natural gas. bad. this has been going on for 2 weeks. today it is especially bad. arent there laws against this?!? my employer refuses to fix the faulty air unit which is causing it somehow.

Posted by tullo natural gas. bad. this has been going on for 2 weeks. today it is especially bad. arent there laws against this?!? my employer refuses to fix the faulty air unit which is causing it somehow.

Not if its just the smell, but if there's natural gas then I'm sure there is. Try to get hazard pay (joking, you won't actually). There's a risk your building could explode though.

Natural gas is completely safe when it's sealed inside pipes and used in the right way. The dangers occur when gas leaks out or doesn't combust properly in an appliances. Natural gas is flammable - if there's a flame or even a spark in the area of a leak, it could cause an explosion. Fortunately, natural gas leaks are very rare. And explosions are even more uncommon - the mixture of natural gas and oxygen in the air must be at a precise proportion for a spark to set it off. The other danger of natural gas is carbon monoxide. This invisible, odorless gas is produced when natural gas appliances aren't working right.

im so sick of this shit. sigh.

fake a headache and call the fire dept. problem solved!

Posted by DiVaMoNKeY fake a headache and call the fire dept. problem solved!

Um this is actually VERY good advice.


The process:
1. *Headache*
2. Call 911, explain you have headache, building smells like natural gas for 2 weeks, worried it is causing it. Request fire dept and EMS (unless your area already sends PD/FD/EMS to every call; mine does, some may not)
3. Fire dept usually arrives first. Tell them what's been going on and for how long. Explain that you've got a headache, are feeling dizzy, nauseas.
4. EMS shows up. Orients you x3 or 4 (makes sure you're not getting retarded).
5. FD speaks with EMS. You leave in ambulance. Feel free to discuss situation with EMTs in ambulance --- "omgz will the FD help figure out the problem?"
6. FD orders inspection of crap in building.
7. Problem/worry solved.


Um ... but make sure you have health insurance, first. Just in case there ISN'T a problem with the building, and therefore worker's compensation wouldn't pick up the fees.



Edit: I have discussed this with NUMEROUS firefighters/medics, and know of at least TWO who have actually done this ... one was because the hair salon next door wasn't properly ventilating the place next to his personal business. Fixed that.

hmmm. it appears the problem may be finally solved. which is good bc i was going to cause trouble if it wasnt. something had to be sealed on the ac/heater unit or something like that, bc its about 800 years old and the ass who owns the building should buy a new one, but he is unbelieveably cheap. so for now i guess im ok.

but thanks for the advice.

Posted by tullo hmmm. it appears the problem may be finally solved. which is good bc i was going to cause trouble if it wasnt. something had to be sealed on the ac/heater unit or something like that, bc its about 800 years old and the ass who owns the building should buy a new one, but he is unbelieveably cheap. so for now i guess im ok. but thanks for the advice.

Those rooftop units are unbelieveably expensive.

Was the smell natural gas or exhaust fumes? If the unit was indirect fired and there was a leak (in the heat exchanger) between the combustion chamber and the air you breathe, you could have been exposed to Carbon Monoxide, and that will give you a headache before it kills you. It is true that CO is odorless, but it is part of most natural gas flame exhaust gases, and those exhaust gases definetly have an odour, the CO is contained within those gases you are breathing.

If you were smelling natural gas, it could build-up to the lower explosion limit (5% volume of the air) and explode.

The unit should never have been allowed to run for two weeks like that, it should have been turned off immediately. If you smell the same odour again, demand the unit be shut-down.

Posted by Nvr2loud If you smell the same odour again, demand the unit be shut-down.

Rather, get a headache, get the hell out of there in an ambulance, and force the entire system to be inspected by the FD.

it was the natural gass additive smell, you know, the smell you get when you accidentally knock out the pilot light in your stove and the gas creeps into your kitchen a bit. like that. but bad. people have complained but the guy is an asshole, in plain english, and incredibly cheap. he claimed there are two units on the roof, and one for some reason would leak natural gas when trying to light the pilot, or something like that, and the other would apparently take this gas into its intake and put it in the rest of the building. but apparently a repair guy finally came and fixed it.

i think a lot of people felt like me, they wanted to say something, but were afraid of some kind of action against us. in this economy nobody can afford to take a chance to lose their job, you know.

this guy is a pain. he kleeps the temperature at about 60 degrees in winter, which doesnt seem that cold but i have to dress "professionally" so i cant jsut come in with a big warm sweater on, i am in semi-thin clothing to begin with, people are wearing shirts with ties, etc. not very warm stuff. but anyway he keeps it freezing in here and does not allow people to bring in spoace heaters, ifhe sees you have one he actually confiscates it, its just amazing. i am amazed with what goes on here. luckily i have my own office and he works on the other side of the building so im able to sneak one in here without him knowing, and many others do this. but he caught me once, ripped it out of the wall and screamed at me.

ive been told someone called the board of health once on him bc it was freezing in this building.

i have arm problems because i sit at a computer all day. i asked for a keyboard tray. i got a little card table next to my desk and was told well this is lower so you should be fine.

so i have a big desk in my office, and its empty, and im on this little 20 dollar table next to it. and i have been told multiple times to rearrange my office so it looks less ridiculous, and i have said i refuse because if i have to work with substandard crap like this when there are rules from osha saying i should be able to get things i need, then im leaving my office looking ridiculous.

