Having worked in an engineering/production environment, here are some of the things I no longer see at work. Big round sinks that a dozen men could stand around. Each locker room had it's own janitor, who worked in there full time. Smoking at desks, work benches. Old boys with big brown coats with pens and a 6" rule in the top pocket. Often with a shirt and tie underneath. Although they were hourly paid, blue collar. Managers who came up from the floor, and were actual managers, rather than some post grad on a fast track. Paid weekly in cash. Full on nude calendars.
Big round sinks that a dozen men could stand around. Each locker room had it's own janitor, who worked in there full time. Smoking at desks, work benches. Old boys with big brown coats with pens and a 6" rule in the top pocket. Often with a shirt and tie underneath. Although they were hourly paid, blue collar. Managers who came up from the floor, and were actual managers, rather than some post grad on a fast track. Paid weekly in cash. Full on nude calendars. Tea Lady.
Telex Being the only girl on the shop floor swarfega & battier cream No ppe Toasted cheese sandwich at the pub lunchtime Shorts down the pub Friday lunchtime
clocking on with cards, When I first stated with Rolls-Royce, I was at their college. We learnt that there was a clock on the first floor that was slightly slower than the one on the ground floor. So, when you were a minute late the gig was to grab your card from the rack next to the downstairs clock, then run up the stairs and clock in on the upstairs clock. The fact that you were late and had broken the rules by running in the corridors was immaterial, for you had clocked in on time! Porn In the very pre-equality days, porn was everywhere. Stuck up on noticeboards, in tool boxes, and bench drawers! Tea Trolleys In the days before coffee machines, old dears would come round the shops to dispense tea from a trolley at break time. It was heavily subsidised and you could get cheap cakes as well!
When I was in the shipyards, the machine shop still ran off the overhead belts and pulleys system. None of that newfangled stuff you have there. All of the machines were imperial, so you had to convert your metric tolerances from pump and engine manufacturers before you started working on stuff. The low level yard crane was steam driven on a rolling stock chassis. This was all in the late 80's on the Tyne.
