Some jobs have more risk than others

[lugbolt]

If any of you EVER get the chance, stop in to the Kennedy Space Center visitor center. Budget 2 full days. LOT of REALLY cool stuff.

I did one day and didn't see but about half of it. My friend's dad was one of the guys who worked on the Gemini program, so we spent a lot of time in that part of the museum. This was before the cancellation of the STS program, was supposed to send Atlantis up the next day. We were staying at Cocoa Beach, anyway got to bed a little later than I wanted to, got up late, hurried over to KSC to watch them scrub the launch. We had other places to be, so we headed out. That sucked. Man I wanted to see that!

 

[mcmxi]

I still have my pictures and the truck on my last work day. Fortunately for me, both Atlantis and Endeavour where at the pads and fully visible at the time. View attachment 108189 View attachment 108190 View attachment 108193 View attachment 108196

Amazing photos. My neighbor, who spends four weeks a year out here at the most, owns the company that makes (made) the vehicles that transport the shuttles out to the launch pad.

 

[chim]

The last 53 of my working years were spent in construction. Never had the awful experience of being on a project when there was a fatality. There were plenty of close calls over the years - runaway temporary material / personnel hoist on a 7-story building, crane lost a several ton piece of precast, flash flooded trench when a pipe broke, near electrocution (man down, pooped himself and couldn't move), various equipment failures, man fell three stories, steering became uncoupled on a forklift, guy slid off metal roof, and the list goes on. Some activities likely have a higher risk of injury and death, but my bet is that more people died in the commute to and from work than actually AT work.

As a side note, long ago when my Mom sold insurance, she said the highest risk job was being a trash collector. I was never sure if that was true - or whether she was encouraging me to aim a bit higher for a vocation

 

[fried1765]

Back in 1980 and 19 years old I was making a whopping $4.10 per hour as a first year electrical apprentice at a power plant. We were working on installing a precipitator on a coal fired generator at a power plant I volunteered to help run the cable tray for the power up the side of the precipitator hanging from the basket of a crane up to about 250 feet from grade. I did it for the money (high pay) another $2.50 per hour as it was like time and a half all the time. I am in my 60's now and wonder what the hell I was thinking. I saw some crazy crap on that job and unfortunately one fatality.

At a very young age, some of us learned to fly on and off aircraft carriers, and then went to a jungle place were people were shooting at airplanes.
We thought we were invincible, but it did not work out well for some.

 

[xrocketengineer]

If any of you EVER get the chance, stop in to the Kennedy Space Center visitor center. Budget 2 full days. LOT of REALLY cool stuff.

Yes, I spent almost 32 years seeing cool stuff (and some not so pleasant). We are still getting some thrills, last night, Space X launched a Falcon Heavy. Even with the clouds we could see the vehicle go up and the side boosters separate then their short reentry burn. We could not see the landing burn, but we could see the light reflection of the burn on the low clouds over the tree line and after what appeared a to be a long time we heard the four very loud sonic booms. With a land landing you don't see everyday a rocket flying backwards, much less two at once.

 

[jajiu]

Not sure which one has the most dangerous job. The plumber or the electrician. Lol!!
View attachment 108093

There MIGHT be a code violation here.

 

[GrizBota]

At a very young age, some of us learned to fly on and off aircraft carriers, and then went to a jungle place were people were shooting at airplanes.
We thought we were invincible, but it did not work out well for some.

Sobering.

 

[GrizBota]

The last 53 of my working years were spent in construction. Never had the awful experience of being on a project when there was a fatality. There were plenty of close calls over the years - runaway temporary material / personnel hoist on a 7-story building, crane lost a several ton piece of precast, flash flooded trench when a pipe broke, near electrocution (man down, pooped himself and couldn't move), various equipment failures, man fell three stories, steering became uncoupled on a forklift, guy slid off metal roof, and the list goes on. Some activities likely have a higher risk of injury and death, but my bet is that more people died in the commute to and from work than actually AT work.

As a side note, long ago when my Mom sold insurance, she said the highest risk job was being a trash collector. I was never sure if that was true - or whether she was encouraging me to aim a bit higher for a vocation

I’ve lost coworkers at work. One young man and I used to put our boots on in the morning sitting out front on the same bench before work. We were the same age. He didn’t get to be old. And too many others.

