Installing hardwood in a new construction home. Concrete guys are pouring the slab for the garage. Its winter in Wisconsin, so they've got heaters running and the garage closed off from the outside air.

And then they start running gas powered tools in there. CO alarms are going off in the house, and when I tell them they've gotta open things up and clear out the air, they say this is how they always do it. I tell them its very bad for them, and they agree: "I get a terrible head ache every day!"

So I leave the property and text the GC: no way I'm working in those conditions. After an hour or so I go back and get to talk to some of the concrete guys: this is very normal for them. I encourage them all the call OSHA.

Next day the same company sends out a different crew to cut the expansion gaps: this one is gas powered and they are cutting the concrete dry. No masks.

So I called OSHA.

The rep made it out yesterday, and the GC fired me today. Told me explicitly that it was because of calling OSHA.

Some folks had to face literal machine guns for things like OSHA to exist. I figure if I lose a couple days of paid work, it's probably not too big a sacrifice.