My experiences, my desires

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15 years ago, in order to cut costs, the factory assigned the task of insulating the pipes to us young guys, numbered 60 and 70. Since it was my first time doing such work, most of the insulation had to be redone; I worked 16 hours a day (with a overtime pay of 5 yuan per day), and it took one and a half months to complete the task. At that time, the boss told us things like you are the veterans of this company and the company will always remember you, but no one told us that rock wool, the insulation material used, is a strong carcinogen. Although protective measures were taken at the time, none of us had received any training in insulation work, yet we still had to carry out work at heights. Once, while climbing high, I burned my palm; only later did I find out that steam was being sent through the pipes, yet no one informed us. Due to the intense physical labor and long working hours, we would go straight to bed as soon as we finished working at 12 o’clock at night, after washing up. The itching was unbearable – it was as if thousands of tiny needles made of rock wool were piercing our skin; taking baths didn’t help at all. The feeling of being both tired and itchy is still vivid in my memory. Later, it was heard that the savings from reduced insulation costs amounted to three or four hundred thousand, and all of that went into someone else’s pocket. Later on, we became aware of the hazards of rock wool. However, the thermal insulation properties of rock wool mean that many companies still use it. Although there are alternatives, rock wool is still cheaper. I really hope that materials that are both cheap and effective can be developed to replace this \"plague,\" allowing us to stay away from its harms!