91°F (32.7°C) in the factory I work at.
The law states “all factories must maintain a reasonable temperature and humidity.”
Nowhere is reasonable ever defined. I am mildly infuriated. And very hot lol
Edit: 94° (34.4C) now and this post has made it close to the top of “Hot”… The gods are having a laugh lol
Oh no, please argue with me! I always tell my crews to call me out if they disagree. I’m not perfect, I get things wrong. It’s hokey but true: safety is a team effort.
I would recommend bringing up the OSHA guidelines as suggestions on how to improve the workplace and thereby worker morale. There likely isn’t much that’s enforceable that they could report to OSHA as it stands - they seem to be closer to “really damn uncomfortable” territory than imminent danger, but there may be more to this situation I’m not aware of. Getting OSHA in for something unrelated but enforceable is a good tactic too. Keep in mind a certain dipshit administration has cut funding and gutted agencies, so response times may be slow.
I do caution folks to be strategic about speaking up and filing complaints, and to keep a detailed CYA paper trail of EVERYTHING they can for at least a year afterwards, more if they have a sketchy employer. While it’s illegal to retaliate, at-will employment makes it really easy to do so anyhow. I know - I, the damn safety person, once got fired for getting hurt on the job!
That’s great advice, thanks. Also, thank You for doing what’s a mostly thankless job that keeps people safe. You’re in an industry that’s mostly invisible but that’s vitally important, and you probably don’t hear that.
I appreciate what you do.
Awww, thanks! I’ve worked in some dangerous industries, which tends to make employees very grateful that I’m actively working to keep their bones undissolved (not exaggerating), so I luckily get a lot of love in between the safety cop jokes. Plus if they’re nice to me I’ll show them where they won’t get caught napping.
😳
Uh… story time? Or not.
Talking story is my favorite part of EHS! I’ve spent a lot of time working in the semiconductor industry. It uses some terrible chemicals, one of which is hydrofluoric acid, HF. HF is awful. Exposure to moderate amounts usually doesn’t do anything. Not immediately. Without treatment, a very painful burn will appear about 24-36 hours later, as if by magic, due to liquefaction necrosis: it dissolves your tissue into a jelly. Small burns just hurt a lot, big burns can result in abscesses.
It has a very high affinity for calcium, so a single large exposure can result in cardiac arrest due to it binding the calcium in your blood. Chronic exposure to low levels can lead to it leeching the calcium out of your bones, resulting in bones collapsing or simply dying. This is very painful.
Despite it being scary, it’s dead simple to work with: don’t get it on your skin. If you do, wash it off, slather on a calcium gel, and it’ll likely be like nothing happened.
So, these are things that have actually happened, since we know that’s a thing. Good lord.
I’m not afraid of many things, but that sounds horrific. Have people lived through that? I kinda hope not.
These sorts of things are why regulations are written in blood, right?