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I met a retired machinist at a diner in Dayton who told me 'the machine doesn't care if you're tired' after I mentioned a long shift.
He said he saw a guy lose a finger in '78 because he rushed a finish pass on a Bridgeport when he was exhausted, and it's stuck with me every time I feel pressured to hurry up.
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patricialee3mo ago
That machinist's story is from a different time with way fewer safety rules. Modern CNC machines have so many guards and automatic shutoffs that a tired operator isn't the same risk. The real problem is management pushing for unrealistic deadlines, not the person running the machine.
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hannahs453mo ago
Guards don't fix a rushed mindset. You can have every safety feature, but if the schedule says a part needs to be done in ten minutes, someone's gonna skip the check. I've seen guys prop open light curtains because reaching in to adjust a part is faster than the full cycle. The machine might stop, but the pressure to make time doesn't.
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ryanh563mo agoMost Upvoted
Yeah, the "unrealistic deadlines" part is spot on. I saw a report last year where most shop accidents still happened because people were rushing to hit production goals, even with all the new safety stuff.
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