Damn near everything on my industry that can fall off a crane, I’ve seen. Sometimes the cranes go over too.
I’ve seen shitty engineering designs fail, most of the time no one dies, but that’s happened too. I’m pretty critical of engineering, because engineering is about knowing, not hoping. I’m not sure the young guys really appreciate my reviews of their work. But you lose a coworker due to someone’s shit design, it will leave a mark.

 

[RCW]

I used to be around a lot of drinking water and wastewater construction projects and operating systems.

Sometimes coffer dams were used for river/creek crossings, but nothing close to those pictured.

I remember standing next to sewer wet wells and having my fear of heights kick in.

I was literally standing at grade, but it was 30+ feet down to the bottom of the wet well….the folks that built that were admirable.

A 22’ drop inlet was really scary. So many chances for something to go terribly wrong….

While I didn’t like climbing 30-40’ silage silos as a youngster, my fear of heights got worse as I got older.

I have a 32’ ladder. Used it fully extended to clean wood stove chimney on the farm.

Have no business owning an 32’ ladder anymore….

 

[chim]

I’ve lost coworkers at work. One young man and I used to put our boots on in the morning sitting out front on the same bench before work. We were the same age. He didn’t get to be old. And too many others.

Damn near everything on my industry that can fall off a crane, I’ve seen. Sometimes the cranes go over too.
I’ve seen shitty engineering designs fail, most of the time no one dies, but that’s happened too. I’m pretty critical of engineering, because engineering is about knowing, not hoping. I’m not sure the young guys really appreciate my reviews of their work. But you lose a coworker due to someone’s shit design, it will leave a mark.

One of the closest to fatal mishaps involved both a crane and engineering. I was doing the electrical contract on the new county courthouse in '75. The 7 story structure was typical steel beams and columns. The exterior was clad with prefabbed brick panels. They were each one story tall and IIRC around 10' or 12' wide. They were lifted in place and mating clip angles were then welded to hold them.

When the first load rolled in they looked unlike any panels I'd seen. These large panels were only one brick thick. I asked the architect's resident inspector about them. He told me the bricks were manually laid up at a facility using a frame to ensure dimensions. The cored brick panels were "reinforced" with three vertical rebars in each panel and the lifting means was something embedded that only went several courses down. When I gave him the ol' "you gotta be kidding", he assured me they were using a special mortar.

Then one morning when the roach coach rolled in, a few workers took a shortcut through an area they should not have. Two guys were on the ground and under a panel being lifted when it separated a few stories above then. Somehow one of them managed to give the other a big shove and they escaped with one of them getting a leg injury that resulted in losing his kneecap.

EDIT TO ADD: The panel fell because the mortar failed and it separated while being lifted.

 

[Daren Todd]

If any of you EVER get the chance, stop in to the Kennedy Space Center visitor center. Budget 2 full days. LOT of REALLY cool stuff.

I did one day and didn't see but about half of it. My friend's dad was one of the guys who worked on the Gemini program, so we spent a lot of time in that part of the museum. This was before the cancellation of the STS program, was supposed to send Atlantis up the next day. We were staying at Cocoa Beach, anyway got to bed a little later than I wanted to, got up late, hurried over to KSC to watch them scrub the launch. We had other places to be, so we headed out. That sucked. Man I wanted to see that!

I used to see the rockets going up at night from my house in Winter Park Fl.

 

[fried1765]

I used to see the rockets going up at night from my house in Winter Park Fl.

We can see the bright rocket tails from Bradenton, on the West coast of Florida.

 

[Daren Todd]

We can see the orange rocket tails from Bradenton, on the West coast of Florida.

Freaked me out the first time I saw it Then I realized that was the direction of Canaveral and it was probably a rocket. Especially when it disappeared then reappeared a couple seconds later. With one orange glow heading up and another orange glow heading down.

I had just finished watching a documentary involving nukes, so you can figure what my first knee jerk thoughts were

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Hey! my name is Gena Hentz and I'm a fashion blogger. I'm myself employed and work with brands that I love and love sharing my experience with others.

That's fantastic Gena.....Do you need him to send you money to pay the taxes of his HUGE prize?

 

[D2Cat]

Gena, I trust you are not the same person who called my wife's sister last week telling her that my wife needed $550? It so happened my wife was AT her sister's house when she received the call. Seemed real creative.

