Dirty Jobs merit badge

[BartHumphries]

So I just listened to Mike Rowe's speech at the 2010 Jamboree at

Online Video Platform

(starts about 3 hours 8 minutes in). You may have heard of him, he's that guy on that Dirty Jobs show. He put up a Scouts in Defense of Dirt at http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2010/07/boy-scouts-in-defense-of-dirt/

 

So, what would a Dirty Jobs merit badge actually look like? The thought of one reminds me of that Duct Tape merit badge: http://www.dtmb.gobot.com/ Seriously, though, what would a Dirty Jobs merit badge entail?

[Twocubdad]

I'm thinking it would be set up like Home Repairs or a similar Mb:

 

1. Discuss the general precautions related to dirty jobs. Name 10 safety precautions you should take with dirty jobs.

 

2. With the approval of your parents and counselor, complete two tirty jobs from each of the following categories:

 

Dirty Agricultural Jobs

Shovel one cubic yard of manure

Insert your arm into a cow pas the elbow

Catch and carry at least three pigs

Harvest a root crop

 

Dirty Industrial Jobs

Clean a boiler

Perform maintenance on a sewage pond

Process one meat product

Perform mainentance in a small, enclosed space

 

Dirty Health Care Jobs

Empty 10 bedpans

Sanitize an operating room or procedure area

Properly dispose of 10 pounds of bio hazard waste

Operate a medical waste incinerator

 

Dirty Household Jobs

Pump a Septic system

Crawl 100 feet a crawl space no more than 16' high

Dispose of food in a freezer after a power outage

Wash 12 dirty diapers

[desertrat77]

Bart, great idea!

 

Twocubdad, superb requirements...may I add a Food Industry sub para?

 

Complete two of the following:

 

Continuously operate deep fat fryer for an 8 hour shift

Prep 20 lbs of onions (diced)

Wash and stow all dishes, flatware, and pots/pans for one shift

Serve as bus boy for one shift

Serve as omelet chef for Sunday brunch

[BartHumphries]

Well, it was actually Mike Rowe's idea. Strangely enough, the Guide to Safe Scouting has nothing to say about ostrich wrangling, despite their known ability to literally rip a truck door off its hinges.

[RememberSchiff]

I like this. Maybe add

- prerequisite First mb (prerequisite means do before not concurrent)

- info on HAZWOPER - hazardous materials (classes of materials, how to read placards, responses) and OSHA.

- importance of proper clothing

- high heat and extreme cold conditions.

- safety (eye, head, ears, hands,feet...)

- changing out/separation of work clothes.

- dehydration, common injury causes and prevention.

- this merit badge is not suitable as a summer camp

offering.

 

My $0.02(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

[qwazse]

RSchiff, right on about that separation of work clothes.

Son #1 started his first week at the mill. Got assigned jacket and overalls that he promptly tossed in with his last load of stuff from college. It all came out smelling like a coke oven! Reminded me of grandpa coming home at the end of his shift.

[qwazse]

Because some stat methods I was researching last week brought up stuff by economists ...

 

1. Devise an algorithm for managing credit default swaps.

a. Write complicated equations to make sure it looks like you know what you're doing.

b. Analyze some "hard data" using those equations.

c. Report your analysis in writing. Make sure that for each sentence describing likely risks, there are two describing potential yields.

d. Tell your counselor the importance of disclaimers like "Past yields do not necessarily indicate future performance." Explain the proper small font size.

 

I feel dirty just thinking about it.

Gotta shower.

[5yearscouter]

I'm not sure about this part

 

- this merit badge is not suitable as a summer camp

offering.

 

 

because I could see adding boy scout summer camp requirements to this badge.

 

-cleaning and disinfecting the boy scout latrines after everyone takes a shower on the last day before going home so mom thinks they stayed clean all week, but that was their own shower all week. Sometimes the showers have an inch of mud on the floor and the drains are plugged.

-do KP garbage duty. Drag the overfull garbage bags out to the dumpster, find out the dumpster is 12 foot high and you have to climb up the side ofthe thing to throw the garbage bag in. discover halfway up that the bag has a hole in it and is leaking STUFF in your hair.

 

there are probably more but those are my favorites.

 

oh sometimes pre week setting up the wall tents for the campers and staff and finding all sorts of state of decay, rot, mold and such on the tents that weren't properly stored all winter long. discuss the hazards of black mold and whether bleach really does a good enough job to use the tents for the summer.