So You've Hired Bozo the Clown...

Slow volumes of traffic means fewer customers... which means the only idiocracy left is the "powers that be"... ...and myself I guess...

After being overrun by customers and students a few weeks ago (which escalated into a near shoplifting incident... twice), I had called it to my supervisor's attention that maybe we should start looking into getting me a helping hand. (I work in my shop completely alone). Apparently he thought this was such a funny joke, he showed my concerned email to a fellow co-worker to see if he'd get a good laugh at it, too.

Unfortunately for my supervisor, he didn't realize that I talk to this co-worker on a regular basis. I go to this co-worker when I need help more often than I do my chain of command (and now you see why.) And also unfortunately for my supervisor, I now realize just how seriously he takes me. Me and my valid concerns. Not only my valid concerns for loss prevention and customer service, but for my safety as well.

Let's do some math: I have on hand over 60 aluminum tanks. These tanks are 80 cubic feet each in capacity, pressurized (filled) to 3000 pounds per square inch.

80 x 12(inches) = 960 inches
960 inches x 3000 = 2,880,000 pounds of pressure.

In one tank. However, I keep on hand a stock of about 60 tanks.

960 inches (each 80 cu ft tank) x 60 = 57,600 total inches of capacity among 60 tanks.

Unfortunately, my calculator gives me an "E" display, and I'm assuming that the number is too large to display after I multiplied 57,600 x 2,880,000.

Regardless of the end result displayed or not displayed on my cheap calculator, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that I'm working with a whole lot of contents under high pressure.

Another co-worker of mine, who has been with the company for 10 years, informed me that one 63 cu ft tank - when exploded under a locomotive - would lift the locomotive into the air 3 feet. Online research has told me that a fully pressurized 80cu ft tank - when exploded under a ladder truck (fire engine) - would lift the entire truck 60 feet into the air. And that is the power of just one tank. Unfortunately for me, my entire tank stock is stored in a small room that is about 12ft x 12 ft. If one tank blows for any reason, it could start a horrific chain reaction resulting in all of the tanks blowing.

Why do tanks blow up? They could blow for a number of reasons. Structural compromise, manufacterer defects, operator error, etc. Unfortunately, the first two reasons can be nearly impossible to spot with an untrained eye or the correct tools. Cracks within the neck of the tank may start inside the tank but might not penetrate all the way through to where it would be visible to the naked eye on the outside. The only way to see these cracks is to drain the tank completely, remove the valve, and use visual inspection tools to inspect the inside of the tank. Not all customers needing a quick 10-minute air fill would like to wait 2 hours for this process to be completed. Nor should they have to.

If you google "Scuba tank explosion", you'll find a handful of blood-spattered pictures accompanied by incident reports. YouTube also has a good video documenting the aftermath of a tank explosion.

And my manager thought that my concern for not only my inventory, but my safety as well, was a funny joke.

And I know what you're thinking. My application is already in at other places.

Thank you again, faithful reader, for visiting my post.
:::J:::