DontThrowPackages
Well-Known Member
A friend of mine who transferred to another station said, two DG specialist have died of cancer. We had one die that I know of. Was wondering if this was just a coincidence or not....
DG dangers???
- Thread starter DontThrowPackages
- Start date
chargerlou
Well-Known Member
I have been doing DG everyday for the past 3 months. I hope this doesnt affect me...
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
Make sure you are reading the MDS for each and every DG and handle accordingly.
chargerlou
Well-Known Member
Will DO!! thx
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
I used to work with a courier who handled a particularly heavy HazMat account for about 8 years. I won't specify the shipper or type of material, but will say that it was Hard placarded HazMat. He went into management and died of a rare form of cancer known to be caused by exposure to the type of HazMat he handled daily for so long. Late 40's...very sad. Nice guy too. Initials BC. Maybe some of you knew him.
whenIgetthere
Well-Known Member
DG definitley not the thing to take chances with. My dad worked 35 years in a chemical plant, and he and about six others he worked with all died of the same form of cancer. The closed plant is now a superfund sight. Coincidence, like your friend MFE, not a chance!!
Ive worked DG and like everyone says, its not something you take your chances on...especially with spills. Think of how many people try to skate by without paying the extra DG charges and just throw their junk in any old box declaring its not DG. We had a box leak all over once and after getting it back to the haz. cage and opening it up we found out it was breast milk. I was going to get out a BF/BBP kit to protect myself. The other DG agent thought I was crazy and just picked it all up and threw it in a bag to contain it, however upon doing so he splashed that nastyness all over me. Now, I have nothing against breast milk, but considering you dont know who it came from, why it was being shipped, etc. I personally didnt want to take any chances...needless to say I was a little pissed. Dont EVER let anyone tell you you dont need to take precautions or pay attention when someone thinks your crazy for doing so...in the end its your health, and your life. And just my opinion, but this job is at the top of my list of those in which the employee is not compensated at fair market value for the work they do and the risks they take.
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
Ever worked at a station that handles a lot of II Bar and III Bar Radioactive? Are you confident that your FedEx film badge or dosimeter is going to protect you OR that if your badge or dosimeter actually indicated a dangerous condition, that FedEx would actually disclose that to you? No, they wouldn't say anything out of fear of litigation. They'd just let you get cancer. Same with anything else that poses potential liability. They would just cover it up.
There is a ton of undeclared DG going through the FedEx system every day, and whenever you step into a can or truck that smells funny it could be almost anything causing that smell. Maybe it's "detergent" as one manager said on the sort one day (he was lying so the belt wouldn't shutdown), OR maybe it's some potent carcinogen or poison that will cause some real harm.
Don't trust FedEx or management...ever. Protect yourself.
whenIgetthere
Well-Known Member
Used to work in a station with lots of II and III bar rad. Many times the pigs or buckets would be thrown around like they were nothing, and witnesssed many times by management. If one was damaged, they'd tell the courier to just take it onroad, so as not to cause any waves, or stop the damn belt. One time we opened up a can for the AM offload, and all we could smell was gasoline. We traced it to a package that had a used gas tank in it, undeclared of course.
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
Exactly. Myself and two others go some kind of slimy substance on us while unloading one day and the ops manager got pissed at us for going to the bathroom to wash it off during the sort. We told him that we could all go up to the hospital instead after we called HR. He started singing a different tune right away. But this kind of attitude clearly shows just how little FedEx really cares.
59 Dano
I just want to make friends!
The best way to protect yourself against these types of managers is to stick it to them on the SFA instead of refusing to take it to make some dumb point that gets ignored anyway.
59 Dano
I just want to make friends!
And how did you treat him on the subsequent SFA's?
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
He got quite a few strongly disagrees but truthfully the SFA's are a big waste of time. Seems like Memephis feels free to alter scores to their liking. And if a manager does score poorly these days he still keeps his job when he should be head french frier at Burger King instead.
59 Dano
I just want to make friends!
I don't know why Memphis would alter the score of an ops manager considering that the consensus here is that Memphis pushes them until they break if they can't generate a few more cents of profit. Agreed that they shouldn't be managing at all, but your bad manager that gets moved to another location via his SFA disaster isn't your bad manager anymore.
