What do you guys think....

[Joe Rock]

This is my first post on here. First off, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who have helped me in my decision to buy, and then set up my BT3100. I have been able to search and find the answers to most of the questions about the saw, and lots of other things.

Now, here's the main reason for my first post. I'm just not sure what to do about a situation at work. I work in an office type setting with about 40-50 other people scattered throughout the building. They have decided to remodel the building, and instead of hiring a professional team, our maintenance department is doing the work themselves. During regular office hours, with the windows and doors closed, they are using their miter saw, cutting lumber right inside the building. They have used a high pressure air sprayer to spray oil based stain onto trim right inside of an attached garage, and the fumes blow right through the closed double doors back into our work area. Sometimes the fumes come in when people just use the doors.

There are some other things, but those are the worst of it. There's kind of an attitude that this is how it is when you remodel and people just need to suck it up. The fumes from the stain made me sick one day, and even though the saw dust didn't bother me, I am worried about my coworkers.

What do you guys think? Is this pretty much how it is, or are these guys being idiots? Thanks in advance.

[JSCOOK]

They're idiots! ... refuse to work ... here in Canada (at least Ontario) Health & Safety would have the employers nuts in a sling .... we just went thru something similar ourselves.

[linear]

Welcome aboard Joe.

We had a similar but smaller incident at my employer. They were finishing up two new offices for two freshly hired managers. Bright and early at 7:30 they sprayed something solvent-based on the doors to these offices, clearing out the whole floor.

Everyone just left for an hour. I think our bill rate is around 80 bucks an hour, so it wound up costing the company something like 8 grand extra to paint the two doors that morning.

[JTimmons]

I guess you could file a OSHA complaint and see what they have to say about it.

[cabinetman]

WELCOME JOE

Good to have you here. Very good first post, and quite appropriate also. This goes on all the time and it should be brought up. How to deal with it is another story. It's said, nobody likes a trouble maker. But this doesn't fall into that category. It's a definite health issue. Some of the commercial work I have done had requirements, like what hours is safe to work, what protection to the area is necessary, etc. There's been times in doing restaurant work, that I could only get the job if it could be done after midnight! Well sure, no problem, at their convenience, and add it to the bill. If you find it offensive, leave the area and report to your supervisor that it's making you sick. After all, you're not the one liable here.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[scorrpio]

Did you try raising the issue with the employers? If you did and they ignored it, find a lawyer and go to war. This is unacceptable. These idiots are ruining your health. Get a bunch of other employees on your case.

When remodels are done in our office building, not a speck of dust or wiff of fume escapes. They use pro teams that work nights and weekends.

[jseklund]

Maybe putting some honey in the complaint will help. Go to a supervisor and ask him if he has any concern about the liability of the situation? If he asks what do you mean- just say, "Well, I've heard a couple of people talking and getting sick and leaving- and I just don't want to see someone get sick. I also thought it may cause an unnecessary situation that could be avoided if it was brought to your attention...."

I don't know...that was just off the cuff....but you get the idea.

[JTimmons]

I didn't mean to be short with my earlier response to this subject, but it is really my best offering to be discreet. I say it's my best because you have to believe that your management knows that it's a health risk to have their employees in that enviroment. Surely they have experienced some type of symptom from it as you have but, are counting on either all of you being ignorant or afraid to speak up, so that they do not have to pay for a temporary office location or to pay for a better contractor that would do the job right.

So my suggestion(s) lodge a complaint with OSHA or for a quicker result see a doctor and have it docuemented before going one on one with management about the issue.

Once you take that step going one on one, chances are you will be black flagged and everything you do will be watched. Walking in with a doctor's note saying you are not to return to work because of the enviroment will grab their attention pretty quickly. They wouldn't want the rest of the group catching wind of it and doing the same, the word lawsuit would be a vivid thought in the back of their mind.

Go at it alone, don't raise an army in the workplace to go against the big bad employer, that's the brand of the trouble maker. Kind of like mentioning the word, union to management in a non-union shop. People catch wind of a doctor telling you it's a hazard to work there, they'll follow and do the same.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

[Joe Rock]

Thanks guys....

I greatly appreciate all the advice.

I don't know if anyone caught it, but that was actually my second post, I had forgotten about my first post about a year earlier giving my take on the Craftsman Dovetail jig!

Anyways, like I said, thanks for the great advice, and encouragement more than anything, I knew I could count on you guys. FYI, today was an interesting day. They totally had the areas all sealed with plastic and there seems to be more of an attitude of professionalism. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one having a problem with the situation. If they get lazy again I will be a little quicker to respond to their BS. I also did a little research and found a county agency that might be able to help should the need arise.

Best regards,
Joe Rock