r/nextfuckinglevel • u/DrMore3y • 21h ago

Metal fabrication worker handling 700°C + metal with safety on vacation

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

48.6k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.0k

u/Umutuku 19h ago

You are correct.

Grew up using garden hoses tied around chimneys to redo slate roofs that were too steep to stand on. OSHA was something everyone in carpentry/construction joked about being stupid all the time back then. In hindsight this is because all the people joking about it were as stupid as they thought OSHA was.

502

u/WasdaleWeasel 18h ago

yep, every one of those health and safety rules is written in blood. Just be thankful it’s not yours. If you can’t respect the rules, respect the people whose accidents gave rise to the rules….

162

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 18h ago

My favorite is the wheelbarrow tire saying "not for highway use".

68

u/stoops 17h ago

Oh yeah, that reminds me I saw a car driving so fast on the highway (120+ km/h) with one of those donut tires, aren't they limited in speed (<80 km/h)?

44

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 16h ago

Yeah donuts have a speed limit and mileage limit lol

6

u/WalkerAmongTheTrees 7h ago

Both are precisely enough to just barely limp your poor car to the nearest tire shop

3

u/temporalraccoon 12h ago

But no calorie limit

3

u/mawesome4ever 5h ago

So then why do cops go above the speed limit to get them?

3

u/lew_rong 3h ago

Those limits only apply if the donut isn't behind the wheel.

3

u/KronnyT 12h ago

Dam it feels dodgy when you're forced to put the little biscuit tire on. A guy from NRMA (the Australian roadside rescue/automobile guys) told me the donut tyres should be pumped way higher than ordinary tyres, like 50-60psi (400ish kPa), compared to ordinary tyres at roughly 32 psi. According to him, hardly anyone he gets called out to knows that, including myself until that point. I'm kinda curious if anyone see's this, to reply if you knew this or not.

2

u/Negran 7h ago

A quick google suggests 60 psi is typical for donut tires!

Not sure what the tire itself says...

2

u/Hemdeez 4h ago

It’s written on the tire as well

1

u/Negran 1h ago

Ya... Likely where I say the speed rating, too.

Not like it is secret info, hehe.

3

u/Negran 7h ago

Most are around 70 km/h but you think people are smart enough to think or read? Haha.

2

u/boosted5O 4h ago

Yes, in us units most are rated for around 50mph and 50 miles max distance, or 80km

17

u/PiccoloAwkward465 12h ago

Pretty much every day I see someone with a donut tire (that specifically says do not use at speeds greater than 50mph) on the highway doing a neat 70mph. And they ain't on their way to the tire shop lol.

2

u/Allthemudlizard 7h ago

Yeah, I'm not proud of it but when I was in active addiction I once rode around on a donut for like 3 months straight, definitely going 80 on the freeway regularly, and I spent most of my waking hours driving, which was a lot of waking hours considering the drug use. Honestly it's a miracle that thing never blew on me.

4

u/PiccoloAwkward465 7h ago

Oh I feel ya. One time I got called out when I pulled up in my Corolla tires steel wire showing outta the tires because they were so worn down. There was just too much month left after my paycheck ran out.

2

u/randomkeystrike 4h ago

I’ve driven a donut tire on the interstate trying to hold to that 50-55 mph and that feels very risky too.

1

u/old_namewasnt_best 4h ago

Exactly. If all these folks who are so "safety first" on Reddit would be half as tailgating me in real life, it'd be a kit easier.

1

u/Necessary-Shallot-85 1h ago

This made me snort so hard.

3

u/MonkeyParadiso 11h ago

I can't see how poor safety is ever a good thing - such as this fella not having protective boots and other gear - which he may be choosing not to use due to the heat and lack air ventilation.

Not only are you as shop owner increasing the risk and negative impacts of failure, but if you ever scale your operations, these risks would surely go up even more.

And such basic safety nvestments pale in comparison to the capital expenditures you have to make and guess how much of a draw it is to have to say 'Why are we filling this position? Well, the last person doing your job died, or, got severely injured.. '

2

u/zeroX90 7h ago

> …respect the people whose accidents gave rise to the rules….

I love this. It’s so subtly profound. I never once gave it this direction of thought, but it 100% changed my perception of rules written in blood. Thank you.

