The Refrigeration Engineers Curse.

[Grizzly]

Ok.
Not that I like to admit it, I have a back problem ,having been off work for the last week.
My back just decided to lock up!
Fortunately it does not happen often and thankfully my understanding supervisor was sympathetic.
Mainly because as he stated "He has eight engineers of varying ages and all of us have back issues".
Yes! We all get the corporate Toolbox talks and hand-outs telling us how to lift vertically with bent knees. Brilliant, if not a little repetative advise for those who say work in an office. Although hardly relevent when you anallyse what a fridgie does during the course of a day!

So the question is - Are "We" unusual or is this the Industry norm?

Grizzly

[Tesla]

Grizzly
I have had the same problem caused by an impact injury to upper back, then I have an injurnial hernia caused by lifting the gas trolley onto ute, now I have something else to whinge about. Great job - I know most (more than half) of the guys I work with over 35 have mainly back related injuries. When I get a strain I usually have a day off then take it easy for a few weeks. Of course I use trolleys etc. But I feel now I can freely just say no to lifting something heavy of climbing heights dangerously, I even refuse to work on all units with dangerous access with praise from the company not retribution. Where as int the old days we would just get fired.

[stufus]

I too suffer with a very dodgy back and have undergone a few surgery's for it. Started if with damaged disc's from the usual stuff, lifting units,comps,cylinders .....then went and broke my back after an incident involving a sudden stop an a motorbike and a wall.Broke just about every bone in my body on that one.But getting back to the job back injurys seem to be an occupational hazard ,its not just the lifting and shifting ,theres the bending,kneeling,up and down ladders, pulling moves a contorsionist would be proud of to check various stuff on chillers or packs or whatever your fancy is,So untill they start to make these machines more service friendly we're stuck with it.
Cheers
Stu

[Grizzly]

Stufus.
You should talk to Quality!
Both.
My doctor told me I needed to exercise more and should take up polartis?? whatever that is? Cheaky so and so.
I did mine years ago on building and civil's work then about 4/5 years ago. I was encouraged by my wife to take up golf, as I was the only male in the extended family that did not play!
So having had lessons I was practising on the range when mid swing, half way through the second basket when i heard a large crack. The rest as they is History!

I agree "ours" is indeed a truely pyhsical Job, although i also truely believe if i had a more sedentary occupation.
I would be a lot worse off!
Tesla is right, all the H&S rules that abound can be an absolute Pain! But sometimes they come in very handy!
Ok. that's Ireland and Oz covered (That rules out the damp, Or does it?)

Grizzly

[cadwaladr]

i blame mine on a mispent youth,i tried all the positions then settled for the usual one it was fun while it lasted,i have to use tablets now they seem to help.

[RANGER1]

Grizzly,
I think anyone who actually works has or will have some kind of back problem in their career.
From your post on Sabroe SMC 180 bust up, I got a sore back just looking at it!

[monkey spanners]

My backs not been too bad lately but i've invested in trolleys and chain hoists etc for comps.

Year ago though my back locked up just after i had lifted a 90kg L400 comp onto its base, had to lie down on the ground, curle up and then sort of unroll and get up without bending. Happened a few times since but not for a while.

Guy i know who works for another company had something similar happen at a customers, when his mate turned up, he was on the ground in the car park with traffic cones round him waiting for the ambulance!

[install monkey]

my back occasionally plays up- ive stopped sticking 5kw jap condensers on me shoulder and running up ladders, luckily my boss doesnt pay me enough for my wallet to weigh over 25kg!! also my wife helps by spending any money bank cards morrisons vouchers-stops me buying anadin back pain tablets- luckily after a few days all is ok and back to the grind stone, ive stopped carrying 70kg generators with 30ltr of fuel bashing my shins,now i just drag it-then a lil lift into the van! a good tip is one of them support belts- they do help, also ive had wrist injurys from bending 5/8 pipe with bending springs- getting a tight 90 deg bend up ladders i was wrestling the pipe and used me leg to push my elbow up for that lil bit more and i heard crack, waited 3hrs in casualty to be told tendon damage, no bandage,plaster or pain killers- 2yrs later its ok but i use hydraulic benders and fittings-opens your eyes more when u injure urself that any toolbox talk!

[install monkey]

john please tell me you have a video of that- as you usually roll round in cow **** so it would be intresting to view your breakdance routine!! haha

My backs not been too bad lately but i've invested in trolleys and chain hoists etc for comps.

Year ago though my back locked up just after i had lifted a 90kg L400 comp onto its base, had to lie down on the ground, curle up and then sort of unroll and get up without bending. Happened a few times since but not for a while.

Guy i know who works for another company had something similar happen at a customers, when his mate turned up, he was on the ground in the car park with traffic cones round him waiting for the ambulance!

