An electrician who has the ability to replace in service, in minimum time, an inoperative machine should and does receive high compensation. A fair degree of physical ability is required for this work, because the electrician may in the course of his regular duties have to do many different kinds of jobs. Sometimes the removal of a motor requires lifting. The installation of heavy conductors requires pulling. On the other hand, much of the work, such as the replacing of fuses or the installation of electric light wiring, necessitates but little physical exertion.
While many plant electricians have acquired all they know solely through experience, theoretical training will enable a man to progress quickly and to increase his earning capacity. The work is largely indoors, although some of it is outside in the plant yards and in open buildings. In many of the plants an eight-hour day prevails but there are still some where the men work 9 or 10 or even 12 hours on the night shift. The work is very steady. If the plant shuts down the electricians are ordinarily employed during the nonoperating period on such reconstruction and maintenance as can not be effected conveniently while the plant is running.
PLAN No. 1199. PROMOTION
In some of the large steel and other manufacturing plants, electricians who have risen to the position of chief electrician earn as much as $300 or more monthly. Such a job involves ability to handle successfully many electricians, and to “keep the plant going” at minimum cost. Frequently men start in a plant as wireman’s helpers or as motor tenders, for which little knowledge or experience is necessary. As the beginner gradually becomes familiar with the equipment and the processes of the industry he may be advanced to more responsible and remunerative work. A man commencing factory electrical maintenance work as a motor tender or wireman’s helper may expect to earn from $50 to $80 per month. An experienced plant trouble man may command from $80 to $175 or more per month.
PLAN No. 1200. ELECTRICAL INSPECTION
Nearly all electrical installations are now subject to inspection. Most fire-insurance policies provide that electrical work in the insured building must be installed in accordance with the National Electrical Code, and insurance may be refused on any building not wired in accordance with the code. Sometimes in the country districts, installations are not inspected, but in the cities and in most industrial plants periodical inspections are made. Many cities have wiring codes of their own, which are enforced by ordinance and which are based on and are in general similar to the National Electrical Code.
To insure that the code rules are observed it is in most cities required that the wiring, fixtures, motors, and other electrical equipment be inspected by a municipal or an insurance inspector before electric service is given. Large industrial plants located outside the cities are examined by insurance inspectors.
Duties of inspectors.—The duties of the inspector are to scrutinize work in detail and, if it is properly installed, to approve it and recommend that a certificate of inspection therefor be issued. If it is not in accordance with the code, he suggests the necessary alterations. Upon the issuance of an inspection certificate, the local electric company is authorized to give service.
To handle his duties effectively, an inspector should have an extensive knowledge of electrical construction. Furthermore, he must be familiar with the wiring rules specified by local ordinance or by the code. The rules relate to signal systems, lighting circuits, power wiring, installation of motors and generators, high-tension machinery, transformers, switchboards, substations, and the like. In every municipal underwriters’ inspection organization, it is often necessary to make rulings relating to features of electrical work which are encountered infrequently and which are, therefore, not covered in detail in the regular printed rules. The inspector must also be familiar with these. In other words, he must know after inspecting a job whether or not it has been installed in accordance with the “Code” under which he is working. Ordinarily this knowledge can be obtained satisfactorily only through extended experience in electrical construction.
Opportunities for disabled men.—Possibilities offered by electrical inspection for returned soldiers are very promising. The inspector spends probably half of his time out of doors and half indoors in finished buildings. In the larger cities, inspectors are usually provided with motor cars so that they can move quickly from job to job. Little physical exertion is required, and there is no lifting or pulling. But an inspector should be able to climb around buildings under construction, and into attics. Both hands are required for testing, but one arm may be artificial. A returned soldier who has had previous electrical-construction experience, but who because of some physical disability can not follow his old vocation, should find electrical inspection a means of earning a good livelihood at interesting work.