Technician's Corner

Top Ten Mistakes Technicians Make
By Steve Hill, CO

You know what? Mistakes happen. We’ve all made them and will continue to make them. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and try never to make them again. Even better is when we learn from others’ mistakes. I’ve trained many technicians over the years and I’ve seen new recruits do some really stupid things (and I’ve done a few myself).

Making one of these mistakes doesn’t mean you’re unintelligent, but you do need to stop doing these things if you’re going to have a good career as a technician. Some are technical errors and some are not, but all are the kinds of things that make veterans cringe.

1. Not wearing eye protection. This seems fairly obvious, doesn’t it? I mean, if you lost a leg at work, you could just make a new one that works as well or better. But what would you do if you lost your vision?

Still, it happens every day to technicians who failed to put on a pair of safety glasses. They’re cheap and easy to use. Don’t lose something as precious as your eyesight for no reason.

2. Forgetting to put drop locks on metal KAFOs. How many times have you been so focused on bending metal uprights and attaching them to thigh and calf bands that you forgot to put the drop locks on before setting your rivets?

When it happens again in your lab, use this simple solution. String as many leftover drop locks as you can find onto a section of cable and make a necklace. The next time a technician forgets the drop locks, make him wear that necklace around for a full day. I bet it improves his memory.

3. Not sealing glue bottles. This can be aggravating for the other technicians. They try to glue one thing to another and find that some bonehead just set the top back on the glue bottle without actually sealing it closed. Now the glue is half dried out and they have to add thinner to get a usable consistency.

If the bottle is sealed between each use, this won’t be as big a problem. It seems obvious to veterans, but is something that often eludes beginners.

4. Forgetting the pipe.  How many times have you forgotten to put a pipe in the cast before pouring plaster into it? Probably only once, considering the difficulty of stripping the first negative and recasting the mold. Nothing will slow down production quicker than a fouled-up pour.

5. Forgetting vacuum.  Since there are so many ways to do it, forgetting about vacuum seems to happen all too often. I’ve even seen veteran technicians forget about some aspect.

When thermoforming, make sure there is a vacuum hose attached, a vacuum barrier is in place and that a vacuum seal is possible. All of your prep time will be worthless if you can’t get vacuum.

6. Demanding a raise.  It’s well known that most technicians are underpaid, so asking for a raise isn’t a bad idea. But most technicians make a big mistake in the way they go about trying to get more money. Simply claiming that you are indispensable and demanding more money might just get you "the boot." Threatening to quit is even worse.

Show your employer what you have done for him and what you can do in the future. It shows that you take your job seriously, and that you understand if you make him more money, he can afford to pay you more money.

7. Keeping a dirty workspace.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a lab and seen piles of debris on the workbenches.

Keeping a clean workspace is not simply about being tidy, nor is it about finding tools. It’s mostly about increasing productivity and producing the optimal product.

If you never waste time looking for lost parts and tools, that’s money in the bank. Keeping the device clean and stain-free will also reduce the number of remakes and increase device acceptability.

8. Talking on the cell phone.  Many employers don’t mind if you take an occasional personal phone call. But if a phone is pressed up against your ear every time the boss looks across the lab, it’s clear you’re wasting company time and money. If you wonder why your boss has been so cranky lately, count the hours on your cell phone bill.

9. Wasting material.  We all understand that none of our fabrication materials grow on trees (except maybe Willow Wood) but we still tend to waste material.

Not only does your boss have to pay for this stuff, leaving less money for your next raise, but you have to use it every day. If you make huge "bouncy balls" out of rubber cement, don’t complain when there’s none left for gluing crepe on the CROW boot that has to be fit today.

10. Ignoring education.I could tell you a ream of stories about third- and fourth-year technicians who thought they knew it all. I once worked with a two-year technician who told me he was ready to open his own central fabrication practice. My reply to him was that I didn’t yet know it all, and I had pay stubs that were older than he was.

If you go to lectures and training seminars regularly you’ll come to understand that everyone can teach you something. It may be a little or a lot, but you can educate yourself about something every day of your life.

There are a million mistakes that are commonly made in the technical side of O&P. To list them all would be impossible. The important thing is to learn from those mistakes and try not to repeat them.

We must also pass these lessons on to the next generation of technicians in order to take our craft one step further. Don’t hoard your knowledge from those who would learn. Share it with any technician who will listen and we’ll all be elevated.