Mercaptan

-the additive to natural gas to make it smell sort-of like rotten cabbage.


Make an anonymous phone call to the insurance provider for the building. They would be very interested to hear that a known natural gas leak is being ignored. Also make an anonymous phone call to the fire department or the local safety authority and inform them of an ignored natural gas leak. The situation is VERY SERIOUS. People could DIE.

Tullo, dude. You live in the US, there are laws and codes to help you fight conduct like this by an employer or landlord. Stick it to him, what are you waiting for? You get fired? Sue him.

you guys would hate where i work...

if you don't come out smelling like hydrogen sulfide, you come out smelling like chlorine dioxide or green liquor dregs.

Tullo,

As an employee in the state of New Jersey I am nearly positive that there is certain Health and Safety regulation which compels the Employer to provide certain minimum safegaurds for workers in their employ. I am not sure what the laws are there, but I bet they are comparable to the laws here in Ontario.

Here, an Employer has to have air circulation units in good repair that have a minimum amount of air exchanges per hour. They must produce an air circulation report every half year to the Ministry of Labour via the Joint Health and Safety Committee in the workplace. Also, there must be a minimum of 18°C (64.4°F) maintained in the workplace in most areas. Continuous bothersome smells and ergonomics are also listed within the Occupational Health and Safety Act which governs the minimum standards nearly every employer in the province MUST meet for their workers.

I am sure New Jersey has similar laws. Breaking these laws and upon Government inspection very hefty fines can be issued for the workplace, the owners and the floor supervisors. Any worker or member of the public can without giving their identity, call the Ministry of Labour and give a complaint or witness to breaches of the OHSA.

In addition to these there are municipal building and fire regulations, also by ignoring your workplace injury they are discriminating against you, which comes under Human Right's Legislation here. Do some digging, and also look at your Employment Standards Legislation because terminating you unjustly for standing up for legislated rights and guarantees is illegal. BUT the fight is a bitch.

There is a legal statute. Call OSHA and if you want, I'll give you the number. All they need to do is bring a sniffer in and test the air.

If it's above a certain level, your employer needs to upgrade the air filtration/conditioning system, or at the very least provide proper ventilation.

The company I work for, IP, maybe a bunch of assholes, but they do at least listen to OSHA about most things. Notice I say "most", they don't listen to them about all of it.

Also they get charged for violations. In the department I work in, it's ungodly hot in the summertime. I work around two large heat plates used for sealing the ends of rolls and in the summer, it gets upwards of 110 to 120 where I work. OSHA pitched a fit when one of our fans was broken early this summer, IP ran out and bought another 500 dollar unit and installed it the next day. On top of that, they cut a hole in the wall near the break area and put a big screen in it, so that we can get a little more ventilation from it. We use some aerosol Borax and Vinyl Acetate glue and use a header to seal the rolls with a polyvinyl heat activated glue on it, that often does burn and the fumes have been known to give some of us headaches.

Anyway, you need to call OSHA. http://www.osha.gov/html/Feed_Back.html
You can get in touch with them there and ask for complaint forms and other information.

Shael

Bust out your zippo and prove your employer wrong!

Posted by Shael Anyway, you need to call OSHA. http://www.osha.gov/html/Feed_Back.html You can get in touch with them there and ask for complaint forms and other information.

huh. yeah i might do that. thanks. last week it was supposedly "fixed." but i still smell a hint of natural gas once in a while. the guy who owns the company and the building is an asshole. somebody told me before i started that someone called osha or something on him, bc he was keeping the building so cold in the winter. he keeps it at about 62 degrees in there. the amount of crap he does is amazing. hes such an asshole. and no, i know i cant get fired for calling osha on him, but nj is an at-will employing state. he can fire me and say its bc he didnt like the way my hair was parted one day, and it would hold up in court. as long as its not something thats discrimination or something like that, he fucking pretty much can fire me for whatever he wants. and everybody does something at their job they could technically be fired for or something liek that, you know. its inescapable. if an employer wants to get rid of you, they will, on a little nothing. its happened to me before.

something about the air units in the building are extremely old, bc they are so huge and therefore expensive. there are 4 of them. 2 do one side of the building, 2 do the other. well the 2 for the other side are completely broken. they were like about to start a fire. so they had to be shut down. so he has to replace them. tjey have no ventilation on that side of the office right now. its not too hot/cold right now outside, so its not the end of the world, it just gets stuffy over there. on MY side of the building, there are 2 semi-functioning units. he claimed something had to be "sealed" so the gas wouldnt leak and then come into the building through the ventilation, but honestly i dont beleive him for a second that its fixed.

Sooooo, if you contact the proper authorities on him, i doubt he will be stupid enough to fire you anytime soon for anything. An attorney would eat that up in court in any state. The attorney would probably be willing to take payment after he wins, its such a sure case.

You can always do it anonymously.

Agree with Tullo. Contact OSHA. First thing that comes to mind is H2S. The anomoly with H2S is that as concentrations increase to toxic levels, the casualty's sense of smell actually goes away. So it's deceptive.

Posted by Myelin Agree with Tullo. Contact OSHA. First thing that comes to mind is H2S. The anomoly with H2S is that as concentrations increase to toxic levels, the casualty's sense of smell actually goes away. So it's deceptive.

tell me about it.