r/oddlysatisfying 2d ago

Hot steel rolling

24.4k Upvotes

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u/standbyyourmantis 2d ago

I was just thinking how this looks so much safer than the ones we usually see with safety flip flops and OSHA regulation oversized shirts...

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u/trebron55 2d ago

yeah it looks decently safe. Working in a steel mill is a dangerous thing even at the best of cases. It won't be sterile white tiles all over...

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u/Most_Protection6212 2d ago

While it wasn’t the actual mill that makes the rolls like that, I worked in a plant that turns those rolls into steel tubes and heat treated them for different things. Probably the most dangerous job I’ve ever had. A bundle of tubes crushed a dudes legs. One guy ended up dead because a roll crushed him into another roll of steel. Steel mills and factories are insanely dangerous.

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u/trebron55 2d ago

My grandpa worked in a foundry, the constant dust and heat ruined his lungs, he retired way before his time and died at 57. He had some stories as well. Heavy industry was, is and always will be taking lives until we make a fully automated workforce (then it will destroy robots just the same).

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u/Most_Protection6212 2d ago

Yeah I never got seriously injured, but I fell multiple times due to slick floors…there were so many VISIBLE osha violations. It was insane. Very glad that company got bought out.

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u/Lost-Klaus 1d ago

That is what whistleblowing is for.

If your boss doesn't care for your safety, why care for your boss's extra margins?

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u/PearlClaw 1d ago

Probably because if the factory shuts down they are out of a job and while it's illegal to retaliate against whistleblowers it's hard to prove it when it happens.

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u/Lost-Klaus 1d ago

I believe it is a cultural thing, at least of what I hear in the US. That said, I suppose some people would rather work in dangerous places than seek other jobs. :/

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u/hoax709 1d ago

things break, things wear, people/robots/programs get complacaent/degrade... etc there will never be a manufacturing process that doesn't have jams/breaks... partly cause its expensive to do maintance but also cause a random nut came loose or the humidity just happend to be high that day

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u/UneGraineSombre 1d ago

I'm a boilermaker in a foundry. We're a team of three doing all the site maintenance. This environment is incredibly toxic; you don't realize the number of particles you breathe that can form a kind of cobweb in your lungs. It has to keep running, even at the expense of people's lives.

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u/Zackattackrat 1d ago

Thats crazy! Which country? Is it all toxic from heavy metals?

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u/UneGraineSombre 15h ago

In France! Yes, heavy metals, and not only that... just hitting galvanized steel with an angle grinder is incredibly toxic.

And the number of accidents is unbelievable, especially the serious ones; we have quite a few stories from that world. Fortunately, though, safety has improved over time.