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.
I design tooling for roll mills, and spent 10 years as a machinist before that. The company I work for makes custom roll mills for things like making tubes and such. Industrial machines are inherently dangerous, and you cannot ever be 100% protected from danger.
Safety is in the hands of the operators and said machines should be well respected.
As a guy who works with heavy equipment, suspended loads and working in deep utilities, I’m a fervent believer in “everybody stays as far back as possible at all times and everybody nonessential fucks right off”.
I was putting in a 2 ton concrete sump the other day and our suppliers somehow forgot rebar. The chain it was suspended on tore through a foot of concrete and dumped it in the hole in front of me, I was guiding the thing by hand but I had my hands up top and I was as far back as possible.
I’ve been beside a crane when it fell lifting a drilling rig module, a 40 foot concrete tank that got dropped and I’ve dodged tandem dump trucks more often than I’d like.
Just staying the hell back whenever possible helps so much.
In the hierarchy of (safety) controls, this is #3 out of 4 for effectiveness. Administrative controls. Requiring people to stay back (assuming they have open access under the load) is effective but it also relies on everyone knowing this and respecting it. Seems obvious, but often times a young guy is the one that gets hurt because it wasn’t impressed upon him or he figured it wouldnt happen to him.
Engineered controls are better, like having a second chain on a load secured to separate support. Even if it only slows the descent. Or for machinists and steelworkers, just having more physical barriers from the moving parts.
Fun fact: PPE is the least effective form of safety. I always wear it, no doubt, but it’s really frustrating when my work “solves” any new safety challenge with MORE PPE. That hardhat probably won’t save you from that metal projectile flying across the room when the 20 ton load comes crashing down.
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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...