The next time you walk through a shopping mall, notice how pleasant the
temperature is. In the summer, the air conditioning keeps you cool. In the
winter, the heating keeps you warm.
Did you know that industrial pipe and steamfitters install and maintain
the maze of pipes that makes this climate control possible?
It's been more than 39 years since Jim Walker first trained to be a pipefitter
in the U.S. Navy. Although he is now retired, Walker is happy with his career
choice.
When Walker joined the navy, he was given a series of tests to determine
what he was best suited for. The tests indicated that he would be very good
at anything mechanical. "So I signed up for a 16-week course as a pipefitter."
After four years as a pipefitter in the navy, Walker left the military.
Since navy training is considered the equivalent of an apprenticeship, he
received his journeyman ticket as a pipefitter and went to work for a tire
company.
"I worked as a pipefitter in their chemical plant in Akron, Ohio. After
24 years, I transferred to research and development....I did maintenance work
in their chemical plant."
Walker found the work he did for the navy was quite different from the
work he does in civilian life. In the navy, he was required to know how to
bend pipes to fit various shapes. Pipes made of various kinds of metal had
to be treated in a different way.
"I had to know the formulas for what size pipe I was bending. It was interesting
and quite technical," he says.
After leaving the navy, the pipefitting work done for the corporation was
different. "Companies buy up prefabricated elbows, so you just weld them on.
You don't have to bend them yourself."
Walker's most interesting project was a two-year activity where he, a welder
and an apprentice built the pipes for a new chemical plant.
"We used the engineer's blueprints, and we had a welding shop in a separate
building where we made all the piping. We had pipes sized from as small as
an eighth of an inch to as large as 36 inches in diameter. When we were finished,
the pipes fit perfectly. I was very proud of that. "
Pipefitting is hard work and heavy work. You must be comfortable working
with heights. "We had to climb seven or eight storeys up and walk across pipes.
In Ohio, we were out in all sorts of weather. Sometimes the temperature was
down to 21 degrees below zero."
Pipefitting can be dangerous -- especially working with steam and explosive
gases. "You have to know what's running through that pipe before you take
it up. If a steam line is wide open, the steam is invisible. But if you run
your hand over it, you will be badly burned."
Walker was injured a few times during his career. "Mostly mashed fingers
and a hernia from heavy lifting -- I never fell. But I had people working
with me who had fingers cut off. Once we were seven storeys up in a wide-open
tower when the other man caught his finger in something and it was cut off.
I had to get him down to the ground before he passed out."
Despite the danger, Walker believes that pipefitting is a good career.
"You are always better off if you have a trade to fall back on. It's a good
living."
"Yes, the pay is good," agrees Barbara Zimmerman. She is an industrial
pipe and steamfitter from Illinois.
Zimmerman works for a manufacturing and casting plant that casts the brass
and copper alloys that are used for nickels, dimes, quarters and the new U.S.
dollar coin.
Zimmerman became interested in the trades when she was a child. She always
enjoyed using tools, and when she observed construction workers outside in
the fresh air, she thought she might like to do something similar.
She started out working as a metal inspector. When a position as an apprentice
for a pipe and steamfitter opened up, she applied and was accepted.
"You work alongside a journeyman pipefitter for four years and you go to
school one night a week to study pipefitting courses."
Since becoming a journeyman pipefitter, Zimmerman has continued with her
education. She now has an associate's degree in industrial pipefitting and
a bachelor's degree in industrial technology. The latter is an engineering
management degree.
The work is heavy, dirty and greasy. "I'm five feet two inches tall and
I weigh 108 pounds. But I have no problems doing most of the work. If you're
small, you just get a bigger wrench," adds Zimmerman.
Of course, it is not a good job for someone who likes to go to work in
a stylish outfit. "I wear a hard hat, I wear coveralls, steel-toed boots,
safety goggles, gloves and earplugs. You can't think about hair or nails.
It just doesn't work."
No two days are alike for Zimmerman. Much of her work involves climbing,
going into pits or operating heavy equipment like scissor lifts and forklifts.
Some days are spent working on hydraulic pumps and hydraulic cylinders.
"I might be cutting pipes. We could be working with metal pipes, plastic
pipes or steel tubing. We do the troubleshooting if the equipment isn't working
properly. My job is to find out what's wrong and fix it. I deal with anything
that goes through pipes -- oil, water, gas."
Zimmerman enjoys the variety and she enjoys the sense of accomplishment
she gets when a project is finished. "It's satisfying to look at a system
of pipes and say, 'I did that.'"
Like Walker, Zimmerman finds that the work can be dangerous. "You have
to be aware of your surroundings at all times," she says.
"Once, I was walking along a board and I slipped and fell through a suspended
ceiling. I landed on someone's desk down below. I wasn't hurt badly, but it
goes to show you have to be careful."
If anyone is interested in becoming a pipefitter, Zimmerman suggests first
finding a pipefitter and asking about the job. "If you don't mind using tools
and getting dirty and working outside in inclement weather, you might like
this work," she says.
"It's hard work and it's dirty. You have to change your clothes every day.
But a tradesperson can always find work," agrees Albert Salvatore. He owns
a mechanical firm.
"It seems like the young people don't want to go into the trades anymore.
They all want to be doctors and lawyers. But with a trade, you can always
find work and the money is good at the end of the day."
Salvatore began in his career as an apprentice plumber in Italy. After
moving to Canada, he continued his plumbing apprenticeship. After time, he
added pipefitting to his arsenal of skills.
Now, he does various types of pipefitting as well as plumbing. Since opening
his own business, Salvatore employs pipefitters and other tradespeople.
"When I started, I was only 16 and it was very hard work. When a truckload
of pipes came in, I had to carry them down to a basement. Now it is much better.
We do much less hand labor because there is equipment to help move things."
Salvatore likes the fact that his work is versatile. Every day there is
something different to do. "You are never bored. It's a good trade. I have
no regrets."
Like other pipefitters, Salvatore's work has often required him to work
with heights. "You can't be afraid of heights. You work on stepladders and
scissor lifts. Sometimes I have worked 50 feet up in the air."
On other projects, Salvatore has worked in underground tunnels. "We put
20- to 24-inch pipes in the tunnels at the airport. We were 30 to 40 feet
underground. It was an interesting project and a big project."
If you are interested in becoming a pipefitter, Salvatore suggests that
you be prepared to be versatile and to learn different things.
"It takes four to five years to learn the trade. The first few months will
be tough, but if you stick it out, it becomes easier. If there are things
you don't understand, go to your supervisor or a journeyman and ask for help."