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Lose weight or lose your jobs, offshore workers told
- palmotea 1y agoMisleading headline (for HN): it's about offshore oil workers in the UK, not offshore software engineer workers (which is what the word "offshore* typically brings to mind).
- gdulli 1y agoNot every synonym in a headline needs to be unpacked here in the comments.
- happytoexplain 1y agoI made the same mistaken assumption. Why not just let the useful one-line comment exist? What is causing the annoyance/offense here?
- Simulacra 1y agoPerhaps because offshore contains connotations related to tech jobs.
- CrimsonCape 1y agoJust some quick facts from the article: The new requirement is that the maximum weight of a clothed worker is 124.7kg or 274.9 lb. One worker said he was at 118kg (260.1 lb), and his target weight is 110kg (242.5 lb). Not to throw shade at anyone in particular, but using the USA NIH.gov BMI calculator, for a 5'-11" man, the "healthy" range of BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, in mass that is approximately 60.32kg (133 lb) to 80.7kg (178 lb).
- skeeter2020 1y agoI saw that too. I'm 6'5", ~222lbs and NOT skinny, with more than a little excess flab. I imagine the # of people with a target weight over 240lbs is pretty small.
- heresie-dabord 1y agoAlso notable from TFA: > Thousands of North Sea oil workers are being told they must lose weight if they are to keep flying offshore - or face losing their jobs. > OEUK said the average weight of offshore workers had risen by almost 10kg (1.5st) since 2008.
- rkomorn 1y agoBMI isn't worth much without a sense of the average muscle mass for people in that population (edit: the offshore workers in question), though. I'm guessing they're not built like the average tech worker.
- gishh 1y agoSounds like they are, actually. Especially because you used the word "average." I've been in tech for decades, and coincidently I now have occasion to interact with oil rig workers. They're just normal people, maybe with a bit of an edge to them, which makes sense given the work. There are entire teams at $dayjob that I could swap out with an entire team from a rig, the only difference you'd notice is clothing. They're also not super-ripped lumberjacks. They're not lifting heavy shit for hours a day. A good day for them is general upkeep where nothing goes wrong. Think things like: adjusting valves, inspecting equipment, welding things, inspecting things. Oil rigs are _massive_ and everything on them is massive. Humans aren't using their muscles nearly as much as machinery. Which is probably why they're in this debacle.
- fred_is_fred 1y agoI'm not sure why this is a headline level piece of news. Plenty of jobs have fitness and/or weight requirements.
- Simulacra 1y agoTrue, but NYC has made it illegal to fire someone because of their weight, deeming it discrimination. https://people.com/new-york-city-outlaws-discrimination-based-on-body-size-7504913 https://people.com/new-york-city-outlaws-discrimination-base...
- fred_is_fred 1y agoI guess you didn't read the article? ABC News reported that the ordinance — which will take effect Nov. 22 — excludes cases in which a person’s height or weight makes them unable to perform required aspects of a job.
- Simulacra 11mo agoI guess you didn't read the article, or my point, which is that you can't be fired for being overweight. That's the point.
- fred_is_fred 11mo agoThe article you posted has clear and direct exclusions for jobs where they can have physical requirements - as I quoted directly for you. Therefore even if there were offshore oil rigs in New York, the law would not apply.
- thefz 1y agoLuckily I don't see many oil drilling rigs in NYC