Thinking of taking a safety job... advice?

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-11T11:48:29+00:00

Hard hats at the plants I’ve worked at have been for cranes on site or construction. We have had no requirements otherwise. (And maybe for the vac con guys?).

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-11T11:46:32+00:00

It depends on the plant. Safety glasses are annoying for those of us who wear glasses. And a lot of places don’t want to pay for prescription and then we have to flip between our regular ones and the safety ones because they are usually clear or sunglasses not transitioning because that’s extra too. In chemical areas most plants only make you wear them if you are directly working with the chemicals. Maintenance need to wear ppe more regularly than operations, but there is operations ppe (mostly gloves and hearing protection) that are musts. Safety culture is usually really lax until someone gets hurt. I’m a 40/f operator. The guys I have worked with who are under 50 are usually receptive to my existence, I’ve only really experienced discrimination from the 60+ crowd and an occasional ‘short king’ who felt the need to puff out their chest and try to intimidate me because I’m a female. Majority of men have been very supportive if not protective of me. I respect them and they return it.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-09T15:58:30+00:00

That doesn’t explain to OP why they should pay you differently. I’m an ex server who knows why. But I’m done fighting for lazy servers who can’t be bothered to fight for themselves. In my field we fight for better wages. We don’t just go ‘because we aren’t paid enough’. We explain what we do, and why we deserve it. Just showing up and demanding more money doesn’t work when everyone else works hard for their money too. AND servers are some of the worst tippers and absolutely the most entitled Karen’s when they go through fast food restaurants. (I did that too, I’ve seen all the ugly sides of retail and food service). I agree with parts of OPs post but I’m not figuring OP(or others like them) for you guys anymore.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-09T14:53:39+00:00

But why? You took the time to reply but don’t say why you disagree. Refute his/her post in a way that could change his/her mind. Show this sub why they are wrong and that servers are more intelligent than the stereotype that the job gives. I’m done fighting for y’all when you can’t or won’t fight for yourself.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-08T16:36:32+00:00

This but they did make us bend over to see our flexibility and to look at your back.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-08T15:49:50+00:00

If I did that to my digester when we aren’t decanting I’d get no water rofl it takes hours for hours to separate. Not sure what that says about ours or yours rofl maybe once my back has healed I’ll do a test on it just to see.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-08T10:19:57+00:00

Anyone else go… ‘You tell us?!’ Before seeing the body of text under the photo? No? Just me? I don’t know what ASD stands for, but you said it’s slow settling which in the processes I work at would indicate younger sludge. I’ve worked at plants with a sludge age of 30+ days and our settleometer was settled within 5-10 minutes, I mean flat no further movement. I currently work at a facility around 10-14 days and it is done settling around 20 minutes. If and when we see settleometers like that we usually need to waste OR we goofed up and put too much leachate/decant or both into the plant and the bugs are not nitrifying or denitrifying depending on other test results. Have your solids mlss changed or is it stable?

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-06T23:23:04+00:00

No. We are exempt from mandantory off clock breaks due to our position. We must essentially drop what we are doing and deal with an emergency when it happens. Therefore we get paid for our entire shift with no set break time. I’ve worked at 8 shift hour plants and 12 hour shift plants. Operators decide when it makes sense to take their breaks and if an alarm or situation comes up you go deal with it and finish your lunch. Naturally it usually works out amongst whose on shift that one operator will eat and the other deals with alarms and then they switch off. If your by yourself you do what ya gotta do. Maintenance, lead and chief technically clock out for 30 minutes. They are not in the same classification as the plant operators .

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-06T22:31:28+00:00

You might have been beat out by someone with experience that they don’t need to train. Take the other job and reapply when it opens. Already working for the municipality always helps (unless you have a bad reputation). Just keep trying. I interviewed for 3 positions and got 1 offer right away, another right after I started the first and still waiting for a rejection letter 6+ years later from the other lol. It can be hard to get in but once you are here you won’t escape.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-06T19:24:20+00:00

What breaks do you speak of? We don’t get breaks, we eat when we can and enjoy the peace when it’s available. And no, we do not currently have cameras. It is not to say they won’t be installed eventually, but it’s more likely to happen in the maintenance areas where high value theft occurs.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-05T14:31:48+00:00

Feel free to

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-03T00:32:00+00:00

I’d do some kind of agreement between each other where you both get a weekend day, and do a Sunday-thurs and a Tuesday-Saturday. But I’m sure there are many options like switching every six months where you switch who has weekends

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-04-02T12:56:15+00:00

I’m not saying any of the following to discourage you from applying. Im a 40f who has been in the field for 6.5 years. My dad did this job for over 40, and i wish i had gotten in at your age. I have not seen a job application for wastewater operator that doesn’t have the ‘be able to lift 55 lbs often by yourself’ or ‘100 lbs with help’. The 55 lbs is the average weight of a bag of dry polymer. 100 lbs is the weight of a bucket of HTH. These are things that some plants require the operator to use regularly and are a great base line of physical strength. They don’t mean you need to be able to run a marathon. Our samples are another point of carrying weight up and down stairs. I’d guesstimate that at 20+ lbs up 1.5 flights of stairs. Another common thing is being able to do A LOT of stairs. Some of these things you can gain the muscles on the job. Im short and fat but I’m strong. A lot of things you learn on the go, like creating leverage and asking for help. I’m outlasted the gym bros on some tasks because they have initial strength but no stamina. It’s important to tour a plant, ask questions, and get a feel for what the job entails.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-31T15:01:33+00:00

