent complaint? Repetitive strain injury in the right hand. CAD/CAM work during a big chunk of my day and working on the computer doing school work at night. I've learned to use the mouse with my left hand so I can switch off. That'll buy me some time, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to get to retirement.

 

[rockwells]

I'm an oil refinery operator, been one for about 11yrs. All kinds of nasty stuff there, or could happen at the drop of a hat. Before that, 21yrs in the military...

 

[Silver Penguin]

healthcare for me.Sick people all the time.

Needle sticks are my biggest risk

Been there a couple of times and have always dodged the bullet

Same here. Catching something nasty. Needle sticks. Back injuries from lifting (Pediatric patients are not necessarily small - we do get 400lbs'ers). Getting bitten, kicked, punched. Getting **** on, both literally and figuratively.

Jill

 

[Old Michael]

In the past decade I have run into 2 of my kids, one at the mall - he joined the Navy and became a fine young man, and one at a local restaurant. he too was a fine man who has not had his fortune shine on him yet. Both thanked me for the time I spent with them - I guess some of my stuff worked after all :yahoo:

Well done Fencer.

 

[James]

A weenie dog snapped at me the other day.

A coworker had his finger bitten off by a pig a while back. I mostly work w/mice, but some rats, hamsters, gerbils, dogs, cats, frogs, hedgehogs, pigeons, rabbits, pigs & calves (all indoors). Risk of needle sticks, radiation, various chemicals, and the odd moron who never figured out how people came up with tetanus & other vaccines, or cancer treatments, ect.

 

[Bustanut joker]

I mostly work w/gerbils, and the odd moron.

Ah ha! Tdubs alter ego finally surfaces :lol:

 

[7xray]

My most frequent complaint? Repetitive strain injury in the right hand. CAD/CAM work during a big chunk of my day and working on the computer doing school work at night. I've learned to use the mouse with my left hand so I can switch off. That'll buy me some time, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to get to retirement.

I used to have sore arm/wrist from using the mouse. Switched to the left and that helped but what is really great is to use a track ball. Your arm stays in one position (of comfort) and you only have to move your thumb. You might try one. Takes a little getting used to but no more than changing to the left hand for your mouse.

Cheers,

7X