Opinion ID: 1282591
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: monaghan's workplace

Text: Monaghan began working as a machinist for UP in 1958 at the railroad's Omaha shops where diesel locomotives were repaired or rebuilt. Noise was so loud throughout the shop that you didn't talk to a person, you kind of yelled at him. In an attempt to communicate with one another, shop employees had to holler at each other. Around 1978, Monaghan's work involved daily load testing a collection of four to eight diesel locomotives simultaneously parked on four adjacent tracks near the shop. Load testing, the noisiest operation at the shop, was designed to assure that rebuilt or repaired generators, compressors, and engines functioned properly before a locomotive returned to service. For load testing, which might last from 4 to 8 hours each day, a locomotive's throttle was increased a notch at a time until an engine's maximum revolutions were reached at the eighth notch on a throttle, resulting in noise much like a jet engine. On occasion, the noise generated by load testing became so intense that it blew windows out of the shop. In the testing area, employees communicated strictly by hand signal or head nodding. Even inside a locomotive being tested, employees next to each other had to yell in an attempt to communicate. Employees made an effort to protect themselves and block the noise by inserting toilet paper or rags into their ears since UP did not provide any protection from noise at the shop. In 1985, however, UP began supplying earplugs and, starting in 1987, required that shop employees wear earplugs in the shop.