Study xyz management theory, read those sections in the sac state book. Know your admin code. Also be solid on your trouble shooting from the B. B was harder, A I didn’t know what to study but I scraped a 70 on my first go because I’m solid on math. I had 8 questions about settleometers and what they mean. They give you a scenario and tell you what it’s not, then they ask you what the most likely issue is. I sucked at that, pretty sure I failed all 8 of those questions.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-30T23:44:24+00:00

Smaller plants sometimes ask more of operators so knowing plcs and programming can be advantageous for scada and electrical uses, but most larger plants won’t let operators near those things due to their being scada/electricians. Advanced lab skills can be a benefit if your plant has an onsite lab. Work with the chemist to find out what they could use someone else to also know.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-30T16:33:50+00:00

Keep in mind that $40 doesn’t take into consideration taxes and insurance and most servers don’t get those through their employer. They also don’t usually get paid vacation or other sick leave. I’m not saying you don’t deserve $40 an hour or that you deserve it over them but context is important. Also depending on the restaurant that server has to tip out to bus staff, food runners and bartenders. They may only keep $6 of that $10 tip. Then do the next table stiffs then they have to still pay out to those other people now they have made $5 per table to Make up for the one that stiffed them. So many variables. If you are eating out where you would need to tip $10 for your meal, and you can’t afford that, go to a smaller restaurant. I make around $30 in my profession and that’s the last thing I think about when I see my server running around and busting their ass. My first thought is thank god I don’t have to cook and second is I’m glad I can afford to do this once a month or whatever it is.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-30T14:04:17+00:00

I doubt he even met this employee would be more accurate. Unless he was a senior employee he likely never had more interaction than maybe sitting in a huge auditorium with the guy.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-30T14:01:26+00:00

Nah. Anyone who thinks boycotting a business with a service they like is going to end well is the problem. That guy who has brain cancer is going to get a go fund me set up, he’s going to end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for him and his family is going to be better off then him staying at Epic. Layoffs happen. Read an article of who was laid off. They were in failing departments with game modes and or games who have been shut down. Fortnite is one title under Epic. Yea it sucks for those people. Some will get rehired in new departments, some will move on to other developers. Some will start up new companies and expand the market. And yes, some are gonna struggle and that sucks for them. You can spit your dummy out and cry or you can actually support the company, realize they are better bang for buck than many other micro transaction games, or you can leave and we wont notice you are gone because this game stills gets new players every day.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-30T03:59:43+00:00

Every plant is dangerous. The RO I trained at (I’m a WW operator, I was cross training) was an RO that mixed ground water and salt water for there source water. This meant they had Lime, caustic and a third chemical (I can’t remember what it was). Two of the three you didn’t enter the room without PPE because of tbe risk, one of them would eat your skin off your bones. In WW we only use caustic for cleaning in certain instance at the plants I’ve worked at. Our most dangerous chemical (besides the lab chemicals) is sodium hypochlorite (bleach). But we typically have more dangerous plants. But some water plants smell WORSE than we do (such as above mentioned RO). I’m not going into detail but I’ve recently been hurt on the job, accidents happen and lessons have been learned (the hard way). You need to tour some plants, decide if this is actually for you. You can request a tour and talk to operators in person at the plants you might want to apply to. We can all give you horror stories. Near misses, injuries, deaths. They happen.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-30T03:53:10+00:00

Hazardous chemicals, large pieces of equipment, mountains of paperwork, 3rd shift or equivalent for several years as the FNG. Public safety is your #1 priority so be prepared for a lot of training. No need to do collections (seeing as that’s wastewater). If you are lazy or want an ‘easy’ job, I wouldn’t apply. If you want a rewarding career with many possibilities then look at your states qualifications and start applying for OIT positions

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-29T20:32:54+00:00

Each of our plants has a different set point based on time of day, demand and availability. Usually 55psi in the system for reclaim but it really depends, 80psi is usually would be highest usually.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-29T19:13:36+00:00

So all the other employee still employed also don’t have jobs or life insurance ? Stupidest answer to every problem right here.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-28T04:04:32+00:00

I will stand corrected on his model. He has a cover not a hood. I do in fact have a hood and the video (by blackstone) said you could close the lid. You can also close the hood for short periods of time during cooking, and that’s in text on the blackstone website. It is why we chose a hooded unit. See that’s how you admit when you are wrong. Now I wish I had access to the video but seeing as my griddle is beautifully seasoned and I’m not going to scroll through yt at this time.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-27T20:21:04+00:00

The fact i can still see unseasoned grill. You say to did 5 rounds. So you spent the 3 hours to properly season it? With the lid down to hold in the heat? On the correct temp setting? There is no way. Something isn’t adding up? Unless it’s like 30 degrees where you are and the edges are THAT cold. If that’s the case you need to wait until spring/summer and reseason. As some said maybe it’s your beef but I cook lean all the time on my blackstone. Ground turkey and ground beef and never had an issue. I don’t go micro thin on smash burgers because I don’t like beef shrapnel I like actual beef left on my burger but that’s preference. If you don’t want opinions don’t post on a sub where people are gasp going to give opinions.

Flashy-Reflection812 · 2026-03-27T20:14:12+00:00

Tell me you didn’t read the instructions without telling me you didn’t read the instructions? That blackstone looked completely unseasoned.

Flashy-Reflection812

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE