[phaedrus]

From the article: "Some broadcast engineering tasks are a bit too daunting for me to consider. Climbing the massive towers that power radio and TV stations is one of them!"

I work for a team in a government agency that does engineering support for RF based navigational aids. Because we're short staffed (Congress underfunds us), everyone fulfills more jobs than their official title. (There's an elastic clause in government worker job descriptions, "and other duties as assigned.")

Anyway. I live in fear of the day I'm called upon to climb a tower because they need me to do that. My regular job is software development! Obviously I'm not going to do it, but I'm unsure what my rights are / what will happen if and when I refuse. Unfortunately my position isn't union protected because my older peers didn't sign on when the (non-computer science) engineers did.

[alexjplant]

> everyone fulfills more jobs than their official title. (There's an elastic clause in government worker job descriptions, "and other duties as assigned.")

That's boilerplate language for pretty much every job description in the United States (which is where I'm guessing you are). It isn't unique to government jobs. Almost everybody that doesn't work under super-strict bureaucratic oversight has to do work that isn't explicitly called out in their job description.

> I live in fear of the day I'm called upon to climb a tower because they need me to do that. My regular job is software development!

Your boss isn't going to come to you saying "go climb a tower or ur fired lol" while pointing to that clause. Tower climbing requires many special considerations like training, permits, insurance, and so forth that you don't have. They will contract that work out or hire somebody to do it specifically at the appropriate rate.

> my position isn't union protected

Last I checked government positions have about half the turnover that private-sector ones do. You're already doing well as far as job security (reorgs, funding SNAFUs, furloughs, etc. excepted).

I can only infer how you came to any of the conclusions that you did in your post but it sounds like you might have uninformed coworkers saying these things. If this is the case then stop listening to them.

[phaedrus]

It's not hearsay; I have a few engineer coworkers whose original job and training wasn't in tower climbing who now climb a couple times a year as installations require. I have seen their Powerpoint presentations, with pictures. Two of them are older and experienced in RF/telecom, but I have one younger coworker who went to a site and was asked to climb a tower and just - did it.

One older coworker is quite enthusiastic about it (as a mechanical engineer, he designed some of the custom rigging), so perhaps this is a case where he does it because he wants to & demonstrated aptitude so they let him. He actually decided to on his own to stop when a recent near miss made him question "why the hell" he isn't leaving this to professional riggers.

I don't know how/why my younger engineer coworker ended up doing it. Both her parents are in this same field and I know she feels a lot of pressure to excel and not say no to things. And when we come out to help a site there's a lot of pressure to restore service. So she may have agreed or even volunteered but not for the right reasons.

It may though be a case where no one thought to mention to me that this isn't a required thing, that some are doing it because they want to, etc. My coworkers aren't always good at realizing what new employees don't know, and I'm not good at picking up nuance.

But I definitely was "voluntold" to go out to a site and cut cables, which is a specialty technique I'm not properly trained in and would've taken place outside in the elements. (Did I mention I'm a programmer, a profession I chose in part because it takes place indoors? I also have undiagnosed/self-diagnosed dyspraxia; it would have been a disaster.) Thankfully the trip got canceled for other reasons, but my point is I wasn't asked; I was just told we need to send someone so you're going.

[sizzzzlerz]

Thats like being asked to fill in for the guy on the bomb squad who called in sick. Being forced to fill a role that is dangerous and for which you are untrained and unqualified sounds like grounds for a lawsuit.