The office got a little too chilly this morning from turning on all the AC at the work area. Usually we'd just turn on two, sometimes if it's just me I turn on one but today all three of them with the capacity of 2HP each were turned on. Reason being that my colleague's car broke down so we had to walk 15 mins down to the office. By the time we got there, our body was on fire from all the heat we had generated from walking.
We enjoyed the AC for quite a while but after breakfast and consuming really chilled water, I became somewhat cold which became obvious the moment I got to the work area. Before I sat to get on with the activities of the day, I stood up and turned off the AC from my end.
My colleague seated at his end, chuckled and said he's been meaning to even turn off his but he was just waiting for when he's done with the work at hand. I told him that I can't bear that long because I've been bathing cold water lately as against my regular hot water routine (health reasons). My colleague was super surprised when he learned that before now, I bathed in hot water every day regardless of the temperature. It was at that moment he told me about his job at the field (oil and gas).
According to him, that's the only time he bath's hot water and it has to be slightly burning too so that it can wash off any chemical residue on his skin. My jaw dropped because what do you mean chemical residue? Is there no PPE or something? I questioned but he laughed and said that I will not understand. In my mind no wonder cancer is on the increase, job hazard and a lot of unsafe work practices.
Another time, during a car ride with a friend, I felt really constricted and was almost struggling to breathe. I quickly brought the situation to my friend's notice and told him to turn off the AC and also wind down so air can come in. My friend did as instructed. Few minutes after my instructions had been carried out, I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. I felt better and my friend, seeing I was better, laughed about the situation and said, with what happened just now, you cannot do my job. I looked at him and asked him what he does. I knew he's a Field worker as well but I didn't know his job description so I asked. He explained his job to me and for some passing seconds, my mouth was wide open in shock. He said their work is to detect gas leakage underground and one has to actually be underground through a deep hole and being that he's lanky like me, plus he's not claustrophobic, his supervisor loves appointing him for the job.
The whole thing sounded strange, risky and weird so I questioned him on the safety and he explained that there's a coverall with a small cylinder attached which supplies oxygen for the duration of 15mins. Immediately I shouted, "what if the oxygen finishes due to leakage or some technical error happen and oxygen can no longer be supplied? How fast can they pull you out for rescue?" That moment he raised his wrist and showed me his wrist watch. He said he's always timing himself and makes sure he's as fast as possible. plus if there should be any technical issues, the suit has an alarm that warns and also gives time for rescue.
Similarly, during one of my HSE classes, we were taught PPE and the importance of always kitting up with the appropriate uniform and safety gadgets to avoid harm from coming to the workers. There are some work accidents and people lose a part of their body because they fail to acknowledge PPE. At this level, AI revolutionary is long overdue
You see, when it comes to highly risky jobs like what my friends do, AI should take over because human life has no duplicate. One AI can always be mass produced with the same design and prototype but not a human being because we only have one life.
Again, AI does not need to replace humans when it comes to less risky jobs. At the level where the human life is not threatened or in harm's way; as much as AI would do the job faster, some sort of balance should be created whereby both the AI and humans can work side by side, complimenting each other without any being replaced.
Above is my entry for the Inleo prompt day 8. You can participate HERE
