As most of you know, I work in an industrial environment.

More specifically, I work in a wire mill.

Technically, my job description includes the phrase "extrusion line manager".

Essentially, that means that I run a small wire mill.

I make wire. I package wire. I design/customize/fix/duct tape/wd40/bubble gum equipment together to "make it work".

There is a machine at work that I believe was at one time a "motor driven pay-off".

Imagine a great big reel of bare copper. So heavy that trying to rotate the reel by pulling on the copper would cause the copper to stretch and lose size. In such a case, one would use a motor driven pay off.

We really don't have any use for it.

We could, however, really use a take up that would be capable of pulling 2/0 wire.

(Can't you just smell it?)

Anyway, I'm about three days into a project that involves teaching a machine to perform the exact opposite function of the one that it was designed to do. This is a bit complicated, but not really all that hard...I've done it before.

We had no controller for the eddy current clutch...so I found a DC drive laying on a shelf and made a controller out of it. Had to move some 120 outlets, add a speed pot, and used a light switch as a motor starter. (Yes, it can be done...)

My point is on the way, I promise...

Yesterday, noon time plus or minus, I've got my hands in an electrical box with a screwdriver and various wiring in my hands when someone sneaks up behind me to say, "HEY! What are you doing?'

OK, obvious funny there. Yes, she scared me...yes I jumped. Ha ha.

As you can imagine, that story made its way around the rest of the plant yesterday afternoon and this morning.

I do have an office. When I'm seated at my computer...researching how to wire an AC motor to an eddy current clutch with a 110 volt requirement and a 24 volt controller...one can "sneak" into my office and scare the snot out of me relatively easily.

Not once. Not twice. Not even three times.

By the fourth time, I jumped out of my chair and physically removed a young man from my office.

I understand the funny...I even am guilty of similar silliness, although I don't think I'd do that do someone with his hands in an electrical enclosure...

Where's the line? What's funny and what's too much?

I'll confess that I used some words that would make a sailor blush, and I did eventually apologize for my outburst, and the young un was cool about it...but still... don't any of these people have jobs to do?

What's your two cents? What's funny and what's just asinine?

 

You lost me at Industrial.

















Not the best time for HEY! But maybe BUZZ! LOL

 

I fell out of the chair laughing at the statement "I work" and could not understand the rest, I am ATF (Adjudicated to Fords) so any talk no about Ford trucks sort of falls on deaf ears. JK

But one DOES NOT bother/scare anyone working on anything to do with electricity or mechanical business, good way to get slapped IMO.

If you are leaning against the water jug, a poke in the ribs is ok, but NOT when you are working on anything, no place for it in dangerous work environment.

 

On a professional level - it sounds like your co-workers are on the verge of creating what is called a "hostile work environment." This is a form of harassment and should be treated as such. If I were in your shoes, I would start by having a discussion with my supervisor that such antics are interfering with my ability to do my job and creating a potential safety issue for myself and others. If the supervisor does nothing about the problem, then I would move up the chain of command and/or file a complaint with the human resources office. As a last resort, I would file a complaint with the EEOC.

This kind of non-sense is going to get people injured - I wish people would grow up....

 

Please tell me the juice was off and the safety lockout/tagout was in place. We just finished a multimillion dollar project at one of our local customers on a coil winder in a transformer plant, well it was 28 winders. It sure would be nice to have gotten some commission on that project. Not even our electrical guy who designed it all got a cut of it, just the salesman did. Hope it works like a champ.

 

i work with an older man that is very jumpy, all teh time jumpy. . . it can be funny, but work is work, there is a time for fun and a time for work. my only advice would be to try and focus on your environment so that hey dont get he drop on ya, you can focus on your pc and use your ears to focus elsewhere . . . if your a boss of sorts, let em know, its not funny, someone can get hurt. and " dont you have a job to do? " usually gets em moving along. hope this helps.

 

I would have a talk with my co-workers, it's one thing to scare someone that is at a computer, quite another to scare someone who is working on potentially dangerous equipment. If they are getting annoying, tell them. They may not realize they are ticking you off, if you escalate the situation by going up the chain of command without communicating with them first you are guaranteeing a negative work environment for the foreseeable future. Most of the time a little communication can go a long way.

 

Ummm. Half.

The juice for both circuits was off. I turned them off with my own hands.

However, as I'm not a "maintenance" employee, I have no access to lockout/tagout pad locks.

I may just buy my own...

 

I had considered this one, but frankly, my "official" supervisor person is one of those folks who finds this nonsense entertaining...

 

This one I did already.

I'll admit that I umm... kinda snapped at the last guy to do this to me yesterday, and no one has gotten brave enough to try it again...yet.

I did later apologize for my unkindness, and he apologized for scaring the snot out of me.

 

oh yeah...thanks everybody for your input!

 

Fixed it for ya, Rich.