Got a job offer as a Safety Technician at a cannery

1wellnessnurse · May 27, 2015

The red flag is the seven days a week. Business will always put themselves first. The cannery may try to coerce you into working more hours than you are comfortable. This could negatively impact your education.

I worked 24 hours a week when I was going for my ASD RN. That was mainly Friday, Sat, and Sunday as a CNA.

When I was working on my BSN, I worked 50 hours a week for the last 3 months of the program. It was an online program that took about 20-25 hours a week. I had no balance in my life and it was hard on my kids.

Recently, I completed my MSN while working 20 hours a week. I think splitting the time makes the most sense.

katkonk, BSN, RN · May 30, 2015

I currently got a job offer from a local cannery as a safety technician. the interviewer said he would try to work with HR to let me work 4 8 hour days when I start school again.
My question is if 32 hours a week while in school too much? And has anyone worked a similar position and give me some insight on what the daily routine is? Greatly appreciated

If you want to work lots of hours over the summer and make overtime to build up funds for school, that is great. Is 32 hours a week while in school too much?...I would say yes, most likely. When I was working on my Bachelor's degree, I worked 30 hours a week over half of the nursing school program. But I was very committed to making the best grades, and as nursing school went on, I found that was too much. I ended up splitting up one semester of school, and graduating one semester later. A good move on my part because I was exhausted. Every semester demands more and more study time and time for papers and projects and clinical hours.

The safety technician job will give you an excellent background if you want to someday be an occupational health nurse. If they won't work with you during the semester on limiting the number of hours, you always have the option of quitting.

Personally, I went to classes year round, taking some things in summer school to lighten the load during the regular semester. I also found out what books I would be needing during the next semester's classes and began reading them on the breaks between semesters, just to get a jump on things. It helped.

Safety technicians, in whatever capacity, usually stay verrrry busy. I've never worked in a cannery, but I am guessing it is no different there.

Good luck, and just leave plenty of time for study, reading and homework after clinical assignments.

Wrestler133, BSN, MSN, RN · May 30, 2015

Thanks for the input guys. They just called me and said they hired another person so that they can split the hours with me. They offered me 20-30 hours a week so most likely 3 8 hour days but it would be 3rd shift 10 pm to 6 am which will kinda suck because id have to adjust from days to nights. Its only seasonal thought and goes all the way until October so hopefully I can save up a bit of cash. Have any of you worked this kind of position before and what its like?

42pines · May 31, 2015

Nice that you have the hours you want (quantity), tough that you have the hours that suck... (time of day).

I got into Occ Nursing after leaving an tertiary hospital ICU department largely because of hours. In my case it was rotating 12 hour shifts that killed me (12/days then a few days off and 12 hour night) though it was a nasty (bully) preceptor that was the true catalyst.

I decided to take several months off before going to my next job. It was only about 2 years post graduation and I needed the break.

A local nurse who ran an Occ Health consultancy asked me to cover just a double 4 hour afternoon shift at a ball bearing factory and it seemed easy money so I took it, and ended up staying. A major reason she wanted me was because I had a BS in Safety Studies from Keene State College so she could bill me as either safety or nurse or both.

Over the ensuing years I was the "safety guy" and Occ Health Nurse at FiberMark Paper mill (which later went bankrupt) and Ruger Corp (gun maker) the latter was to cover for a nurse on leave.

At both places I acted as safety tech, though I was more than tech. At GM I acted as an adjunct to safety which did have some safety tech aspects. I think I can answer what it is you'll be doing.

The safety tech has a bunch of things to do such as weekly check of eyewash/deluge shower stations/alarms/fire extinguisher. You'll also likely function in some category to check documentation on things like enclosed space entry. I wrote protocols and did research on how the company should deal with issues (which probably won't be one of your duties) and you'll likely do incident/accident/near miss investigation. But it's also likely that your main function is to walk around and keep an eye out for potential problems. I suspect that it'll be fairly easy and I suspect that you'll like it.

You may do pre-work shift "safety talks" (a three minute presentation) and may even lead a group in stretches. You may have duties that require you to make some sort of presentation on a billboard each month.

Third shift can be difficult but you're young. Study shift work disorder and you'll find that the younger a person is, the less wear and tear on the body and its diurnal systems are. Just try to make sure that you don't go directly from work to school. I'd try to get them to let you work the graveyard shift on Friday night and Saturday night and then rotate into the 3-11pm shift on Sunday. That night you'll sleep like a rock and be ok for Monday.

The safety stuff can be very helpful as a future Occ Health RN but only if you later work in industry and only if your job as Occ Health Nurse includes safety duties. In my current role I have zero function in Safety and I do miss it sometimes. G'luck and keep in touch.

Wrestler133, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks for the input 42pines.

I started three weeks ago and its been a big learning process. Learning a lot about industrial safety and equipment as well. The most discouraging part is being the "new guy" and being ignored by employees who don't want to wear their proper PPE. There was a terrible accident where an employee lost both arms in a machine and I was one of the first responders. I have never seen anything like it but I kept my composure and helped as much as I could until the paramedics arrived. Before this the majority of incidents were mostly minor burns and bumps/bruises which were easily treatable but this was a whole other story.

I am still learning a lot and ready spring into action when anything happens. I'm really hoping this experience looks good on paper and helps me down the road when applying for jobs after graduation next May.

Rbeck911, BSN, RN · Jul 6, 2015

As 42 Pines has said in the past, try not to appear too overzealous in this position when it comes to rescue. Certainly respond appropriately, but he is right to say that the EMS adrenaline junkie does not translate well to occupational health for whatever reason. It appears to freak people out a bit in the sense that you may offer more care than is needed, making it unnecessarily recordable. I also have made the transition from EMT to Occ Health Nurse. There is a learning curve, and I would say it takes a solid two years to become comfortable in such a role.

Most of the time, it is general first aid. But once in a while, you get that horrible injury like you mentioned.

Regarding PPE and people not listening to you. Make sure you are being assertive. And look up the definition of assertive, as most people thinks that it means to be a forceful jerk. Treat them with respect. Explain the purpose of the PPE. If that doesn't work, locate their supervisor. Supervisors often have safety metrics that they are responsible for. They don't like it when their employees risk their bonus over not wearing gloves.

Good luck!