Working in high voltage electrical equipme nt

The bad news is....

by Theknotguy - 2018-06-25 14:31:43

We've had several people on the forum who have not been able to get back into their previous electrical type working environment.  Mostly it's because no one will go out on a limb and say things will be OK.  Last person I talked to on the forum said Medtronics didn't see an issue after the member did some EMI/EMF testing.  However the local doctor and his union refused to make any comment and the company's  health insurance company refused to sign off.  So even though he's been able to do mig/tig welding without any problems his company wouldn't go along because of insurance reasons.  

So that puts you in a very bad position because anything such as a cut finger won't be covered by medical insurance because they'll say it was all due to interference from the pacemaker - even though the pacemaker had nothing to do with it.  Your company won't go along because, even though they could make you sign a hold harmless agreement, the threat of a major lawsuit looms in the future and they're not going to go along with it either.  Your local EP/heart doctor quite often isn't any help because, even though they are very smart on the heart issues, quite often they are very dumb as far as electrical equipment issues are concerned. I got into a conversation with mine about my CPAP machine and he refused to even discuss it.  It was out of his area of expertise medically speaking and the discussion was over.   Very frustrating.  Once again, lack of coverage by insurance.  So he wasn't going to risk it.  Especially since my CPAP machine logs were pointing to problems 24 hours in advance of my pacemaker.  But I digress.

Question in my mind is if you can go into an advisory position.  Somewhere you can use your previous experience to advise the new guys,  write quotes for new jobs, advise other companies on how best to solve electrical problems - something like that??  I know it's frustrating beyond any reason but you may have to consider a new career unless, of course, you can get your present company to agree with something.  

I wish I had better news but so far haven't heard any.  

Knot Guy Nailed it!

by donr - 2018-06-25 20:28:42

Three things are against you:

1)  The average bear knows far less than squat about things electrical or magnetic - especially when you come to the invisible thing called an electromagnetic field.  Even a lot of EE's are living in a twilight zone on fields.  Every EE has to take a course in the subject, but that is it.  Most take it & hope to survive w/ a pasing grade.  It is my not so humble opinion that it is easier to make a field theory nut into an EP than the reverse.  (Exhibit A - The late ElectricFrank).  From the advice I read about EM Field threats being given by EP/Cardios, I would guess that they need to take a concentrated course on the subject so they can explain hazards (or lack thereof) to their patients, or understand the magnitude of the threat to their devices.

2)  The lawyers really write the rules for safety, not the safety officers in a plant.  But can you blame management for truly fearing what can happen because of a high priced lawsuit?  Where does it get tossed for a decision? Right into the laps of a bunch of people with absdolutely zero knowledge of the subject.  To them, Maxwell's Equations are merely a recipe for brewing an outstanding cup of coffee.  

3)  The most qualified member of management is the plant safety officer.  But her hands are tied by a myriad of safety regulations that often are written by lawyers - or at least approved by them.  But is it all bad?  There is nothig inherently wrong with being a profit making company, and protecting it against miscreants out to make it big by profiting from their own stupidity that caused an industriall injuty accident. is an absolute necessity!  Back this group up with an overly zealous OSHA (US Gummint's Occupational Safety & Health Admin) and you have a recipe for neqar financial ruin for the unwary management team.  One of the absolutely best safety officers is a woman who works for a Misissippi-based paper plant.  They recently had an accident involving an amputation of the top of a finger.  Caused by stupidity & arrogance by a worker who violated safety regs and took unsafe actions while operating or reparing a machine.   $1.5 MILLION was the initially proposed fine for the company by OSHA.  After a lot of negotiating & SMART, REALISTIC action on her part, the fine ended up at about $300,000.  Bottom line, it is almost impossible to protect  against stupidity.

4) (So I can't count).  Considering this environment, imagine what it's like in a company that doesn't give a rat's ear for the safety of its employees, and there are a lot of them.  At least your company cares. 

Perhaps it is time for a change of career - join the "Good Guys," the safety folks, and try to influence a more rational, realistic approach to safety. 

To quote my lawyer son - "Be alert.  The World has a crying need for more lerts."

Donr