this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023
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Are you familiar with the hexavalent chromium changes a few years ago? Those of us in aircraft were exposed to it daily in paints with no PPE then they're all "oops. We're cutting exposure limits by 100". And, of course, aircraft mechanics refuse to follow controls because we've done it this way for decades. It's the only thing that has the corrosion resistance properties needed for aircraft, so here we are.
Yeah, very sadly the chemical industry (and then by extension, manufacturing/maintenance as a whole) is rife with this shit. I hope and pray that young and aspiring chemists/chemical engineers/regulators/safety engineers/etc. will make changes in time that we take harder approaches to shit like this. We put the environment and people first, the "progress" of industry in a close second.
Regarding what you said about the old guys doing it how they used to. I see that all the time in my steel mill. Lots of older guys (and some younger ones who put off the too cool for school vibe) dont wear earplugs all the time. They havent for the last 20 years, so what is me telling them they will lose their hearing gonna do? They have done it this way, and will continue to do it this way. Luckily, we have had success in general improving our safety culture, but getting people to care about the unseen threats (particulate matter, hearing loss, exposure, etc.) can be very hard
The chemical stuff is tough. I mean, viscerally, you've got smells that at least tell our brain to avoid it sometimes, but mostly the threat isn't immediate enough to make an impact. Solvents dry out your skin at which helps for some. It's just hard to make someone think that walking to a tool crib or supply cabinet is worth it over ten seconds of exposure. I'm that way with solvents (IPA and MPK).
It's getting better slowly. I get it for some things, though. If you've been running a manual mill for 30 years, a little piece of plexiglass isn't going to make you any safer and we waste effort on dumb shit like that too often. It makes it harder to get people to do some of the other things. Coming into the industry when I did helped. Watching a bunch of guys retire broken or die working has an impact.
As much as I hate heavy-handed policies, having large areas that are hearing protection required seems to work alright. There's no question about the sound level of a certain task or any room to argue. I managed to shake hands with my boss, his boss, then our director with a pair of ear plugs for each within a span of about 30m once. They didn't think it was as funny as I did. The look on their face when they saw what I put in their hand was priceless, though.