[monkey spanners]

john please tell me you have a video of that- as you usually roll round in cow **** so it would be intresting to view your breakdance routine!! haha

Was back when phones only phoned and didn't even store numbers! so no vid! But there was sh1t and milking vac pump oil all over the floor, and then me... and i still had to get it piped wired and running!

[mikeref]

Some jobs simply can't be done without the bending and straining. Testing physical abilities usually leads to complications sooner or later. When your on your own, you have to "invent" ways to overcome the force of gravity.
Had my share of mishaps in the younger days so now, monthly visits to the chiropractor is necessary.

[Grizzly]

Thanks guys.
Given some of the stories on here, I should consider myself lucky!
What we put up with just to earn a shilling.
Grizzly

[Moneyhell]

Hello Grizzly,

Reading the posts just made me think of the way I acted when I was younger.

All the compressors I fitted to packs by myself and lifting 60kg refrigerant cylinders all over the place. When I was younger, I thought it was easier / quicker but I am sure it weakens your back.

Perhaps when we get a bit older, it can be something else like a golf swing that does the final 'crack'.

Then and only then do we start using trollies and lifting assistance or having the strength of mind to tell a supervisor we need an extra pair of hands and the customer will have to wait.

I'm not sure how anyone every convinces younger engineers that they are not invincible though :D

[Andy AC]

Since the start of the year, I have regularly been going to my local osteopath, every 6 to 8 weeks or so. Best thing I have ever done, feel great. I was amazed at how far out of alignment my back was due to years of abuse. Does make you realize how fragile your body actually is.

[install monkey]

apprentices these days are lazy fookers so they will learn that quoting health and safety will get them out of any grafting.
suppose the moral of this is dont play golf:p

Hello Grizzly,

Reading the posts just made me think of the way I acted when I was younger.

All the compressors I fitted to packs by myself and lifting 60kg refrigerant cylinders all over the place. When I was younger, I thought it was easier / quicker but I am sure it weakens your back.

Perhaps when we get a bit older, it can be something else like a golf swing that does the final 'crack'.

Then and only then do we start using trollies and lifting assistance or having the strength of mind to tell a supervisor we need an extra pair of hands and the customer will have to wait.

I'm not sure how anyone every convinces younger engineers that they are not invincible though :D

[PaulZ]

Hi Grizzly
You are lucky it's only your back. Knees, wrist and shoulders are also parts of the body that cop a hard life in our trade.
I would think any of the mechanical trades would have problems with the same body parts.
Minor injuries incurred in younger days become nagging pains the older we get.
Old age is no place for wimps.
Paul

[redroge]

I,m sixtyfive and still humping gas bottles etc. up and down stairs and ladders (why are so many chillers on roofs) I blame my dodgy back on a vauxhall chevette estate car many years ago, driving bolt upright with my head touching the roof the most uncomfortable car ever.

[Grizzly]

AH! The Vauxhall Chevette van.
The first van to have the cabin (Front) trimmed to a car spec.
Rather than bare steel like the escort etc. These were truly the first vans built like cars at the front.
They were not to dissimilar to what we have grown to love about the Astra van.

Of course others quickly followed!

I loved mine it was smart enough to take a girl out on a date and not feel embarrassed mine was red with those now retro Magnum style wheels.
By todays standards they were nowhere, but compared to the minivan etc they were class!

Nowadays you have the option of lumbar support seats etc, etc. Which do work by the way.
Grizzly

[padraic]

L3 L4 L5 fecked
taking icemaker off truck with no tail lift.. to heavy for 2 men to carry but still couldnt drop it...
tried everything under the sun to help me get right
have to do a 40min walk every morning and i am flying for the day..

the worst part of our job is your driving for an hour or so and then your pulling and lifting.. the back gets very weak from driving

[Grizzly]

I am loving this guys!
I bet there are company H&S queueing up with the corporate answers?
Lest anyone be stupid enough to question their work LOAD!

In fairness to all we all suffer from issues from time to time, so be it!
The driving does not hurt it's the straightening up once I have arrived that hurts.
Hey ho! ( Enjoy the drive-time guys its that time again where there are no school runs. )
Now where's me Chevanne!
Grizzly

[redroge]

On the scrap heap i hope, i can remember when everything was optional extras ,wing mirrors ,passenger seat in vans ,the sprog rolling about in the back if he was awake!

[Bigfreeze]

Most of our problems actually come from the driving aspect of the job rather than the lifting. Sitting for extended periods of time shortens the hamstrings, and your glutes and stomach muscles weaken and work out of sync and eventually imbalance. This leads to back, knee and hip problems.
I'm still fairly young but I'm crocked because of it. We'll all have to take up pilates or hit the yoga mats or we won't be able to move when we retire:D. Nearly every fridgie I know has the same problem.

[abdulazman]

You're definitely right and i thought only doctors are the ones who will give all those remarks, i called it occupational hazard.