Rockford-area workers like both best- and worst-rated jobs

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Ironworker Ron Bridges used to work untethered, climbing from one towering steel building column to another.

An ironworker for 28 years, the Machesney Park man remembers how real the fear of falling was before safety rules years ago put a stop to untethered work. Now when ironworkers work in high places, they stand in lifts held by cranes or wear harnesses tied to stationary objects.

The job is still risky. That's one reason ironworkers have what is rated as among the worst jobs, according to the latest "Jobs Rated Almanac."

The book rates 250 jobs according to six variables: income, stress, physical demands, potential growth, job security and work environment. Ironworkers ranked near the bottom at 247, with only cowboys, fishermen and lumberjacks ranking worse.

Delbert Poulda, 59, of Poplar Grove, says routinely walking up and down 40-foot ladders to do roof work at his ironworking job doesn't bother him. Being cold in the winter does. Yet he takes it in stride.

"It's either that or unemployment," he said.

Although many ironworkers are subject to layoff, Poulda's employer, Area Erectors Inc. of Rockford, keeps him busy. He hasn't collected jobless benefits for five years.

Tom Kettle, 51, of Janesville, Wis., said the best part of the job is the money.

Todd Bridges, also an ironworker, has six years in the trade; he is paid $28.50 an hour. He likes the money, too, but also enjoys his job for other reasons. "I like going to a job when there is nothing standing and walking away with a building being complete."

He and Josh Kettle were working in May at Mack Middle School in Rockton. Their fathers, also ironworkers, were building tanks at the Rock River Reclamation Plant in Rockford.

All the men said they like being outdoors and traveling to a variety of work sites. Often they are within an hour-and-a-half's drive from home. They also like the challenge involved in determining the best welding and drilling required for a specific job.

The adventurous side of the job pleases Josh Kettle, also of Janesville.

"It's a thrill and a rush when you get up there, with cranes swinging iron," he said. "You have a freedom when you're up."

But he also recognizes the danger.

"There's always concern," he said. "You always have to keep your eyes open so you don't get hurt."

"Todd Bridges agreed: "You just have to use common sense. You use fall protection. You have to know how to use crane protection."

On the other end of the spectrum, the 2002 almanac ranks Rebecca Olson's job as the most ideal. Olson is a biologist for the Natural Land Institute, a nonprofit land protection organization in Rockford.

"The best part of my job is field work combined with the planning and research part of it," said Olson, who, like the ironworkers, enjoys working outdoors on a variety of tasks. "You have a question and you want an answer, so you have to find out what it is."

Olson is particularly excited about a project to slow the growth of an invasive grass that threatens to overtake native grasses along streams.

Olson doesn't like one part of a wildlife biologist's job: killing animals.

While serving an internship in college, Olson had to stun fish electrically so she could scoop them up, identify them and release them. She wanted to know how many fish were in the stream to determine the condition of the water.

Occasionally, fish would die if they touched the electricity generating object. Olson tries to avoid putting herself in that type of situation any more.