Workplace rant

We had every bearing/race heater, heat treat oven and personal space heater blazing at 10/10 and will do so again tomorrow night. It actually wasn't too bad. There have been nights in the past month or so when I got REALLY cold. We all called the our company labor relations administrator, then when he stopped answering his phone, we left messages.

A welder and I were b.s.ing and we ran into one of our engineers (their building is separate from the corporate/office building and adjacent to ours). I asked if they had heat. He said no. I was shocked, usually engineers are treated better than knuckle dragging machinists like myself (nothing against engineers, they're the smart ones). I made a comment about serfs, we all had an angry chuckle.

This E36 M3 will not stand.

No open fires allowed, my supervisor was adamant about that.

So a fire in a barrel would be fine then, right?

The Canadian wrote:

The U.S. Department of Labor enforces federal laws and standards for workplace and employee safety. Within the DOL, the Office of Safety and Health Administration is the key agency that monitors workplace regulations nationwide. OSHA's recommendations for workplace air treatment set federal standards for temperature and humidity levels. Regardless of business size, the minimum temperature for indoor workplaces is 68 degrees Fahrenheit and the maximum is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. The acceptable range for indoor humidity is between 20 and 60 percent. OSHA set these standards in 1975 in consultation with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The Department of Labor provides assistance to help your business comply with federal standards.

sounds like you need to file a compaint

kind of funny how a government agency asks a group of people who are in the business of selling heating and AC equipment to help them what a comfortable working range would be, and they come up with an 8 degree temperature range...

personally, i like working best at about 60 degrees but have worked indoor jobs that varied from 45ish up to 100+. dress for it and temp isn't an issue.. i never thought about filing a complaint and being "that guy" if i didn't like it- i just find a new place to work if the working conditions aren't what i can live with...

You should try some gloves and a warm hat

In reply to novaderrik:

I'm pretty sure those temps aren't any kind of law, just recommendations.

anybody who works in a theatre will tell you that those are kept cool for a reason. a 120k rig will quickly heat up the airspace once a show gets underway.

That said, the theatre at Harrahs Atlantic City was always especially cool. We once saw 52 degrees inside during the middle of summer.. an almost 40+ degree difference between inside and out. It was no wonder I always came down with pneumonia every summer while I worked there

The_Jed wrote: No open fires allowed, my supervisor was adamant about that.

But what if the open fires were actually the building on fire?

When the heat cut on this morning, the dust started burning off the coil strips. It almost caused a panic.

Facilities engineer or manager is usually tasked w/ reducing utility costs. No, they're not out to screw y'all, just following orders, cutting heating fuel usage is just their Easiest Button. I kinda get it but sometimes it's just gonna exclude all common sense in the name of savings.

My old plant had 1M sq.ft. heated manufacturing floor space. The NG fired steam boiler cost $1500/ day to operate (in '95 $), and it was only fired after 60 1M BTU oil fired roof heaters couldn't keep up. It was an old but productive plant, one of the best on the circuit but in the end excessive utility costs were a major factor in closing it.

I'd gladly wear a sweater, poly pro, whatever to keep 'er open, but no, the bean counters knew better.

spitfirebill wrote: When the heat cut on this morning, the dust started burning off the coil strips. It almost caused a panic.

Ewwww, I hate that smell.

yamaha wrote:

The_Jed wrote: No open fires allowed, my supervisor was adamant about that.

But what if the open fires were actually the building on fire?

He'd stay warm the rest of his career.

If you're running machine tools in there, remind everybody how much temperature fluctuations throw off calibration, cause condensation and rust, etc.

The person(s) in charge of choosing who's lucky enough to receive the heat that's already on, but the valves that feed certain buildings are closed, don't understand the particulars of my job any more than I understand theirs.

Heat!

The steam valves have been opened and there was warm air blasting through the shop last night!

Now about my schedule...

novaderrik wrote:

The Canadian wrote:

The U.S. Department of Labor enforces federal laws and standards for workplace and employee safety. Within the DOL, the Office of Safety and Health Administration is the key agency that monitors workplace regulations nationwide. OSHA's recommendations for workplace air treatment set federal standards for temperature and humidity levels. Regardless of business size, the minimum temperature for indoor workplaces is 68 degrees Fahrenheit and the maximum is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. The acceptable range for indoor humidity is between 20 and 60 percent. OSHA set these standards in 1975 in consultation with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The Department of Labor provides assistance to help your business comply with federal standards.

sounds like you need to file a compaint

kind of funny how a government agency asks a group of people who are in the business of selling heating and AC equipment to help them what a comfortable working range would be, and they come up with an 8 degree temperature range... personally, i like working best at about 60 degrees but have worked indoor jobs that varied from 45ish up to 100+. dress for it and temp isn't an issue.. i never thought about filing a complaint and being "that guy" if i didn't like it- i just find a new place to work if the working conditions aren't what i can live with...

I also assume that 68-76 degree range doesn't apply to my caste.

In the past I have worked E36 M3 jobs for E36 M3 pay in E36 M3 conditions. I'm now older with a fair amount of knowledge and experience and I have no problem with being "that guy".

If something is wrong, it needs to be fixed.

In reply to The_Jed:

Could be your section of plant was shut down for maintenance or repair.

We typically clean steam coils and strainers in the summer, change traps if they're over 5 yrs. on rebuild. Some components can't be checked w/o steam on tho. We've had to shut down sections before while waiting for parts for condensate return pumps, pressure reducing valves, scheduling bad pipe replacement etc.

Good to see y'all got the heat back on.