I need body armour?!

[cinema guy]

I've been training to be a projectionist to be at the cinema. Which is cool - sadly it will only be part-time, so I'll still be a popcorn mokey part-time too.

Anyway today was a good day. Every film has to be watched before it it is shown to the public, well one of the regular projectionists was off because his son was ill - so I had to watch both 10,000 BC and The Cottage. It is pretty cool watching a film in the cinema on your own and getting paid for it.

After that I was given some training on the xenon lamps in the projectors. They are explosive - so handling them requires gauntlets, a full-face visor and what can only be described as body armour that protects the chest, arms and groin.

I also got to dispose of some old bulbs, using a device called The Terminator.

[Andara Bledin]

You gotta love lights that get so hot, any oils on their surface will boil and cause them to rupture in an impressive and moderately destructive manner.

Not to mention that they're high pressure.

Oh, yeah, and they can cause radiation burns, too!

If anyone wants to see what fun it is to deal with the lamps in projectors, just check out this pdf file at movingimagetech.com.

^-.-^

[crazylegs]

Trust me, you get used to wearing body armour. Its like insurance, you hope you never need it, but you're damned glad you have it when you do.

[cinema guy]

I have no intention of going near one of those bulbs without the correct gear on.

[crazylegs]

Sounds like a jolly good idea, now if I can convince some of my collegues to wear their vests...?

[Seshat]

You only get one body, it's worth taking care of it.

I won't even garden (except for light stuff like pulling up the occasional weed or planting something simple) without cotton drill/twill clothing, gardening gloves and workboots.



(For those wondering how I garden given my disabilities: it's a common form of physiotherapy for my particular set. Or another answer to 'how do you garden?' 'very slowly, and no more than ten minutes at a time'.)

[Broomjockey]

Yeah, those bulbs are scary. Regular projector bulbs can blind you in something like one second, they contain poisonous materials, and they're not terribly sturdy.

At my first theatre, the only one allowed to change bulbs were the union projectionist, and a couple of the managers in case of emergency. No staff were to so much as breathe in the general direction of the bulbs. Of course, they've now gotten rid of the union projectionist there, and my second theatre never had a union guy while I was there. I think they now have to call in a maintenance person to change the bulbs. Worst idea ever.

[Pezzle]

Yeah, when I'm dremeling my metal miniatures I look goofy with a face shield. Double goofy with a respirator for when I'm working with resin. But the first time I used a carbon cutting wheel to slice a thick pewter mini in half, i had chunks of metal flying into my face and got stuck in there for a week or two. Painful, never wanted to deal with it again.

WEAR PROTECTION

[cinema guy]

At my first theatre, the only one allowed to change bulbs were the union projectionist,

Regular staff are not even allowed in projection. It is kept loked for safety and anti-piracy purposes.

Yeah, when I'm dremeling my metal miniatures I look goofy with a face shield.

I've only recently aquired a dremel for my minis. I don't have protection other than my glasses. Will have to think about it.

[Andara Bledin]

Time to whip out my favorite saying:

Better to have it an not need it than to need it and not have it.

This goes more than double when talking about protection.

^-.-^

[Shangri-laschild]

Sounds like a jolly good idea, now if I can convince some of my collegues to wear their vests...?

Some of them don't want to wear them?? Granted I've never had to what with just being at the desk, but if I was doing what they were doing, even if no one was at the college that day, no way would I be without it...

[protege]

But the first time I used a carbon cutting wheel to slice a thick pewter mini in half, i had chunks of metal flying into my face and got stuck in there for a week or two.

I know a guy who was cutting HO scale model train rail...and got hit in the eye with it After hearing that, I always use pair of rail nippers (basically pliers with cutting blades, specifically for cutting rail) instead of my Dremel. I always wear my safety goggles with that--cutting discs can grab on metal, and shatter!

I've had that happen several times--the most severe was when I was cutting a bracket off an old muffler from one of the cars. The muffler itself was fine, the pipe it was mounted to was crap, and since I couldn't get the bracket off... Anyway, as I'm cutting away, the disc apparently got hung up on the pipe, and shattered into a million pieces.

[crazylegs]

Some of them don't want to wear them??

Yer, its down the individual officers discretion, admittedly there are very few firearms offences directed at officers each year and CS/PAVA spray can keep most people with bladed instruments at bay.

Personally I don't even answer the door without my vest.

(UK vests are overt, rather than the US covert style which is primarily ballistic UK vests are knife resistant as well.)

[Shangri-laschild]

Yer, its down the individual officers discretion, admittedly there are very few firearms offences directed at officers each year and CS/PAVA spray can keep most people with bladed instruments at bay.

Personally I don't even answer the door without my vest.

(UK vests are overt, rather than the US covert style which is primarily ballistic UK vests are knife resistant as well.)

See we can't use pepper spray since we're inside and it'll get into the ventilation system. The officers are required to wear vests unless it's a holiday when the college is closed. Plus with all the idiots in gangs going to school here it's not a good idea to go without.

[crazylegs]

See we can't use pepper spray since we're inside and it'll get into the ventilation system. The officers are required to wear vests unless it's a holiday when the college is closed. Plus with all the idiots in gangs going to school here it's not a good idea to go without.

Our spray dissipates and eventually over time/through ventilation systems disperses enough not to blind everyone in the building.

If we were in a particularly high crime area I think a lot more staff would wear their PPE, but as a low demand county (overall) a lot of people don't want to put up with the discomfort, most PCs keep their vests in the car so they can grab it and put it on on the way to a job.