I work as an improvements engineer. I spent ten years working on various projects, saving hundreds of thousands of pounds in lost time and waste.

When my company went under, I started at a much smaller company that was desperate for someone to come in and save them some money.

On my first day, I watched a guy weld some parts. He would weld two parts together, walk across the shop to place them, walk back to the other side of the shop to pick up his next parts, and then walk back to his welding bay.

Me: “Perhaps you should move the welding operation closer to the racks?”

Worker: *Very smugly* “We can’t because ventilation is only in one place.”

Me: “Okay fine, but what about moving the operations around? The unwelded parts and the welded parts could be done next to each other.”

Worker: *Scoffs* “You don’t understand manufacturing.”

He refused to listen to me anymore.

But I’d dealt with people like this before. Over the weekend, I got one of the guys to fix wheels to the rack. Once the rack was filled with parts — it didn’t take long to do — he could wheel the rack to his welding bay, fill the rack back up with finished parts, and deposit the full rack at the next op. No more walking back and forth.

The following Monday, I saw [Worker] do his full day’s work in four hours, freeing him up to do one of many other overdue tasks.

I got a pat on the back from my boss, but a few days later, I was asked to go down again, as “my fix hadn’t worked.”

I went down to find that the wheels had been welded shut — I wonder who did that? — so they went back to the old way.

When asked, [Worker] admitted it and told them that he didn’t like being told what to do. The welder was a temporary worker, costing the company a large amount of money, and was shocked when they sacked him.

We later employed a young guy and trained him up. It still took him all day, but he was half the cost. It wasn’t long before he was up to speed.

I had been working at a factory for about a year when they hired another new guy. The new guy immediately singled me out as some sort of enemy after being told that I was also fairly new, and he was always running off to our supervisor trying to get me in trouble. Our supervisor always “investigated” just to appease him, but he never even pretended to discipline me because he knew what the new guy was up to.

One day, I got done using a specific machine, cleaned everything up, and headed out for a short break. This machine has a lot of different settings, so every time you use it, you have to make sure the settings are correct before you start. If you don’t, the best-case scenario is that the parts come out wrong and fail inspection. Worst-case scenario, the entire machine breaks, and the factory basically has to shut down until a new machine can be bought and installed. The new guy had been trained on this machine and knew that he needed to check the settings, but he never did.

I got back from my break, and the new guy was running parts on the machine that I just finished using. The machine was making some bad noises, and I realized that he had forgotten to adjust the settings. I tried to warn him to stop the machine, but he brushed me off, so I hit the machine’s Emergency Stop button to stop him from doing any more damage than he might have already done. Obviously, this enraged the new guy, and he stormed off, returning a few minutes later with our supervisor.

Supervisor: “Hey, [My Name], [New Guy] tells me you were screaming at him for using the machine?”

Me: “I was using it before my break, running different parts than he’s trying to run. The machine was making all sorts of sounds when he was using it like he hadn’t adjusted the settings for his parts, but he refused to stop when I told him the settings were wrong, so I hit the Emergency Stop.”

Supervisor: “[New Guy], did you check the settings?”

New Guy: “I was just using this machine yesterday, and it was running fine. If anything is wrong with it, it’s [My Name]’s fault for messing with the settings.”

Supervisor: “[My Name], what parts were you running this morning?”

I tell him, and [Supervisor] checks the settings on the machine and confirms that they are correct for those parts.

Supervisor: “What parts are you trying to run now, [New Guy]?”

The new guy tells him.

Supervisor: “Then it’s pretty obvious what happened. [My Name] adjusted the settings correctly to run his parts, but your parts need different settings. [New Guy], are you sure you checked the settings before starting these parts?”

New Guy: “Well, [My Name] should have put the settings back to normal after he went and changed them!”

Supervisor: “There is no ‘normal’ setting for this machine, [New Guy]. That’s why you need to check before every job.”

Our supervisor told me to head on to my next job and ended up training the new guy on the machine AGAIN.

A few weeks after this happened, the new guy forgot to check the settings on the machine again and completely broke the machine. He tried to blame me for “messing with the settings again,” but our supervisor obviously didn’t believe him. The new guy was fired for negligence, and the factory lost a lot of time and money waiting for the new machine to be installed.

While I’m home for winter break, my mom tells me a friend of hers needs some help at the factory she manages. I am told that she will pay me $18 per hour for as many hours as I feel like working, and I’ll be in a quiet room by myself. It sounds perfect, so I agree.

First thing upon arriving, I notice that I am the only one wearing a mask. A worker sits me down at a station near a bunch of other people and begins training me. I’m internally panicking because this isn’t what I was told I would be doing, but I try to roll with it.

