I work as an outside contractor and consultant for industrial manufacturing places like factories and such. Sounds fancy, but really what I do is fix machines when the inhouse maintenance department can't figure it out. What all that means is that I have to go to different places every day, sometimes multiple places a day.

I've accepted that there are inherent dangers to my job. I spend a lot of my time driving to and from places. Driving is incredibly dangerous, more so when you're in a heavy truck full of tools. Some of the places I go to are very dangerous too. Steel mills especially. However, I go miles outside of my way to ensure that I am safe. I wear full face respirators and protective clothing, even in places where it isnt a requirement.

But the one thing this job has shown me more than anything is that there is no such thing as a "standard of safety". The unbelievable working conditions that people are willing to put up with blows my mind. Some places quite literally do not care about their employees at all. OSHA is a joke. Killing or maiming a worker is the cost of doing business to these places. It's appalling.