YOUR HEALTH

This business may not be as dangerous as many others. You're not likely to have a building collapse under you, like a firefighter. You are not likely to get shot (although there have been a few copier techs that have, and at least one machine with a bullet-hole in it that I am aware of). The machines won't take a finger or limb, unless you are extremely careless and contrive an accident out of stupidity.

I once knew a guy who took the rear panel off a duplicator and cheated the interlock switch so he could oil or fix something while it was in motion. This was 1972 or so. He had very long hair, and was not a technician, but a machine operator.

As he got closer to the area of the machine he intended to service, his hair got caught in the massive chain drive. The chain, if removed, was about 20 feet long, and had lots of things that it drove, via sprockets. The guy was not seriously injured, other than pulled hair and major embarrassment. Just picture this guy running left, up, right, down, left, up, right, down, left, up, etc. with a few hills & valleys in between and screaming for help! Must have been fun to watch. Sadly, I didn’t see it first hand.

Assuming you don’t get yourself in a situation like that, nothing dramatic is likely to happen. However, the long term effects of this industry are not to be taken lightly. In 1990 or so, I attended a meeting of TV repair people. In addition to the fact that their expertise is practically obsolete, they were almost all suffering from back ailments. They had spent so much of their younger years carrying TVs in & out of peoples homes, and now they were paying the price.

This type of thing can happen to us as well. We are constantly moving equipment. Some are constantly hoisting heavy machines, usually with assistance. Others are lifting lighter machines, often alone. When I had my double hernia operation in 1995, I asked the Dr. what had caused it. I had felt it the worst while batting in a softball game, after not playing for two years. He said that was not it. He described it as just normal wear & tear. The days of physical agony following that operation have taught me to wear & tear myself minimally for the rest of my life! I felt like I was strapped to a wall and Mike Tyson pounded me for as long as he could, you know where!

Seriously, back injuries are probably more serious and more preventable than hernias. In my business, we never, never, never put a heavy machine on the floor. We transfer from table to cart to tailgate to cabinet as necessary. We slide, shift, lever & pry. We occasionally smash a finger tip. But we never bend down to stand up with a share of a 300 lb. machine ready to disable us.

Have you ever had a back injury? It is an unbelievable amount of pain and inconvenience. Realize that back injuries or "bad backs" have ruined or shortened the careers of some of the world's finest athletes; Don Mattingly for one. A bad back tends to be congenital and you can only work around it. Don't injure yourself. Be extra cautious. Make it a point of never letting it happen. When I have to deliver and have to lift a machine a few inches, I get help. It seems odd to need help for 10 seconds work, but get help. This is not an exaggeration. A back injury can ruin your life!

Chemicals: Cleaning chemicals can be nasty stuff. I was heavily involved in fighting some water pollution battles in my neighborhood in 1980 or so. The particular chemicals (Long nearly unprounceable & unspellable names like trichloroethylene) that destroyed the well water supply in my neighborhood are the very things that are in the most effective cleaning materials. Some of these are no longer available, but technicians keep finding other products that work as well, and pollute and poison as well.

Things like MEK, carbon tetrachloride, paint stripper, belt dressing, lacquer thinner, etc. are nasty. They should be used only with rubber gloves. If not, you are allowing those highly poisonous chemicals directly into your bloodstream. You don’t know what effect they will have. Some will be cumulative. By the time there is any symptom, it will be too late.

The fumes and vapors are unhealthy as well. It is kind of difficult to have a well ventilated area when you are working in people's offices. But, you can minimize the amount of liquid you use. Put on your rubber gloves, and soak a tiny amount onto a rag or paper towel to do the necessary work. Or, don’t do such a good job. Use a milder household chemical, such as window cleaner.

Whose health is more important; yours or the machines? So, the feed tires slip again. You install new ones. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Jim Intravia