Plant Operator Advice

[RMW]

Don’t call in sick first week of work, lol. Heck make it atleast a year

[Duval_Santarita]

Anyone know of any opportunity’s in the corpus area

[PondPopper]

Don’t call in sick first week of work, lol. Heck make it atleast a year

And don't go out for "COVID exposure" 4 or 5 times!!! That's a d&$k move. It happens..

[Bubba]

I've shared this with the OP through PM but I figured I'd share it here as well. It might help someone.
-God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth. Do more listening than talking.
-No one cares how you used to do it at your last job. So keep those stories to a minimum.
-During your training if an operator gets up to go do somethings make sure you're in his back pocket.
-Get in good with the Old hands. Retain their knowledge, it's worth more than and procedure out there.
-Never stand there and let anyone open or close a long winded valve without your help.
-Utilize your downtime while training. Walk the unit, read a procedure, roll up hoses, etc etc.
-You'll see a lot of people sleeping but make sure you don't start sleeping or playing on your phone for at least the first year and/or until your qualified on a job.
I could go on and on.
But it's like I was told 13 years ago when I got in the industry.
"You can be a dumb but hardworking operator or a smart but lazy operator but you can't be dumb and lazy."

[B]Follow this advice its solid.
There's no dumb questions.Do your home work.Most will help you out if you are putting in the effort.It maybe over whelming at first but the sooner you know your unit the better off you'll be.

[M.E.B.]

Trophy8 advice was great.

Don’t be like us old farts who thought we were bullet proof when we were young. Use the respirators even if the ppm says it’s lower than you have too.

Just because you pass the test and are qualified go out and retrace lines.

It’s easy to forget stuff in the dark, in the smoke when you’re stressed.

Learn the emergency procedures. Make hard copies for when the power goes out.

Make it a habit to tell someone when you leave the control room. Let them know where are are going and what you are doing.

Encourage your coworkers to do the same. If someone has been outside longer than you believe they should check on them.

And the speech I gave all the younger guys

This is not your High school job. You will work with these guys for 20-30 or more years. You will see them date their wife. Marry her. Have kids. Maybe divorce and remarry. You will see their kids grow up. Go to school and college. You will see them bury their parents. So of them will get sick. Die. You will not be in a position to separate from them like you can a spouse.

Get along. You will be spending more waking hours with them then your family. Take care of each other.

[Duckologist]

Do not use channel locks to beat on electrical stuff.

Dats what dey make crecent hammers for. Oh, and don't blow anything up

[jds247]

And don't go out for "COVID exposure" 4 or 5 times!!! That's a d&$k move. It happens..

We lost a few guys for that.. they were warned not to game the system ..

[Grndchecker]

Trophy8 advice was great.

Don’t be like us old farts who thought we were bullet proof when we were young. Use the respirators even if the ppm says it’s lower than you have too.

Just because you pass the test and are qualified go out and retrace lines.

It’s easy to forget stuff in the dark, in the smoke when you’re stressed.

Learn the emergency procedures. Make hard copies for when the power goes out.

Make it a habit to tell someone when you leave the control room. Let them know where are are going and what you are doing.

Encourage your coworkers to do the same. If someone has been outside longer than you believe they should check on them.

And the speech I gave all the younger guys

This is not your High school job. You will work with these guys for 20-30 or more years. You will see them date their wife. Marry her. Have kids. Maybe divorce and remarry. You will see their kids grow up. Go to school and college. You will see them bury their parents. So of them will get sick. Die. You will not be in a position to separate from them like you can a spouse.

Get along. You will be spending more waking hours with them then your family. Take care of each other.

The speech and especially his last sentence is spot on. If you think pointing out co-worker's mistakes to bosses makes you look good to the bosses, the rest of your crew will make your life miserable. Once you lose the trust of the people you work every day with, you will never get it back.

Always help even when not asked.
Never stop learning. Strive to be the go to guy or unit expert, but don't brag about it.
Always have cash money with you. If someone buys and brings food for everyone, offer to pitch in money or just give money.

[PondPopper]

We lost a few guys for that.. they were warned not to game the system ..

And that is exactly what should happen but unfortunately some skate..

[locolobo]

After 46 yrs in a plant (retired) I can tell you: Your "training" is nothing. You will learn the basics and that's all.

For the rest of your career you will learn something new almost every day. If you don't you ain't $#!t for an operator. Listen to and work with your co-workers. Every body there has experienced something you haven't. Learn from them. And share things you have learned. Your co-workers may have never experienced it.

[LlanoHunter10]

About to start my first day on the job in the Channelview complex. After 6 weeks of training, I start my first day today. It's been a wild ride the past 2 months. My son's were born 3 weeks ago and now I get to be home everyday with them while working for a great company with great people. Already getting hazed by the personnel when I toured the facility during training, but with all the hard work and dedication and advice from yall above, I know I'll do fine. Thank yall very much especially to Hammerdown who pm'd me back and forth with great personal advice. Time to trace out pipes, study P&ID'S and get certified on the job. Okay, putting the phone away and ready to work. God Bless all yall!

[8pointer]

Good luck!

[Hammerdown]

Good Luck Sir!

[be12hunt]

Good luck.
Also don’t take any pictures or selfies anywhere at the plant. I’ve seen more than one person get ran off for posting selfie pictures somewhere in the plant.

[trophy8]

Good luck brother! I’m just coming off night 1 of 7.