Friday, August 2, 2013

Industrial Trucks

The forklift was designed to lift and move things.  By the very nature of its job, it must move forward and backward.  (beep, beep, beep, beep, beep)  Some enterprising genii in a government bureaucracy (OSHA, 1971) decreed that industrial and commercial trucks must sound a loud (level to exceed level of ambient noise in the area) and annoying intermittent alarm whenever it is in reverse (beep, beep, beep) mode.  This applies to forklift trucks. (beep, beep, beep)



A block and a half from us is a small concern that makes and installs granite countertops.  It is a very thriving business, inasmuch as Mrs. America has now discovered that she cannot live without this marvel in her kitchen.  Guess how the materials are handled on this site. (beep, beep, beep, beep, beep)  We enjoy our screened porch im(beep, beep, beep)mensely, but we could live without (beep, beep, beep, beep) that.  We are in favor of the factory, though, as they are otherwise good neighbors, and they provide numerous jobs for workers in our community.

I was a forklift operator in a previous life, and prior to OSHA.  No beeper, never ran over anyone.  Most people who work in an environment where such known hazards exist pay attention to what they are doing.  Those who are not so inclined need to be elsewhere. (beep, beep, beep, beep, . . . )


A very happy birthday today is my wish for my baby sister, Ilene!

8 comments:

Shelly said...

I think the beep beeping would add another distraction to an already busy workplace. And I hope Ilene has a wonderful birthday~

Vee said...

The beep beeping is annoying, but the government mandate to change vegetable shortening ingredients so that my pie crusts are no longer melt-in-the-mouth flaky is even more annoying to me.

We are a very restricted "free" people.

I well remember the day our beautiful baby sis was born. Where has the time gone?

Secondary Roads said...

That's a very pretty yellow CAT. Wonder how long she'll be able to maintain that pristine appearance?

Ilene said...

Thank you.

vanilla said...

Shelly, that noise would do nothing to reduce the chaos of a workplace.

Vee, though I suppose it might do so, the government hasn't yet banned lard.

Chuck, this particular machine had to have been built between '65 and '72, because CAT bought Towmotor in '65 and dropped the name about seven years later. Most forklifts look pretty well used!

Ilene, you are welcome. Hope it is a wonderful day.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that would make me nutz...

and granite is on it's way out, thank goodness, as the preferred counter-top material (it's negatives are vast say I who lived with way too much of it for way too long against my will - experts say so too...now I'm waiting for stainless steel appliances to go to the decorator graveyard - okay you hit a nerve!).

Happy Birthday to Baby Sister!

vanilla said...

Grace, it seems that we live in an age of "too much is not enough." Formica serves us well!

vanilla said...

Grace, I meant to add, too, that the redeeming feature of the noisy neighbor is that the noise occurs only for short periods of time, and never in the evening.