Construction fears

[laurenmk]

I hate construction sites. I don't even like when construction workers come into stores I'm in with their dirty work clothes, boots, etc. I worry so much about inhaling the dust and debris and the potential introduction of toxic/dangerous substances into the air.

I live in London. Tonight I was walking home from the market, which is about half a mile away. When I got about 60 yards from my place, I noticed there were two trucks with blinking lights parked on the street in front of my building. They were drilling and making all sorts of noise. I had noticed a strange smell but thought that was probably from the park.

I doubled back and went a longer, roundabout way to come the back way into our building. It put me another 60 yards or so from the construction but it made it so I didn't have to walk right past it. I wasn't close enough to see if the workers were wearing masks.

I've had a headache all day and still do, so I'm trying to not upset myself with that symptom, but I've had trouble getting a deep breath ever since. It makes me even more worried that they were doing it at night (it was 9 pm). Rationally I told myself they were probably doing that to interrupt traffic less, but my OCD mind is afraid it's because they knew it would cause unsafe air.


Does anyone else have this fear? I'm really struggling with my breathing and am so worried I inhaled something bad and will never get back to normal.

[MyNameIsTerry]

If there were any potential for a dangerous or toxic substance to cause risk to the public, you wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near it and a certain radius of buildings would have been evacuated. H&S legislation is very strict on how to treat situations like that.

They could have been emergency call guys. If there is a water leak or someone reports smelling gas they will come out quickly - in the case of gas very quickly. Please don't worry about gas either, it's a very tightly regulated sector due to it being a dangerous substance. The electricity industry is also quite tightly managed when it comes to emergency call outs but with gas they are out there straight away to ensure nothing can happen. In such a call out they may not do any work, which the day time teams will pick up, but they will "make safe" the site. Gas guys will be measuring in various places to look for leaks to ensure they get all of it. So, no need to worry about any of that.

They could have been out of hours workers too like highway maintenance.

Given the funny smell it could have even been connected to the water system as it could have been a drain issue and the highways people may have been out to correct it.

There is no chance of a public health hazard being left, they are liable in court for such things. With gas it would likely be vans, lorries would seem more highway maintenance. It depends what equipment they need.

[laurenmk]

One of the trucks was a flatbed, and the other I didn't get as good of a look at. I just wanted to flee! It sounded like jackhammering and went on for a couple hours.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It will be fine, Lauren.

If you live on an A road, they will do maintenance work at night like you said. I have one at the bottom of my road and they only work on that at night as it's one of the cities main arteries so any road works would snarl everything up.

If not, just some emergency guys coming to a call out from one of your neighbours which could be gas, elec or water. All of those ensure safety to the public first.

A funny smell is probably not gas as they would cap it off very quickly and spend time measuring the pressure in the pipes in the street to find any leaks but if you could smell it, they would isolate it very quickly. They spend more time searching for the, when people report their gas pressure isn't normal.

It might have been sewage works. Many of these road drains contain some gases and they do maintenance on them regularly to sort out all the debris (like leaves) falling down them.

None of that is anything to be concerned with, they are doing it all day & night all over the country. I've had gas work done near my house due to pressure drops reported by a neighbour and the elec work is always happening as they replace cables (as is the elec & water).

There is no possibility of contaminated air. The first thing they would have done is evacuate if there was a possibility of that. It would have probably had the police there too and maybe the fire brigade.

[laurenmk]

Terry, you've pretty much been my personal hero this past week. I really appreciate that you don't judge me, but instead bolster what my rational mind knows to be true but isn't believing. I really value your time and feedback!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I have OCD too, Lauren. Mine was about all sorts of things ranging from the very minor like clothing habits, eating habits, etc into larger themes in my life so I know how the small things can often feel like big things even though you know in your head it's daft, you just can't seem to shake them off.

It takes time, but it will come if you keep working on it. When I started CBT it sounded impossible to me that I could change how my subconscious worked, but eventually you start seeing it happen. I think you can do it as you show rational statements about what something could be when some people would just be focussing on the immediate obsession without trying as they are being sucked into the obsession.

Thanks for the kind words. I hope you have a good day.


Terry