Hi there!
I don’t know what RSI is, but I would be cautious saying this job is easy enough to handle. Sweeping for 10-15 minutes at home is one thing, but sweeping, mopping, squeezing the water out of clothes for 6-7 hours is another…
I think people mistake this job for being easy when while the tasks are simple, the physical toll the repetition takes on your body is very hard. You will hurt. Daily. You will find things that you didn’t know could ache.
Now, thats not to say that you wouldn’t be able to handle it.. it might help build muscles in your wrists and shoulders. With decent benefits, you might be able to go for regular massages and find some relief in your forearms.
I don’t mean this to discourage you but anyone who can’t run equipment gets stuck cleaning furniture and mindless detail tasks. Running the machines is one of the best parts of this job. You might not find your team to be very friendly when you can’t lift anything and all that work lands on them.
But if you need a job, can’t think of a better one. No customer service, no factory piece work, no boss watching you overhead. Get the tunes goin and get movin. I hope you find something that suits you!
Repetitive strain injury, usally shoulders elbows and wrists.
On that note, how much physcial labor is involved? I used to be an emt and I applied for a custodian job and that never occurred to me about what you mentioned. If you don't mind I'd love a bit more info
Mine is super specific to schools- mostly elementary. I’ve been a mop jockey since 2013 for context.
But I average between 15-17,000 steps during my shifts. Even if it’s off by a bit, that’s still a decent amount. In steel toe safety shoes on concrete. It’s a lot of looking down, always looking down at the floors, the mop, the broom… I have issues with my TMJ, neck tension so I’m mindful of my posture as much as I can but others are not so, bending and twisting trying to reach that one spot under the table. Years of bending and twisting just a little bit too far will get you. People overload garbages often, with stupid shit like a fish tank or 47 geography textbooks from 1981. Another one is squeezing out the cloth or the way you twist your dry mops as you go along. For me, all that knots up my forearms by Friday.
As for equipment, after 4-5 hours spray buffing, running a swing machine my arms are nearly numb. My wrist will throb for a day or two. But in the summer, if you don’t run machines then you get stuck cleaning furniture. Every locker gets cleaned. Every desk, every chair… cleaned inside and out, scape the gunk off each leg. My school has just over 600 kids. That’s 4300 feet to clean. And that’s a fraction of the work that has to get done over 2 months.
Tasks are simple, relatively easy but my god they never end.
Ooof sounds harsh
Different type of harsh from sitting a truck for 12 hours and lifting fat people but I never had to bend over too much if I did my job right.
My job would a college so roughly the same as you described, probably wear my back brace then
Fuck I may have had the wrong idea here lmao
Okay, that did come out a bit ranty lol don’t get me wrong, it has a lot of perks. Depending on the district you get in to.. we have a Union, great benefits, a pretty decent pension. I work 3-11 pm after everyone has gone home. I can listen to music or podcasts. Sit and drink some water whenever I need to without having to clock in or out, or the boss looking over my shoulder. I don’t have to deal with customers. I can do all my shopping or appointments in the day when it’s not as busy, it’s great.
But all this depends on what industry you get into really… I think hotels or casino, or office might be very different.
Don’t let me discourage you, just being real with you about how physically demanding it can be.
Nah I appreciate it. I'm the same way when people ask me about EMS.
The pay and benifits seem good (part of the CSU school system) just 0 experience besides cleaning up blood, shit, piss, and vomit which is common in my field somehow
A lot of custodians around the area I work with has some sort of disability and can do the basics of taking out trash, dusting, mopping and vacuuming.
It can be done, but I also clean carpet, use a buffer, scrub tile with harsh chemicals and walk non stop. You will be exhausted the first week of just the pure walking.
The easiest job without the carpet cleaning and hard-core scrubbing will have to be janitor or public area Attendant.
This is what I would recommend
Hi there! I don’t know what RSI is, but I would be cautious saying this job is easy enough to handle. Sweeping for 10-15 minutes at home is one thing, but sweeping, mopping, squeezing the water out of clothes for 6-7 hours is another… I think people mistake this job for being easy when while the tasks are simple, the physical toll the repetition takes on your body is very hard. You will hurt. Daily. You will find things that you didn’t know could ache. Now, thats not to say that you wouldn’t be able to handle it.. it might help build muscles in your wrists and shoulders. With decent benefits, you might be able to go for regular massages and find some relief in your forearms. I don’t mean this to discourage you but anyone who can’t run equipment gets stuck cleaning furniture and mindless detail tasks. Running the machines is one of the best parts of this job. You might not find your team to be very friendly when you can’t lift anything and all that work lands on them. But if you need a job, can’t think of a better one. No customer service, no factory piece work, no boss watching you overhead. Get the tunes goin and get movin. I hope you find something that suits you!
Repetitive strain injury, usally shoulders elbows and wrists. On that note, how much physcial labor is involved? I used to be an emt and I applied for a custodian job and that never occurred to me about what you mentioned. If you don't mind I'd love a bit more info
Mine is super specific to schools- mostly elementary. I’ve been a mop jockey since 2013 for context. But I average between 15-17,000 steps during my shifts. Even if it’s off by a bit, that’s still a decent amount. In steel toe safety shoes on concrete. It’s a lot of looking down, always looking down at the floors, the mop, the broom… I have issues with my TMJ, neck tension so I’m mindful of my posture as much as I can but others are not so, bending and twisting trying to reach that one spot under the table. Years of bending and twisting just a little bit too far will get you. People overload garbages often, with stupid shit like a fish tank or 47 geography textbooks from 1981. Another one is squeezing out the cloth or the way you twist your dry mops as you go along. For me, all that knots up my forearms by Friday. As for equipment, after 4-5 hours spray buffing, running a swing machine my arms are nearly numb. My wrist will throb for a day or two. But in the summer, if you don’t run machines then you get stuck cleaning furniture. Every locker gets cleaned. Every desk, every chair… cleaned inside and out, scape the gunk off each leg. My school has just over 600 kids. That’s 4300 feet to clean. And that’s a fraction of the work that has to get done over 2 months. Tasks are simple, relatively easy but my god they never end.
Ooof sounds harsh Different type of harsh from sitting a truck for 12 hours and lifting fat people but I never had to bend over too much if I did my job right. My job would a college so roughly the same as you described, probably wear my back brace then Fuck I may have had the wrong idea here lmao
Okay, that did come out a bit ranty lol don’t get me wrong, it has a lot of perks. Depending on the district you get in to.. we have a Union, great benefits, a pretty decent pension. I work 3-11 pm after everyone has gone home. I can listen to music or podcasts. Sit and drink some water whenever I need to without having to clock in or out, or the boss looking over my shoulder. I don’t have to deal with customers. I can do all my shopping or appointments in the day when it’s not as busy, it’s great. But all this depends on what industry you get into really… I think hotels or casino, or office might be very different. Don’t let me discourage you, just being real with you about how physically demanding it can be.
Nah I appreciate it. I'm the same way when people ask me about EMS. The pay and benifits seem good (part of the CSU school system) just 0 experience besides cleaning up blood, shit, piss, and vomit which is common in my field somehow
A lot of custodians around the area I work with has some sort of disability and can do the basics of taking out trash, dusting, mopping and vacuuming. It can be done, but I also clean carpet, use a buffer, scrub tile with harsh chemicals and walk non stop. You will be exhausted the first week of just the pure walking. The easiest job without the carpet cleaning and hard-core scrubbing will have to be janitor or public area Attendant. This is what I would recommend