Kelly

You are such a spoilsport! The mixture of citric and malic acid in that peach liquor is
simply delish and what if it does get spilt on the board, isn't the same acid mix used
in the Hughes flux? However, I'm so happy that you haven't banned crack sniffing and
heroine shooting as well. You don't want all the workers to miss the fun, do we? And I
must say it doesn't matter two hoots if people don't wash their hands before eating
because a) they get immune to the bugs on them and b) research shows that one's hands
goes to the mouth or to pick the nose on an average 4,3 times per hour. Interesting
thought: just stand by some traffic lights during rush hour. I'll guarantee you will
see drivers picking their nose in one out of 20 cars and they don't put condoms on
their fingers. While we're on this subject, a friend of mine was surprised to see me
wash my hands BEFORE having a piddle and not AFTER. When he asked me why, I said my
zi-zi (good French expression for the male member) was a helluva sight cleaner than my
fingers, as it had been protected by clean underclothes since my morning shower a
couple of hours earlier. Double-take. As for the Twinkie bar, do your fingers ever
touch it? As a chocolatophile, I usually hold such bars by the paper, not so much to
protect the food (?) from any germs, but to protect my fingers from a sticky chocolatey
mess, which would then force me to wash my hands after the event, rather than before.

And you would also stop Walkmen, would you? This is an intrusion on the private liberty
of the workers to ruin their hearing over a ten-year period, by which time the 10 kHz
audiometric threshold level will have dropped by 10 dB. As for not hearing loudspeaker
announcements, does anyone ever listen to them? On Thursday, in Zurich airport, I
heard, with half an ear, an announcement which sounded roughly like, "woo ista eyis
chaffling oo arnaä peezconnact awissa eenphöömash disk." My wife, slightly more with it
(she used to be a speech therapist), said, "Wasn't that a call for you?". I said,
"Wasn't what?". "The loudspeaker announcement.". "What loudspeaker announcement?". "The
one that said 'Would Mister Ellis travelling to Larnaca please contact any Swissair
information desk'.". Anyway I did so and found that it was, indeed, me they were
looking for (an error on the boarding pass) but I was also told that it had been
announced four times! If you announce at 11 am over the factory loudspeakers that all
workers can have the rest of the day off on full pay, I'll bet you see less than half
of them immediately prepare to leave, Walkmen or not. People mentally switch off
loudspeakers. OK, I'll go along with workers being flattened by fork lift trucks except
that vehicle ways and pedestrian ways in the safe factory are kept apart, anyway
(nearly got flattened by the starboard outer landing gear wheel set of a 747-400 the
other day, though, as it was being moved from one assembly area to another at Boeing's
Renton plant: the damn thing was so bloody big it overflowed into the officially marked
walkways. But the biggest printed circuit I've seen was about 60 x 80 cm, so there's
perhaps less risk in an electronics assembly plant, where the worst thing you can do is
to pick up a soldering iron by the wrong end - don't forget to replace the bit, though:
carbonising skin can cause contamination. However, don't cool down the burn with Peach
Water.). Waving the soldering iron was probably to accelerate the cooling after a
temperature change: she was listening to the 10 o'clock News at the time you saw her,
reflecting on the latest Presidential escapades and wondering how you became an intern.

Seriously, you are right but there are times I cannot resist putting my tongue in the
cheek and, yes, it does get me into trouble at times. However, I have an advantage over
Paul when I do so: I'm better understood!

Brian

"Kelly M. Schriver" wrote:

> Hi Kenny & All -
>
> We had a discussion on this a couple of months ago, which you may want to
> dig out of TechNet archives.  Realize that the rules prohibiting eating,
> drinking or use of tobacco in production areas evolved back in the 1950's,
> and perhaps before.  The rules were implemented to protect both the product
> and the employees, and they are not necessarily peculiar to the electronic
> industry.
>
> There are several issues involved with "drinking water" on the production
> line:
>
> First, the purity of the water itself.  I've had the experience of having a
> number of water samples analyzed over the years, ranging from tap water to
> the purchased "pure mountain spring" water.  Have found quite a number of
> interesting organic and inorganic things that I wouldn't pour on an
> electronic product.  This becomes even more important if you're running a
> "no clean" operation and trying to protect the product from being
> contaminated in your shops.
>
> Second, the risk of ingestion of contaminated fluids.  A lot of folks don't
> have too great a sense of personal hygiene, in spite of having been schooled
> in the subject since they were toddlers.  It's tough enough to get them to
> "Wash Hands Before Eating" that mid-morning break Twinkie, or whatever.
> I've seen some of those bottles get pretty grimy, including the mouthpiece.
> Have also seen folks snap the drinking cap open with a grimy hand, then
> stick it in their mouth.  Drinking fountains in or near the area are a whole
> lot better solution - protects the people and the product.
>
> Third, things like this have a habit of creeping into other things.  Two
> weeks ago, I was working an assignment for one of our small local shops that
> allows bottled drinking water to be consumed on line.  I happened to notice
> an oddly colored bottle of water and asked the young lady who was drinking
> from it just exactly what it was.  She proudly showed me the label which
> read, "Peach Water".  Turns out this stuff had a fair load of sugar,
> flavoring and some, as yet unidentified, bacterialogical stuff.
>
> While I'm strongly in favor of realistic work rules, I continually remind
> myself that the rules also have to protect the primary goals of running a
> factory: efficient production; reliable output; and profitability.  The
> rules also have to protect the health and safety of its employees.
>
> In another post, someone raised the question of people with a Walkman
> plugged in both ears, oblivious to their surroundings.  Here's my nickles
> worth on that item:  Ever see one of these folks just continue to sit there
> when the Plant PA system blares out a warning for a tornado, fire or gives
> other significant information?  Ever stop to consider how much of their
> concentration is on the product, vs. how much is on the entertainment?  Ever
> seen one of these folks obviously keeping time to the music beat with the
> movements of their soldering iron tip?   My vote has to be "No" on the
> Walkman, as well.
>
> Regards - Kelly
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kenny Bloomquist <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Friday, February 25, 2000 9:42 AM
> Subject: [TN] Drinking Water
>
> >As long as Steve has brought up the touchy subject of safety glasses I
> >thought I'd throw in the touchy question of drinking water on the line.
> >
> >We work to J-STD-001 and flow that down to our subcontractors. We have a
> >subcontractor that has always allowed their operators to have a jug of
> >water at their bench. The containers they use are ESD safe and have a straw
> >out the top so they don't have to touch the top of the container where they
> >drink (unlike a sports bottle with a pop up top) .
> >
> >Two questions, what is the problem with this approach and when the spec
> >refers to "drinking" does it mean water and why? (woops I guess that's
> >three questions)
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Ken Bloomquist
> >Sr. Principal Process Engineer
> >PRIMEX Aerospace Company
> >P.O. Box 97009
> >Redmond, WA 98073-9709
> >http://www.primextech.com
> >
> >Ph:   425-885-5000
> >FAX: 425-882-5786
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >Northcon/2000, Chairman of the Board
> >http://www.northcon.org
> >
> >Electronics Manufacturers Association (EMA), President
> >http://www.ema-wa.org
> >
> >##############################################################
> >TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c
> >##############################################################
> >To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following
> text in
> >the body:
> >To subscribe:   SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name>
> >To unsubscribe:   SIGNOFF TECHNET
> >##############################################################
> >Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for
> additional
> >information.
> >If you need assistance - contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
> >847-509-9700 ext.5315
> >##############################################################
>
> ##############################################################
> TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c
> ##############################################################
> To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
> the body:
> To subscribe:   SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name>
> To unsubscribe:   SIGNOFF TECHNET
> ##############################################################
> Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional
> information.
> If you need assistance - contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
> 847-509-9700 ext.5315
> ##############################################################

##############################################################
TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c
##############################################################
To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the body:
To subscribe:   SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name>
To unsubscribe:   SIGNOFF TECHNET
##############################################################
Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional
information.
If you need assistance - contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
847-509-9700 ext.5315
##############################################################