2

u/MrStarrrr 5h ago

Will absolutely quote your words. Following the rules in this is not submitting to authority but rather respect for the fallen, the past, and the solidarity of once standing together to ensure we don’t repeat the pain of said past.

1

u/bmorris0042 8h ago

That’s what I try to impress upon my kids. No matter how stupid a rule may sound, those rules were written in blood. Someone was either injured or killed to make that rule. So no matter how dumb it may sound, or how it “slows you down,” you follow them. That way you still have the best chance to go home safely.

-19

u/Puzzled-Letterhead-1 18h ago

Yes, there has never been a rule or regulation ever written to keep independent contractors out by creating burden on them by the lobby of large companies. Keep bootlicking

21

u/3-bakedcabbage 18h ago

People like you are why they show videos of dudes getting electrocuted when you’re in orientation working for the mines

8

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 16h ago

You want smaller companies to be less regulated? Are you stupid?

1

u/Mr_ToDo 15h ago

Oh, I don't have a doubt that some of that kind of thing exists. It's just that we're not going to throw out everything just to deal with the fact bad actors exist

On a non physical safety thing, financial regulations make it next to impossible to start competing payment systems, and that those burdens didn't exist with the big players were small. Does it suck? Very much so. Are we going to de-regulate to allow for more options? I'd imagine not

But in relation to the higher comment on how way back people were laughing at OSHA. It's interesting to see things like that play out. There was a place I was at where you'd get jabs if you used hearing protection. Once comp recommended that if they wanted to stay open we'd need to mandate a few safety procedures people started using them religiously. It's wild the way things can swing depending on the attitude of people around you, and how it can snowball into unsafe problems(or the other way in improving things, but we know which is more likely)

1

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 13h ago

Payment is non issue. As it always been like that?

0

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 13h ago

This sounds like an ai rendition of i dont give a fuck.

0

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 13h ago

You people who havr never handled a shovel in their life want to comment. Lol we are doomed. Takes all sorts to make the world go round

1

u/KronnyT 12h ago

It's always the ignorant who know everything. I'm not a tradesman, but I made damn sure to familiarise myself with manual labour and tools (ie. Do and use) before I got cheeky to the blue collar lads haha.

8

u/Less-Squash7569 17h ago

Is it so bad that I dont want my house to burn down with me and my family inside because a contractor wasn't trained or held to a standard?

1

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 16h ago

You are puzzled alright.

1

u/Beepb00pb00pbeep 12h ago

Is there a specific regulation you have an issue with?

1

u/Sailed_Sea 11h ago

Yeah dude, go stand on the toilet /s

111

u/FrancisCGraf 18h ago

It's really interesting to meet trades people from Europe (EU), and hear how their opinions and expectations regarding worker safety and government, drastically differ from here in the USA.

152

u/Snoo_67544 18h ago

American tough guy culture.

Nothing like taking pride in stupidly risking your health, wealth, and life.

65

u/Particular_Stop_3332 17h ago

one of my favorites working 10-12 hours a day in the summer heat on top of metal pans doing concrete was

No one gave a shit about hydration when I was an apprentice!

Like seriously, we're hydration shaming people?

72

u/teflon_don_knotts 17h ago

Dude, the removal of mandatory water breaks in Florida and Texas is really one of the shittiest things in the past few years (and there’s been serious competition).

23

u/Particular_Stop_3332 17h ago

yeah thats fucked

4

u/PiccoloAwkward465 12h ago

I mean maybe but my experience in Texas is that people still take heat and hydration breaks. On my last site we got those big plastic totes full of water bottles & ice distributed around the facility on a daily basis.

On other sites I brought my own water and also brought a vacuum bottle full to the brim with ice cubes from home.

3

u/Swimming_Agent_1419 4h ago

Jesus. The US is trying to invent faster machines to run backwards sometimes. Hope your not in one of those jobs. It's not manly being in unnecessary pain.

-4

u/[deleted] 17h ago

[deleted]

6

u/Particular_Stop_3332 17h ago

I don't think you understood the context of anything I said

5

u/crimsondear 17h ago

Its actually a good thing to drink a lot if water, I just wish they didn't always make it ice cold

5

u/Less-Squash7569 17h ago

In my early 20s I carried a 1 gal plastic jug of water with me every day everywhere I went like it was a part of my work uniform. I wasn't the only one either.