Thankfully, my mom’s friend arrives not long after (also not wearing a mask).

Mom’s Friend: “[My Name] will be doing a different task today.”

She brings me to an empty room and gives me my task, and I putter away for five hours or so until I feel like going home.

The next day, I return at the same time. Again, no masks. I go into the room and begin my tasks. A few minutes later, the floor supervisor comes in with another worker.

Supervisor: “[Worker] will be helping you since this task is a priority.”

We work basically in silence, which is fine by me as I’m not a talker. An hour or so into it, we take a break and we start talking.

Worker: “I requested to be transferred to this task because the girl I was working with yesterday had [contagious illness].”

Instantly, alarm bells went off in my head. She was not wearing a mask, and she’d just told me she had been working in close proximity with someone who was confirmed to be sick. I avoided her for the rest of the day and left a few hours early, resolving not to go back again.

A few days later, my mom told me that nine of the twenty-three employees at the factory had tested positive for [contagious illness]. I was relieved that I didn’t go back, no matter how good the money was.

I am in middle management of a large industrial company. Recently, we’ve tried to become the main supplier for [Customer]. As there is a recession inside our field of operation, we really try to get this customer as it would solve an impending financial crisis. Going through the contracts, I notice a thing that, if left unaddressed, could cost a LOT of money in different penalties.

I notify the high management and organize a meeting where I explain everything. The problem can be solved by my department, but we need certain lists made by other teams as a foundation for our work. I highlight that it is crucial to have everything correct so the lists should be made by somebody with a lot of experience. The manager of the respective department informs me that this job will be completed by [Team Leader], a guy that has been part of the company for a long time.

Projects #1 and #2 are successful. Project #3 has a deadline on the thirty-first of December. As I am getting more and more familiar with the problem, I notice some weird irregularities in the lists. As the lists are made by [Team Leader], I decide not to dig into them. Project #3 is finished and ready to deploy.

It is now almost Christmas and the vast majority of employees are on vacation. I have to stay for a few more days, so I start to work on Project #4. When I open the lists, however, I notice a lot of weird things. With a strange feeling from Project #3, and as it is important that we secure [Customer] for our company, I decide to call [Team Leader] even though he is on vacation.

Me: “Hello, this is [My Name]. I am really sorry to bother you on your vacation, but I found something strange with the lists you provided on Projects #3 and #4. Could you please explain a few things for me?”

Team Leader: *Quiet laughing* “You really use those? I was wondering if they are important or if they are just another corporate list that goes into a drawer never to be seen again, so I made bigger and bigger mistakes on each list to check if somebody noticed.”

Me: *Shocked* “What?! Do you realize that these lists are the foundation of the work of my department?! I need those lists correct, especially on Project #3!”

Team Leader: “Okay, okay. I will correct them when I return back to work.”

Me: “Project #3 has a deadline at the end of the year. I need them as soon as possible!”

Team Leader: “I am currently without access to the computer. There is no way I will be able to make them this year. It’s not like [Customer] will notice that something is not right.”

Realizing I was not going to make any progress with him, I quickly ended the call. I was able to make a few corrections to the list on Project #3 and fix a lot of mistakes that arose from incorrect foundations. Project #3 was modified and ready to be shipped.

The cost? I had to cancel my vacation and stay at work until December 29th — time that I would otherwise have spent with my family — just because [Team Leader] decided to test whether the lists were important. I left a few angry emails to his bosses with a description of what had happened. I think he will have a fun surprise when he returns from vacation.

We’ve been having issues with break-ins in an empty lot we use for storage when the business isn’t running. There is nothing to steal, and judging by the damage and marks, it’s probably kids with skateboards.

The problem is that if anyone gets hurt, even by their own fault, we could get sued for not having this site secure enough. What we definitely don’t want is them to keep coming back when we actually have breakables in there. Being a small business, that would ruin us.

We start to use chains and locks, but they cut through them. We bolt on blocks; they hammer them off. Replaced windows are smashed and locked doors are broken. We can’t afford to pay for security and the site is in the middle of nowhere.

Then, [Coworker] (who has never been the most academically gifted of men) acquires some amber tar-like glue. Brushes don’t work, so we end up using a trowel to apply it — until we realise you’re supposed to heat it up first!

I’m cursing [Coworker]. It takes hours of back-breaking work, and I don’t see how it will ever work. I threaten that I will stick plenty of things to [Coworker] if he’s wasted our time.

But sure enough, the next day, halfway up a wall where no glue was even applied is a skateboard stuck fast. I can’t reach it, so a year later, it’s still there.

The break-ins have pretty much stopped after that. I’ve bought [Coworker] a well-deserved pint or several.