Hot Rods How do the shops with television coverage avoid OSHA?

People are idiots. Do you think they become smarter at work?
Pay close attention at 4:23

 

I'm glad it exists...but I've seen some dumb stuff required and some really dumb questions by inspectors.

For example...at work we have a 7 hp compressor in a separate room, with the belt system on the far side against a wall. The belt system is also enclosed inside the factory guard that came with the compressor.
Above the compressor is a metal platform with legs that surround the compressor.
Pretty much impossible to get at the compressor as it was and the moving parts are enclosed anyway.

The inspector required that we bolt expanded metal screen around the metal platform legs...down to 2.5ish ft from the floor.
Now its a back breaking chore to service the compressor...which was already using all its required safety guards anyway! Thanks OSHA!

Another inspector gave the Boss a hard time for keeping paint thinner in an explosion proof container as it wasn't necessary, yet got upset that a can of body filler was open on a bench...as THAT presented a fire hazard!

Thankfully not all inspectors are like that...but they ARE out there!

 

I teach this stuff at school
Safety is a large part of students grades
The TV shows are good for demonstrating how not to do things They often have safety questions after they watch these shows
Municipalities and schools are exempt from OSHA we are however required to be certified by a board that uses OSHA guidelines
This is good due to the fact that my boss has to spend the money to keep our shop up to standards.
When we got a new compressor we discovered there was no ground run to it. I insisted that our new one be properly grounded.

 

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OSHA has no authority in your personal shop/garage.

Those of you that have voiced the opinion that OSHA is nothing more than a way to change the flow of money are pretty close to the truth.
I find it interesting that it's an organization that (supposedly) looks out for the safety and well being of hired employees, but they are never around when someone gets hurt. They show up after the fact and steal the employer's money, but the injured party doesn't see a dime of it. If the injured party(s) were to get a reasonable percentage of the "fine", to compensate them for their med bills, I could see a practical purpose to it all. As it is, it's just another out-of-control letter agency that's hell-bent on stealing money, then using that money to figure out how to steal more.

(I suppose you can tell I have a bit of conspiracy theorist running around in my shoulder-mounted vacuum chamber.)

Roger

 

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As well you should have. Kudos to you for that.
And for what it's worth, the ground isn't an OSHA reg. It's the NFPA's, National Electrical Code requirement for such things. That ground wire is there for everyone's safety. If one of the hot leads were to somehow come loose, and contact the outer frame of the equipment, it would energize that equipment, waiting for a path to ground. The next person to touch it would then become that path. With a dedicated ground in place, should such a thing happen, it automatically trips the breaker supplying the equipment.

 

Before replacement it popped a wire nut in its control box. Imagine if it had came in contact with it. Our electorical instructor had a duck fit when he realized how it was wired. All new equiptment. has been grounded.

 

True, but if you are taking chances and doing things at home, that would not be allowed at work, you might want to reexamine your survival strategy.

Workplace safety rules don't exist to inconvenience business owners. They exist as a reaction to what employers were doing to their employees, or allowing to happen in the workplace, that needed to be stopped.

 

Gimpy, on that we can agree, (not that we weren't anyway.).

Roger

 

State employee here and we were exempt from OSHA inspections. There was still a Safety Officer in each District that checked on; buildings, work sites, conducted monthly safety meetings and generally insured things "were being done correctly". So yes I was responsible for 40+ employees, safety, actions, productivity. With all of them working on public roads with DD's and people talking on cell phones while driving, etc. am I glad I'm retired?
HE++ YES!

 

You know, just gotta be TV Studio regulations . Remember that moonshiners show , how the hell did they get away with broadcasting illegal activity ?

 

They didn't. They got permits. Same as that stupid "street" drag racing show.

No "reality" TV is real.

 

Believe it or not, it's not illegal to distill liquor.

Uncle Sugar just wants his cut. If you sell booze, you gotta pay the tax.

 

Had to deal with OSHA and WISHA both when I was teaching high school auto shop and when I was the maintenance coordinator for a large fruit juice and apple sauce plant. Each inspector has their favorite items to look at when they walk in the door clipboard in hand.
A few are:
Solent tank, If you have the Safety clean green one they don't even walk over to it, if you have anything else they go over it until they find something.
Chain hooks have to have the safety clip on the hook on chain hoists or engine lifts. Blow gun nozzle, has to be the one that blows back if it is pressed against skin. First inspector I ever ran into was digging in my tool box at Frank Weaver Pontiac in Waco Tx and was opening the drawer I left cash for the SnapOn man in who was the only person who ever got in my toolbox without asking. Man came real close to getting a tire iron alongside the head and if the boss hadn't intervened it would have got ugly. Boss did tell him that he was not allowed to look in anyone's tool box without the mechanic standing there.
Main thing is if you have a clean and fairly organized shop with what safety issues you know of addressed you probably don't have a problem.

On safety with certain items, while working on that maintenance coordinator job the plant manager asked my why I bought rather expensive ladders. There was a guy who topped 300 lbs who was about half way up a 12 ft ladder about 20 ft away and the boss was well over 300. Told him that those were the highest weigh rated ladders I could find and they didn't break when the big guys climbed up on them. Can't say how many cheap ladders I threw in the dumpster the first year or so I worked there because they were broken. Still the main thing the OSHA inspector was interested in was the solvent tank in the shop area.

 

Upper management get Hugh bonuses for zero injuries in a given month/year. They don't give a shit about you. I have seen so many safety improvements that caused unsafe conditions but the manager has to make quota for safety improvements. I seen a guy trip and break his ankle when a big safety sticker peeled up around the edges.


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I don't know any of that stuff.

1/3 of the show was the sheriffs trying to catch them, 1/4 of the show was distilling, 1/4 of the show was secret drop offs and getting paid. The rest was side story and drama- the narrator talking about risking freedom and prison time