Royal Dragon
10-20-2006, 02:04 AM
So, I started this new job Monday. Seems great, more pay, nice people, good bennifits and such.
It's a damage appraisal postion in a bodyshop.
BIG problem though.
My desk is by the paint booth. The paint booth has some sort of problem in which the paint fumes come POURING out of th booth doors and fill up the shop area right around my desk. I'm basically getting stoned on a daily basis....I come home tired, and exaughsted. I am too messed up to even do basic Qi Gong or Tai Chi, I just collapse on the couch.......
For those that don't know, automotive paint (especially the clear coat) is an extremely toxic and dangerous substance. According to the material safety data sheets it causes all sorts of heath concerns such as lung disorders, and severe nervous system damage over the long term. The painter must wear a full body suit, and use a **Fresh air supplied resperator** to spray this paint. The old fashioned charcoal filterd ones don't work for this stufff. It's that toxic...especially over long term exposure.
I spoke to my new employer about it, and I got a "Deer" in the headlite reaction, and some vauge blow off responses. I thought that wierd. They were aware of the problem, by thier own admission it appears to be long term, but nothing has been done about it as of yet.
In talking to the other employees, it has been a long term issue. Several have complained about it in the past, but nothing was ever done. One of my co workers stated that management's bounuses are tied to shop profitablity, and the repairs on the booth would directly effect thier bounus, so they don't do anything about it.
Basically, they know, and just don't care.
So, now what do i do? Call OSHA?
Oh, one more little thing to throw into the boiling quagmire. A friend of mine is well respected in this company. He basically pushed to get me hired, and even used his influance to get me a higher starting pay. I never actually interviewed at this location, i was interviewed and was hired at HIS location. His superiors assigned me to where I am at because it is the closest location to my house.
So first day on the job, I walk in to meet my new boss. I knew, I knew him from somewhere, but could not place it. Later that morning he came to me and asked if I had ever worked for him before. I told him he did not look familiar. He then went on to "Jog" my memory. It turns out I HAD worked for him in the past....about 14 years ago.
This is how I lost that job:
In that job, I had a quitting time of 5:00PM. One day we had a car that had to go, the customer was in the office waiting, and they wanted me to stay late to finnish assembling it. I could not because my wife had school, and I had to be home right after work to watch my daughter. It was in the days before cell phones, and I had to be at daycare to pick her up by 6:00 at the latest (I worked 45-50 minutes from daycare at the time). My wife was already on her way to school, with no way to contact her. I explained this and was told in a very condecending voice;
"Well, if your *Daughter* is more important to you than your *Job*, I guess you can go then." I will never forget that line as long as I live. It's burned into my brain in crystal clarity because I could not believe he said something like that.
I did go, I had no choice really, but felt really nervous inside about it becasue of his tone of voice. It was with good reason, the next day this guy fired me over it..... He of course made up some lame excuse and all, but the real reason was the fact that I left the job with a customer waiting in the office for thier car.
So, here I am now in a really bad spot, and the SAME guy who fired me over child care issues 14 (or so) years ago, is in charge of repairng the booth, and ultimately he's in charge of my health at this point....what do I do?
It's a damage appraisal postion in a bodyshop.
BIG problem though.
My desk is by the paint booth. The paint booth has some sort of problem in which the paint fumes come POURING out of th booth doors and fill up the shop area right around my desk. I'm basically getting stoned on a daily basis....I come home tired, and exaughsted. I am too messed up to even do basic Qi Gong or Tai Chi, I just collapse on the couch.......
For those that don't know, automotive paint (especially the clear coat) is an extremely toxic and dangerous substance. According to the material safety data sheets it causes all sorts of heath concerns such as lung disorders, and severe nervous system damage over the long term. The painter must wear a full body suit, and use a **Fresh air supplied resperator** to spray this paint. The old fashioned charcoal filterd ones don't work for this stufff. It's that toxic...especially over long term exposure.
I spoke to my new employer about it, and I got a "Deer" in the headlite reaction, and some vauge blow off responses. I thought that wierd. They were aware of the problem, by thier own admission it appears to be long term, but nothing has been done about it as of yet.
In talking to the other employees, it has been a long term issue. Several have complained about it in the past, but nothing was ever done. One of my co workers stated that management's bounuses are tied to shop profitablity, and the repairs on the booth would directly effect thier bounus, so they don't do anything about it.
Basically, they know, and just don't care.
So, now what do i do? Call OSHA?
Oh, one more little thing to throw into the boiling quagmire. A friend of mine is well respected in this company. He basically pushed to get me hired, and even used his influance to get me a higher starting pay. I never actually interviewed at this location, i was interviewed and was hired at HIS location. His superiors assigned me to where I am at because it is the closest location to my house.
So first day on the job, I walk in to meet my new boss. I knew, I knew him from somewhere, but could not place it. Later that morning he came to me and asked if I had ever worked for him before. I told him he did not look familiar. He then went on to "Jog" my memory. It turns out I HAD worked for him in the past....about 14 years ago.
This is how I lost that job:
In that job, I had a quitting time of 5:00PM. One day we had a car that had to go, the customer was in the office waiting, and they wanted me to stay late to finnish assembling it. I could not because my wife had school, and I had to be home right after work to watch my daughter. It was in the days before cell phones, and I had to be at daycare to pick her up by 6:00 at the latest (I worked 45-50 minutes from daycare at the time). My wife was already on her way to school, with no way to contact her. I explained this and was told in a very condecending voice;
"Well, if your *Daughter* is more important to you than your *Job*, I guess you can go then." I will never forget that line as long as I live. It's burned into my brain in crystal clarity because I could not believe he said something like that.
I did go, I had no choice really, but felt really nervous inside about it becasue of his tone of voice. It was with good reason, the next day this guy fired me over it..... He of course made up some lame excuse and all, but the real reason was the fact that I left the job with a customer waiting in the office for thier car.
So, here I am now in a really bad spot, and the SAME guy who fired me over child care issues 14 (or so) years ago, is in charge of repairng the booth, and ultimately he's in charge of my health at this point....what do I do?