 

[D2Cat]

KISS OF LIFE"
In 1968, the author received the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph - one of the most prestigious awards in the United States, which is awarded for achievements in music, cinema, theater and journalism.
The picture shows two electricians, Randall Champion and Jay Thompson, hanging from a power pole. That day there was a strong heat and nothing foreshadowed trouble. The hum of air conditioners in July 1967 was heard throughout the state of Florida. Because of them, in the city of Jacksonville, there was an overload of power lines, and this caused a power surge.
Randall and Jay were doing routine maintenance on a live line when Randall accidentally touched one of the wires. A discharge of 4000 V passed through the body and his heart stopped. For understanding: during the execution in the electric chair, a voltage of 2000 V is used
Randall's lifeless body hung from the harness. But his partner Jay did not lose his head, realizing that every second is precious, he began to give him artificial respiration right on the pole. It was very inconvenient, but there was no other way out. In such a situation, it is difficult to conduct a normal resuscitation, but Jay still tried to start his friend's heart until he had a weak pulse.
Only after that he unhooked his partner's insurance and, throwing him over his shoulder, went down to the ground. By the time the rescuers arrived (they were called by professional photographer Rocco Morabito, who happened to be at the scene), Champion was already conscious on the ground.
Not only was he saved, thanks to Thompson, but he lived another 35 years. The electrician died in 2003 at the age of 64.
Thompson is alive today.

 

[fried1765]

View attachment 109034


KISS OF LIFE"
In 1968, the author received the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph - one of the most prestigious awards in the United States, which is awarded for achievements in music, cinema, theater and journalism.
The picture shows two electricians, Randall Champion and Jay Thompson, hanging from a power pole. That day there was a strong heat and nothing foreshadowed trouble. The hum of air conditioners in July 1967 was heard throughout the state of Florida. Because of them, in the city of Jacksonville, there was an overload of power lines, and this caused a power surge.
Randall and Jay were doing routine maintenance on a live line when Randall accidentally touched one of the wires. A discharge of 4000 V passed through the body and his heart stopped. For understanding: during the execution in the electric chair, a voltage of 2000 V is used
Randall's lifeless body hung from the harness. But his partner Jay did not lose his head, realizing that every second is precious, he began to give him artificial respiration right on the pole. It was very inconvenient, but there was no other way out. In such a situation, it is difficult to conduct a normal resuscitation, but Jay still tried to start his friend's heart until he had a weak pulse.
Only after that he unhooked his partner's insurance and, throwing him over his shoulder, went down to the ground. By the time the rescuers arrived (they were called by professional photographer Rocco Morabito, who happened to be at the scene), Champion was already conscious on the ground.
Not only was he saved, thanks to Thompson, but he lived another 35 years. The electrician died in 2003 at the age of 64.
Thompson is alive today.

A highschool classmate died this way at age 19.

 

[dirtydeed]

Just now.

Plumbing co owner just sent me this. He was out marking a one call request for a job that we have to do just down the street from this location. We bid this job as well, but didn't get it (we were about $1,800 more).

He sent me a video. This hole is 9 plus feet. You can see the guy in the hole wearing a black baseball hat (not a hard hat). There is no trench box or shoring, no ladder, spoils pile right on the edge of the hole. They had plenty of room to bench the trench with reasonably stable soil. he told me that they were lowering the guys into the hole using the excavator.

I encouraged him to do the right thing. He placed a call into the municipal authority, fire department and the local OSHA office located about 15 mins away. Nothing. Is that what's to be expected on a friday at 3:30 pm? I hope these employees have life insurance.


To reiterate. THIS IS NOT THE COMPANY THAT I DO WORK FOR.

 

[D2Cat]

Just now.

Plumbing co owner just sent me this. He was out marking a one call request for a job that we have to do just down the street from this location. We bid this job as well, but didn't get it (we were about $1,800 more).

He sent me a video. This hole is 9 plus feet. You can see the guy in the hole wearing a black baseball hat (not a hard hat). There is no trench box or shoring, no ladder, spoils pile right on the edge of the hole. he told me that they were lowering the guys into the hole using the excavator.

View attachment 109050

I encouraged him to do the right thing. He placed a call into the municipal authority, fire department and the local OSHA office located about 15 mins away. Nothing. Is that what's to be expected on a friday at 3:30 pm? I hope these employees have life insurance.


To reiterate. THIS IS NOT THE COMPANY THAT I DO WORK FOR.

It always looks just fine until it isn't!! Some folks never learn to anticipate what's next if things don't go as planned.

 

[dirtydeed]

It always looks just fine until it isn't!! Some folks never learn to anticipate what's next if things don't go as planned.

There is nothing about this job that looks fine. You can see crumbs from the soil pile literally hanging on the edge. Unreal.