Jobs you did that health and safety wouldnt allow today

T

truthseeker

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Just thought of this from the cushy number thread.

Despite many a good doss in youthful jobs, I also had to do some things that theres no way youd be allowed do them today.

1: Paper round, back when dogs were just 'out', one dog in particular hated my sibling so I had to deliver to that house, dog didnt mind me for some reason, but as I was younger and scared, the sibling would stand watch, many a run away with the dog snapping on the heels of us both (less so me in fairness). I was around 12 at the time - can you imagine it now?

2: My husband had to get into the compactor in the supermarket we both worked in after a rep thought he threw a handheld barcode scanner into it. The compactor was due to be changed and was full of rotting meat carcasses, and a variety of other biological waste, plus, there was no way of turning it off from the mains, so although someone guarded the switch, it could have come on!

3: Standing in a warehouse, a forklift next to me putting a load up high, knocks a pallet directly above me off, a manager rugby tackled me to the ground to save me from possible death.

4: Cutting the mould off the unseen side of a quiche before selling it to a customer (that was just a bad boss who ordered me to do it - I was young, today Id resist that).
 
Well my post on the other thread about forklift racing and also various obstacle courses and agility tests probably wouldn't have passed too many inspections. However, my employer was progressive and tackled it by making me the safety officer for the night shift in addition to my other duties. So as long as I did a risk assessment before the race, we were fine.
 
I used to wash the outside windows of our three storey georgian house by standing on the window sill and holding the "eye" of the window with one finger whilst cleaning with the other hand.

When I was about 12.

Without the aid of a safety net.
 
I worked in a school for special needs children once that was in a house. there were 2 toilets for at least 15 staff members and 15 children. That wasn't that long ago actually. it was dreadful.
 
working in a pub as a 12 year old, pulling pints and inhaling a serious amount of 2nd hand smoke!! even used to 'sample' some of the goods being sold!!!
 
Delboy said:
working in a pub as a 12 year old, pulling pints and inhaling a serious amount of 2nd hand smoke!! even used to 'sample' some of the goods being sold!!!
Click to expand...

and with a user name like yours, I would love to know your chosen profession today :D
 
Once, I pencilled for a bookie at greyhound tracks. There were occassions when the bookie and I ran for the car during a race sometimes not fast enough. If I ever write a book of my humble life it will be worth buying alone for my work with the bookie.
 
I used to breathe in chemical vapours in a place I used to work in. In hindsight, the employer really should have provided a fumehood.
 
We used to work from home for the local cigar factory. Around ten/twenty houses in our estate used to get a 10/20 kilo bag of tobacco leaves ( like dock leaves ) they ranged in size so one day you could have ones the size of your palm and next day they could be five times the size. You used to have to flatten them out on top of each other with the stem facing down and when they were at a certain height you would have to tear them and put them in bundles left and right. They were smelly and left a stain on your hand. 10 Kilos would take 2 hours for three people approx all for €10 -- that was back 15-20 years ago.
 
The ladies' toilet in one building I worked in was down in the basement, which was below the water table of the Liffey so was often damp and/or flooded. Had to walk along planks to get to the toilet. Due to the dampness, lighting wasn't great....and there were books and bound newspapers all over the floor.

Public service building in the early 1980s!
 
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