The BLS just launched its updated New Occupational Outlook Handbook Online last week, on March 29, 2012.

We were pleased to see this given some attention.

We were also pleased to have provided information to the BLS on some of the job titles occupations that they updated.

It is an improvement, but the absence of “manufacturing” from the list of Occupational Groups is puzzling-

Has no one at BLS been listening to all the speeches by the President about “Manufacturing” and its importance to America?

To look up Manufacturing, you need to select “Production” as an Occupational Group.

Farmers produce, miners produce, those of us in Fabricated metals / machining- we manufacture. We make things.

But in the new OOH, we’re filed under production.

Production, you know, like Food Processing Operators, Water and Wastewater Treatment Operators, and Laundry and Dry Cleaning Operators.

I guess they think manufacturing (making things) is like running a sewage treatment plant or doing somebody else’s laundry?

Why is Manufacturing like doing someone elses laundry? It makes perfect sense to the folks in Washington D.C..

So here’s the scoop- the contents of the new OOH  are current, authoritative, and useable .

And hard to find. I asked a colleague and he required several tries to find CNC operator.

But you need to find them. So here’s the key:

Machinist and Tool and Die Makers (But NOT CNC!)

CNC Machine Operators and Programmers (hint, you’ll find these under Metal and Plastic Machine Operators.)

Heres what the BLS has to say about Metal and Plastic Machine Operators:

How to Become a Metal or Plastic Machine Worker

“A few weeks of on-the-job training are enough for most workers to learn basic machine operations, but 1 year or more is required to become highly skilled. Although a high school diploma is not required, employers prefer to hire workers who have one.”

Okay, so they didn’t get this one right.

Well maybe they did for machine tenders, but certainly not for CNC machinists.

And you won’t find Computer Numeric Controlled Machine Programmer under the Computer and Information Technology Occupational Group.

You’ll find them in the alphabetical list which links to the second tab of that metal and plastic machine operator page.

According to Tab 3 on the metal and plastic machine operator there are just 16,600 Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic.

2010-2020 Job Outlook for CNC Operators and Programmers can be found here.

The way I see it, Taxonomy is difficult, and the BLS’s decision to hide “Manufacturing” under Production doesn’t make sense to this aging baby boomer.

I see the world through Fabricated Metal Glasses and  manufacturing is people making things, not tending to  waste water or dry cleaning.

But the data and information that is available on the new site is current, authoritative, and I can say from my perspective – was vetted by people like me who helped the economists at BLS see these jobs from outside the beltway.

Congratulations for updating the Occupational Outlook Handbook Online.

We may not agree with all of your wording or taxonomy, but we are pleased to see good information about the opportunities for work in Manufacturing.

Even if they can’t say “Manufacturing” in Washington D.C..

Why do you think the officials in Washington D.C. can’t say the “M” word?”

Shrug photo link

“The PMI registered 53.4 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point from February’s reading of 52.4 percent, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 32nd consecutive month. The Production Index increased 3 percentage points from February’s reading of 55.3 percent to 58.3 percent, and the Employment Index increased 2.9 percentage points to 56.1 percent. Of the 18 industries included in the survey, 15 are experiencing overall growth.”

This is what all these numbers mean...

Primary Metals and Fabricated Metals are two of the industries showing continued growth.

Steel, Aluminum, Copper, Oil and Fuel were all reported to be up in price; Steel was also reported lower in price in certain markets.

PMPA’s February Business Trends Report showed respondents sales to be up 11% over same month last year. Average length of first shift for february was 43.7 hours- 62 % of shops reporting were scheduling more than 40 hour shifts.

The PMPA Business Trends Report confirms the ISM findings regarding the continuing growth / expansion of manufacturing. Like the ISM Manufacturing PMI Report, and our Fabricated Metal market sector, the precision machining industry is maintaining a growing sales base, positive trends, and increased employment.

That’s how we see it.

How does it look where you are?

ISM Report March 2012

Photo

145 nuclear items were identified in scrap worldwide in 2011, 200 in 2010.

The most recent one we’ve learned about involves Cobalt 60 contamination of a metal tissue cover box sold through Bed Bath And Beyond.

"The level of exposure from holding a contaminated
tissue-box holder against the body for an hour is equivalent to a chest X-ray," according to the NRC.

Despite the “assurances” of the NRC officials, chronic exposures to low doses of radiation can lead to cataracts, cancer and birth defects according to the USEPA (see chronic exposure page in link). Cobalt 60 is both a beta and gamma emitter. One of the problems with beta emissions is that they lack the ability to travel, so their effects concentrate where they are stopped.  Gamma emissions have high energy and penetrating power.

Most people keep their tissues on the night stand by the head of the bed. Get the picture?

They keep their tissues by the head of the bed...

If radioactive materials came into your shop, how would you know?

Fortunately, every North American steel melt shop that I have visited takes a number of steps to assure that they do not accept radioactive scrap or materials in bound, and have positive means to test  when original melt lab work is done.

Radiation detectors at truck scales, train gates, and at detectors at sample prep stations in the melt shop lab are just some of the means that the special bar quality mills I’ve worked at or visited use to assure that radioactive materials do not get into the product stream.

But that level of security does not exist everywhere, as the Bed Bath and Beyond Tissue Box shows us.

Bloomberg reports that U.S. Department of Homeland Security data shows that India and China were the top sources of radioactive goods shipped to the US through 2008.

These countries lack the protections that we have come to expect here in North America like entry exit gate detectors.

Bottom line: Radioactive materials can  and do “go wild” in the marketplace. Responsible steelmakers have means to assure quality.

Know who you buy from. Reputable North American Steel Producers have this figured out.

Truck Shipping Gate Radiation Detector

Tissue box Photo

Homer Simpson Head X-ray