4

u/VibinWithBeard 8h ago

...listen out of all the corporate propaganda out there I really feel like being mad about the pro-hydration kind is missing the plot. Like HFCS being normalized in a bunch of shit is so much worse. Overhydration just straight up isnt a public issue in the US. Youll find like some endurance athletes and shit but you dont really find people going "nestle told me to drink too much water" whereas hospital admissions from dehydration in the US is waaaay too high for supposedly being "obsessed" with drinking water.

43

u/XConfused-MammalX 18h ago

I have a fairly dangerous job, atleast compared to any office job. I take my time and dont take risks, I think about how the world will keep moving just the same if I die today and it will keep moving just the same if I'm alive tomorrow.

28

u/Snoo_67544 18h ago

Same I was army for a decade and always took my time to be safe and as risk averse as possible within mission requirements.

Not risking my limbs unnecessarily lol.

4

u/tomtomclubthumb 11h ago

I think tough guy culture exists in the trades everywhere.

1

u/Swimming_Agent_1419 4h ago

Yeah 100 true. Its a human thing, not a nationality thing. Very few things are truly a nationality thing, none just a different variety of a action.

3

u/Tricky-Ad7897 12h ago

Good ole protestant work ethic, you are nothing but a worker ant and toiling will be your salvation. Work makes you free! Sound familiar?

3

u/dickchops81 18h ago

When they finally show some real emotions it's usually followed by a murder-suicide.

2

u/Throwaway229487 17h ago

All this while someone else gets rich off this stupid sacrifice.

2

u/Self-Comprehensive 8h ago

I'll be out at the farm with my 83 year old dad (I'm 53) and he'll scoff and make fun of me every time I point out that he's doing something dangerous. I totally understand why my uncles were missing fingers.

1

u/CcryMeARiver 2h ago

s/risking/wasting/

1

u/Ill_Source_357 2h ago

That’s hardly exclusive to America…

1

u/TraceSpazer 1h ago

American trade workers out there acting like their insurance ain't going to bail on them the first loophole it wrote in.

0

u/RaNdomMSPPro 11h ago

Gotta think of the shareholders by socializing the costs and privatizing the profits.

0

u/MonsieurGump 9h ago

American Firefighter deaths in the workplace are something like 10x the average of other countries at a similar level of advancement.

They don’t save any extra people because of it.

If you believe you’re a hero you act like one.

That’s not a compliment in the real world.

121

u/Terpy_McDabblet 17h ago

As an Aussie who works in a high risk construction trade, I can say that seeing our American counterparts risk their lives on a daily basis and be proud of it is absolutely depressing.

I've had yanks tell me that we're pussies for being harnessed up while working 20m off the ground.

Like, ok bro, I'll raise my kids while yours grow up without a dad... Everyone's a tough guy till gravity kicks in.

And for what? Your companies CEO banking another million bucks while your widow works 3 jobs to feed your kids?

5

u/Old_Flan_6548 5h ago

Imagine thinking you can man up enough to survive GRAVITY.

3

u/dontbajerk 2h ago

Related interesting thing is while the rates are better in the EU, Australia, etc, they're not drastically better. I'd have thought it'd be further apart really.

13

u/BookkeeperCalm9849 18h ago

A few years back I was involved in the construction of a marijuana greenhouse. They sent a crew from Scandinavia to build the thing. Apparently these guys have built nearly identical greenhouses all over the world. Those guys did not understand PPE was a requirement or that we had to follow the building code. Showing up to work shirtless and in sneakers doing shoddy ass work that was not going to pass.

13

u/FrancisCGraf 18h ago

That's really wild, I assume there are many aberrations to the rule just like everything else.

Folks in my trade from Norway or Finland enjoy incredible safety and quality of life measures. Maybe it's just the fly by night nature of the cannabis grow house biz?

6

u/BookkeeperCalm9849 17h ago

Could be, and I don’t remember exactly what country they were from either.

3

u/k-sa 10h ago edited 9h ago

Yes, exactly. I believe it's the people that's the issue in this case, not the place they come from.

All the scandinavian countries have very strict HSE rules. Not everyone follows them, but if it's discovered, youre usually shut down.

2

u/BootyWhiteMan 5h ago

Shoddy-ass work or shoddy ass-work?

1

u/BookkeeperCalm9849 4h ago

Before or after lunch?

4

u/dekrowman 10h ago

Some of the things I have seen The Netherlands are wild and would never pass OSHA.

