Unfortunately I would not recommend my Son or anyone else to come into the Plumbing, Heating & Gas installation Trades / Industry purely because of MY experience of what has happened to my body.
This is NOT meant to come across as me resenting a lifetime in our Trades / Industry - I have done quite well out of it.
Perhaps I have been `unlucky` in getting all of the `Injuries` / Physical problems that working has caused - although I used to be quite fit and strong as a younger man that did not prevent the injuries - also I know other Plumbers, Heating Engineers and Gas Engineers who have similar to what I describe below:
If I was a school leaver now but somehow had the knowledge of our Trades / the Injuries that I have had after a lifetime as a Plumber, Heating Engineer & Gas Engineer unfortunately I would not enter into an Apprenticeship for those Trades - I would prefer to become an Electrician.
Although my trades have given me a good living and a very nice Home - a lifetime working very hard has caused me to have a really bad / inoperable Back problem - lower back vertebrae and discs worn badly by almost constant bending when installing underfloor pipework and bending while doing just about everything that we work on.
Also both knees have had so much cartilage removed in 4 Arthroscopy`s that even walking causes pain and a grating sensation that feels like `bone on bone` - those knee problems were caused by `eroding`and tearing the cartilage frequently while getting up from the kneeling position that we get into probably 100 - 200 times a day when installing Heating, Plumbing & Gas pipework and almost everything else that we do on a daily basis
I also have worn vertebrae in my neck [cervical vertebrae ?] caused by constant looking downwards when installing underfloor pipework - apart from often causing bad pain my neck / top of my spine sometimes `locks up` - that is so painful that I often cannot turn my head or even get into a position which allows me to sleep.
I have arthritis in both hands from the probably hundreds of thousands of times that I have used tools / gripped things / lifted things.
When various episode of those `Injuries` occurred they caused me to have to not work for Months at a time - when my Back injury first happened I had 2 Years off work and was basically `fit for nothing` for about the first 4 Months when I went back to work - installing Heating systems was out of the question.
My Back / lower vertebrae & discs are so bad that I have injured it frequently since the original injury - the worn vertebrae / discs allow a disc to `slip` if I am not VERY careful - a disc hits my spinal cord and I would be put to the floor instantly - that would cause weeks off work.
I have been lucky in that I have worked with a friend / partner running our own Business for almost 30 years so although my injuries have caused us problems every time - we have been able to take on Tradesmen to cover my time off and I have been able to ease back into working each time when I have recovered.
Also fortunately for us my Wife has had a good Career / the same Company all Her working life so we have not had any problems keeping our Mortgage and Bills paid when I could not work.
If I was not a partner in a small reasonably successful Business or my Wife did not have such a good / well paid job my Back injury [2 years off work] would have financially ruined me - I would definitely have lost my Home.
Of course I know that a serious injury like that could have happened to Me while working in many different `physical jobs` - but my Back / lower vertebrae have actually been eroded by all of the bending that our Industries require.
I don`t want to annoy our Members / any Electrician on here - or come across as a `Traitor` to our Industries - but from a lifetime working alongside Electricians if I could have my working life again I would now choose to be an Electrician.
Although I know that they also are bending over and having to get up from a kneeling position many times a day I still perceive their work as `easier` than ours.
I have witnessed a lot of different types of Electrical work and I am basing my opinion on the Industrial / Commercial Electrical works that I have seen - not `Domestic Electrics` - although Domestic installations entail almost constant bending / getting up from kneeling so is also hard on the Back and Knees.
I know that the Technical knowledge aspect of Electrical Installation and the Electrical Engineering Industry in general is very detailed / comprehensive but I am guessing no more so than the Technical knowledge that we require for Plumbing, Heating and Gas Safety ?
As I mentioned I don`regret` my Trades / Working life - our Industries have been good to me financially [apart from a few Years off with injuries] - but my Body has been ruined in the process.
Chris
