I started work in a factory yesterday. Making frozen desserts. Yesterday I peeled about a thousand bananas and helped in other ways to make a job lot of banoffee pies. I did most of the tasks in the production line, although I never got to feed bananas into the banana slicer, but that at least means I've got some goals left for the next time I'm in.
I have worked in a factory before, in Germany in 1987, although that one was packing powdered paint into sacks, and this was making frozen desserts. Despite the different products, there were similarities.
The shifts are virtually the same. 6 till 2. 2 till 10, and 10 till 6. Yesterday I was on a 6 till 2, so arriving at the work in the dark, and leaving in the heat of mid-afternoon. Very like Germany.
I had to wear a white uniform, and standard issues boots. Same as Germany. I had to clock in, and out. Same as Germany. A large proportion of the factory staff are from countries other than the host nation, same as Germany.
The main differences were that I was working in a production line with others yesterday, so if I didn't keep up, it would affect the whole line, whereas in Germany it was just me and a machine, so as long as I'd emptied the machine by the end of the shift I could go at my own pace.
The other big difference was the absence of naked communal showers at the end of the shift. In Germany these were necessary because you would be so completely covered in paint dust by the end of the shift that you had to go into a big shower and wash it all off. And not just with a regular sponge, you had to scour it off. You got so much paint inside your clothing as well that it was necessary to get someone else to scrub your back clean. I am not joking. So, a big communal shower, no clothes on, scrubbing each others' backs with the equivalent of a pan scourer. And from experience I have to tell you, the thing you do not want in this situation, the thing you absolutely must not get, is an involuntary erection. Anyway, enough about that.
So, thankfully, the cake factory, no communal showers. Your feet get cold, especially if you're working near the freezers, and you do get some cake on you, but it mostly washes off quite easily, without the aid of stripping down to your birthday suit.
There are lots of rules, but these all make sense, as they are all to do with not getting food poisoning into the pies, and not letting foreign objects fall into the mix. I have to say, from a lifetime's experience of eating pies, I consider both these things to be very good ideas.
Everybody has to wear a hairnet, but there is a very sensible colour coding system in operation. Most people wear white ones, but supervisors wear red ones, first aiders wear green, and the people who come along to clean up and empty the bins wear yellow, so you know who's who, without having to know exactly who everyone is.
I didn't mind that the tasks were repetitive, and this was helped by the fact that you are rotated onto a different task about every half an hour. I got a half hour break in the middle so I only had to get through 4 hours in one stretch. There isn't a lot of time to talk, especially on some of the tasks, like the spreading cream around with the back of a spoon task, but the people I did speak to seemed friendly and helpful. There's a quiet efficiency about the place, which I hope to emulate in due course. I think I've got the quiet part right, I just need to work on the efficiency.
The main problem I had were that my feet were like blocks of ice. The temperature at floor level is around 5 degrees C, because of the cold air coming out from the freezers. This is especially noticeable when you're working near the end of the line, doing the finishing touches. By then I felt like the liquid metal guy out of Terminator 2 after he'd fallen into a lorry load of liquid nitrogen. When I started walking again afterwards, my legs didn't exactly snap off, but I did have trouble getting them going again. Thermal socks needed, I think.
Anyhoo, there it is. I've done a day, and it was fine, and I'm going back to do some more on Friday. I'd like to have warmer feet next time, and I'd like to be better at using the back of a spoon, but apart from that I have no complaints. Especially not about the lack of showers....
I have worked in a factory before, in Germany in 1987, although that one was packing powdered paint into sacks, and this was making frozen desserts. Despite the different products, there were similarities.
The shifts are virtually the same. 6 till 2. 2 till 10, and 10 till 6. Yesterday I was on a 6 till 2, so arriving at the work in the dark, and leaving in the heat of mid-afternoon. Very like Germany.
I had to wear a white uniform, and standard issues boots. Same as Germany. I had to clock in, and out. Same as Germany. A large proportion of the factory staff are from countries other than the host nation, same as Germany.
The main differences were that I was working in a production line with others yesterday, so if I didn't keep up, it would affect the whole line, whereas in Germany it was just me and a machine, so as long as I'd emptied the machine by the end of the shift I could go at my own pace.
The other big difference was the absence of naked communal showers at the end of the shift. In Germany these were necessary because you would be so completely covered in paint dust by the end of the shift that you had to go into a big shower and wash it all off. And not just with a regular sponge, you had to scour it off. You got so much paint inside your clothing as well that it was necessary to get someone else to scrub your back clean. I am not joking. So, a big communal shower, no clothes on, scrubbing each others' backs with the equivalent of a pan scourer. And from experience I have to tell you, the thing you do not want in this situation, the thing you absolutely must not get, is an involuntary erection. Anyway, enough about that.
So, thankfully, the cake factory, no communal showers. Your feet get cold, especially if you're working near the freezers, and you do get some cake on you, but it mostly washes off quite easily, without the aid of stripping down to your birthday suit.
There are lots of rules, but these all make sense, as they are all to do with not getting food poisoning into the pies, and not letting foreign objects fall into the mix. I have to say, from a lifetime's experience of eating pies, I consider both these things to be very good ideas.
Everybody has to wear a hairnet, but there is a very sensible colour coding system in operation. Most people wear white ones, but supervisors wear red ones, first aiders wear green, and the people who come along to clean up and empty the bins wear yellow, so you know who's who, without having to know exactly who everyone is.
I didn't mind that the tasks were repetitive, and this was helped by the fact that you are rotated onto a different task about every half an hour. I got a half hour break in the middle so I only had to get through 4 hours in one stretch. There isn't a lot of time to talk, especially on some of the tasks, like the spreading cream around with the back of a spoon task, but the people I did speak to seemed friendly and helpful. There's a quiet efficiency about the place, which I hope to emulate in due course. I think I've got the quiet part right, I just need to work on the efficiency.
The main problem I had were that my feet were like blocks of ice. The temperature at floor level is around 5 degrees C, because of the cold air coming out from the freezers. This is especially noticeable when you're working near the end of the line, doing the finishing touches. By then I felt like the liquid metal guy out of Terminator 2 after he'd fallen into a lorry load of liquid nitrogen. When I started walking again afterwards, my legs didn't exactly snap off, but I did have trouble getting them going again. Thermal socks needed, I think.
Anyhoo, there it is. I've done a day, and it was fine, and I'm going back to do some more on Friday. I'd like to have warmer feet next time, and I'd like to be better at using the back of a spoon, but apart from that I have no complaints. Especially not about the lack of showers....
If you are wearing wellie boots try BAMAS - a sort of thick stock estate type thing. Farmers wear them and they are available from the Farmers wholesaler in Stokesley. They are quite thick so you usually need a bigger size boot that you normally wear but they do keep your feet warm and dry.
ReplyDeleteHope this helps
Brenda in the Boro
Thanks Brenda. I might try that, if the Woolie Bullies aren't warm enough...
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