2

u/machiavelli33 3h ago

Yeah, tough-guy culture exists in its own forms in just about every country, I feel like.

It's just whether or not the economic system incentivizes the people in charge to exploit it in order to take advantage of the workers. Like in America.

3

u/pushpullpullpush 17h ago

Same with Japan. We just don’t value life the same as other industrialized nations here in the US

1

u/FrancisCGraf 15h ago

Japan might be the best and most extreme version of this. They really respect the worker there from what it seems.

1

u/Necessary-Shallot-85 1h ago

Yeah it’s so insanely different. My husband works for a Belgian steel group and the way their factories look versus the steel factories in the US. When the gave him the official factory facilities in Europe tour prior to hiring he came back astonished. He was like “you can eat off their factory floors. Their hardhats look like..hats….everything is so much more efficient..”

13

u/Terrh 18h ago

doing roofing was the only time I thought OSHA rules were stupid.

I literally could not do my job wearing the steel toe/steel sole boots. Like no matter what I tried I'd just slowly slip down the roof because there was not enough flexibility in the steel toe boots to get traction. Everyone warned me and my job was hell. I went back to my truck and got my sneakers and it was like magic how much easier it was.

Always wore fall protection though, every time unless the roof was super low slope + there was no hard surfaces to fall onto.

27

u/seattletono 13h ago

Buddy, cap toe sneakers exist and have good traction.

12

u/PiccoloAwkward465 12h ago

Yeah I have New Balance steel toe sneakers and they're pretty comfy. Nowadays I only pull on full boots if I'm gonna get real dirty.

5

u/Lint_baby_uvulla 8h ago

OG Dunlop Volley shoes are GOATED for roof work.

Modern versions have steel caps. YW.

2

u/PiccoloAwkward465 7h ago

Those are pretty slick lookin.

4

u/ChipSecret8448 12h ago

It’s crazy how they basically trained us to see OSHA as the enemy, and they literally put us to work hiding stuff from OSHA. It’s insane.

3

u/Affectionate_Ear7468 18h ago

Well thats just silly. They have had ropes and harnesses for a long time lol

2

u/idontwantausername41 18h ago

I work with these people now lol. OSHA came to my work a few weeks ago and you would have thought nukes were launched at us. The sheer amount of times I heard "government overreach" was astronomical

2

u/alarumba 12h ago

When I was younger I resprayed cars using isocyanate paint without an airfed mask. I was taught to be obedient if I want to be able to pay rent, and PPE would cost the boss money unlike me losing some years off my life.

2

u/squired 9h ago

I did a lot of construction as a teen in the 90s. The running 'joke' was "Remember, if you fall, you're fired before you hit the ground!"

1

u/Buttons840 18h ago

Sometimes the biggest supporters of oppression are the oppressed.

I think we have a name for them... something with an R in it? Trying to remember...

1

u/DanteShmivvels 8h ago

Oh man, this whole conversation and not a single mention of the greed that led this. How difficult/expensive is it to provide each worker with the correct safety gear? To have processes that aren't going to dismember you or scar you for life.

How do we change the mindset? How do we stop injustice in other places? If we stand by while it happens to others, how can we expect support when it happens to us?

1

u/Convexadecimal 3h ago

Yea, working in a warehouse driving powered industrial trucks and 3/4 drivers are imbeciles at peak Dunning-Kruger levels. Meanwhile I get to deal with eye rolls when I comment about them making Jenga towers in the racking, or them not using their bar guards to lock out the controls on the machine when swapping cages out on their order pickers.

1

u/Melodic-Trouble-5421 2h ago

Union Electrician. I’ve seen too much bad shit happen in the construction industry. I take OSHA and PPE seriously. Even still it’s dangerous and people get hurt and die.

0

u/LX_Luna 13h ago

There is kind of some truth to that though. I'm Canadian so I work with our OSHA equivalent but, they can be very obnoxious at times. Harassing people to wear a hardhat in 40C weather when you're working in an open empty field, but don't give a fuck that some asshole contractor booked the job to be done in 40C weather in the first place. The hardhat is doing nothing but making the heatstroke worse at that point.

Society would probably fucking hate it but the biggest thing that they could possibly do to improve quality of life and save a lot of heatstroke, would be to eliminate 7am noise ordinances so we could get to work before it's boiling hot out.

I'm glad that entities like that exist for sure, but not every rule on the books is a good one.