Unsafe work practices at work?

So I'm a Power Engineer (Stationary Engineer for you Murcans), I take care of the boiler and I'm also the industrial mechanic here. I perform maintenance tasks on the equipment, fix them when they break, shit like that.

We took apart one of our low pressure boilers to get the fire side cleaned, its an annual thing since its a stand by boiler that runs on light oil. Let me tell you that shit was AWFUL.

Our friendly neighborhood department of labour decided to show up and check out what was going on and did a quick inspection, he wants to do a waterside inspection, cool bro, I'll tare it apart for you and you come tomorrow.

He also checked out our compressed air system, and I guess one of the guys here had to heat up the receiver to get a fitting out when we put in a new air dryer.

Well the inspector picked up on this (he saw the burn marks on the receiver, pretty obvious what happened). I got an email when I got to work telling me to "tidy it up because he mentioned it and asked if it was heat treated". Which it wasn't.. which sketches me out. I didn't know they had to do anything to the receiver when installing the dryer, I was off that weekend.

The guy I was taking over for told me to get some green paint and re-paint it and make it look nice.

Isn't this the beginning of a horror story? yeah.. it might not fail today or tomorrow but the possibility of it failing was greatly increased. That's what the DOL is for.. Protecting people from shit like this, basically right?

Work is telling me to cover it up, it just doesn't feel right to me.

What are your guys' thoughts? I couldn't find green paint.. but I did find some paint to make it match the air dryer!!

 

If you know for a fact - that you are covering up something that's a potential safety issue / violation..... First, contact your upper management. If they are not willing to correct the issue (the proper way). Contact OSHA
https://www.osha.gov/workers.html
I think you can contact them 'confidentially'

If something happens later and someone is hurt - OSHA will be sooo far up your employers ass investigating what happened. They will find the cover-up and OSHA will take action.

You don't want to be involved in any investigation of covering up a safety issue.

 

If there is a a stamp on the vessal, then the heat applied to the reciever is a no no. The stamp will have a big "U" somewhere on the tank. It refers to being an unfired vessle.

To do the proper thing, you better piont out the fact it was heated.

At worse, you most likely will have to get a certafied hydro test...usually 1.5 times the working pressure.

The only thing you can do is point out this issue to management. They have engineers on hand for just this type of issue. Even the newest engineers will know what to do. If I understand your title, you are a power engineer, but not a PE engineer.

Besides, it sounds like the cat is already out of the bag. If the inspector has already seen this, then he/she has already noted it somewhere. I'm sure your inspector is state certified. You do not want to go against these guys. They can shut your whole operation down.

I'm a classII stationary power operator, so I kind of know where you are coming from.

Do the right thing.Edit: I see you are in Canada. Insert Providence for state.

 

Do the right thing. Never good to cover up safety issues.

 

Thanks guys! I appreciate your feedback!

I was just talking to my boss and he told me that the inspector put a stamp on it yesterday. I honestly can't recall if there was one on it before and they don't date them. I'm SOL. I did paint the reviver that didn't have the burnt paint though, I figured that would be okay since I'm not covering anything up.

I'm a third class. I can be the chief of a pant under 10,000 kW. (not sure what your guys ratings are like)

Second class chief 10,000-20,000 kW.

 

Get your green book out and go through all your industrial safety codes .
Who is the health and saftety rep for your workplace ?
bring it to his/her attention . At least the issue gets investigated this way and you may prevent someone else from getting hurt .
The company I work for in Canada pays me a huge bonus when I bring stuff like this to their attention

 

My thoughts on this are in line with everyone else. Make sure someone higher up than you knows what the issue is, and DOCUMENT it. Don't just tell them! Send an email so that you have a record of letting them know. Here is the scenario that I see if there IS a problem.

At some point, heaven forbid, there is an accident and an investigation ensues. Investigation reveals that YOU knew there was a problem and covered it up.

Lawyer for State: Mitch, were you aware there was a problem?
You: Yes, and my boss said to go ahead and paint the fitting.
Lawyer: Do you have documents proving this?
You: Um, no. But he said....
Lawyer: Mr. Supervisor, did you tell Mitch to paint it and cover it up?
Mr. Supervisor: Nope, never even knew there was a problem!
Judge: Mr. Mitch, I find you guilty of a coverup that cost a man his life. Involuntary manslaughter. 10 years in state prison. NEXT CASE!

 

Yep that is a good way to end out with out a job

 

I guess it depends where you work at. My company takes safety very serious. I will lose my job if they find out I covered a safety issue. But, I guess smaller struggling places who cannot afford to do the right thing will fire you if you mention that you want to bring OSHA in.

 

Do the right thing dude.

Imagine if that kills a dude a few years down the line. Do you really want that bad mojo on your shoulders?

 

I spoke to my boss about it. I painted one of the receivers (the one that wasn't heated). And when I came in today the other one had been painted.

I guess we'll see where this goes when the inspector comes back in. Seems to me he didn't care much? I couldn't tell from the other guys.

 

You did the right thing... Overlooking safety for the sake of production is one of the things that led to Westray.

 

You'll feel pretty guilty if it hurts somebody later.

 

The engineer that was dealing with him told me he said "you'd think that someone would paint this so I wouldn't notice the burnt paint.. *cough*"

Looks like the DOL is a complete joke..

 

My company takes safety very seriously also - however - the larger the company is, the less likely they are to discover a safety issue.

There are safety mechanisms, swtiches, lockouts, etc put into place. These items are not always functional (for whatever reason) - the guys/gals on the floor don't get them fixed or overlook them. AND/OR there's a lack of training of people to take notice to these items and a lack of 'common sense' to not go into places that are unsafe.

I've worked in printing. In the pressroom - a man was killed because he entered a gate (safety swtich wasn't working) and entered into an area to fix a jam. The equipment is setup to automatically turn on/off when it needs to. A portion of the equipment started automatically - and the mans head was impaled by spikes. Instant death.

They constantly have safety meetings & safety training modules - but - things still get overlooked and someone gets hurt (or killed).

 

My son is in his second year at Maine Maritime Academy working toward a degree in Power Engineering. Any first hand experience you'd like to pass on to him?

 

We don't even have a proper lock out tag out procedure.

It's definitely an awesome trade! So much room to grow, so many opportunities! And at least in Canada you get paid royally

The best part about the trade is you get paid for what you know, not what you do. There are lots of guys in the trade pushing 60 or 70 and they're in pretty decent heath. My father's been a mechanic for 30 years and he's got a bad back and arthritic hands and the whole nine yards. You definitely don't beat your body in this trade and its a wonderful thing.

(Like I said I'm also the mechanic at my plant so there are some pretty physical things I have to do, but if I got a job at the power plant or something I would make great money for sleeping in a chair).

Good luck to your son!

 

where I work the guy that told you to paint over it would probably get fired

 

Thanks for your input. Maine Maritime has an awesome job placement rate, so he should do very well once he graduates.

 

heres one... the number one responsibility for the professional engineer is public safety.... so I wouldn't cover it up at all.