Share your manual labour experiences

CM24

Would just be interested to hear from other people in the same boat as me. I have no experience at all when it comes to manual labour but I'm strong and fit and not shy of working hard. A few friends recommended I sign up with a labour hire company and I just started working yesterday.

Is there much to learn? They had me using a jackhammer sort of thing to knock down bricks on my first day. Took me a while but was grand once I got the hang of it. Most of the guys on the site were pretty chilled out except the supervisors who were pretty stressed out and kept telling everyone to hurry up. Ended up going home early because they found asbestos on the site and cleared everyone off.

Is it going to be difficult for me to keep a job because of my lack of experience? What's the most difficult thing a labourer might get asked to do? I'm happy to lift heavy stuff all day but I'm terrified I'm going to mess up using the tools and drill into a water pipe or something!

It's not the end of the world if I lose a job because I can just register with another agency. There seems to be loads of work going.

Any funny stories from your experience doing manual labour?

pete4130

Expect that site to be shut down until the asbestos is safely removed.

As for manual labour, it's like anything. The more you work at it, the more you learn. Ask questions when you are asked to do something to make sure you understand what is being asked of you. Don't be afraid to stop and double check if you are unsure. Ploughing ahead without asking/thinking is what can cause any problems.

Make sure you lift heavy objects correctly. You won't be able to work if you do your back in and work safely. If, for any reason something doesn't feel 100% then question it.

I work out in the gas fields as a surveyor doing Fly in, Fly out work for 2 weeks at a time and safety is the biggest aspect of the job out there. I do some survey assisting work on my time off in Sydney (pretty easy work and good money as I'm experienced/qualified) but the safety side of things is a bit more relaxed in the private sector.

catbear

Water, drink lots of water as you work and especially before you go for a few beers after work. It's a different climate to Ireland.

minzabud

There's plenty of lads getting by just sweeping and cleaning up sites, but the more you can do the more chance you have of being kept on instead of going to different sites all the time, take your time and ask if your not sure how do it/use something.