Rooms in a Factory

This week I will talk about the factory building and what you might find if you were to take a tour.   Let’s imagine that you are there for orientation because you have just been hired.

Most buildings are basically the same.   I will talk about what factories have in common with other buildings but also some of their unique features.   

As you enter the front doors of the building would be in a room called a foyer.   This can be large or small but you can wait there for the person you are meeting.   There will also be an information desk, also called a reception desk for helping visitors.    After waiting for a few minutes and reading some news on your phone, your guide comes and meets you.   You engage in small talk for a few minutes and then you are led onto the factory floor.    The machinery you see at work is impressive.   Sparks are flying as robots weld steel to steel.  The employees are focused on their jobs but a few are chatting.   Towards the back of the shop floor you go up a small flight of stairs to an office.   Looking out the window you have a good view of the whole factory.   Then you see a short round man coming up the stairs to meet you and your guide.   The friendly man is the supervisor for the day shift.   He has a firm handshake which you are still feeling after a few minutes.   He explains what your duties will be the following day and apologises that he has to go to a meeting but your guide will show you the rest of the building.

Also at the back of the building but off to one side you see the shipping department.    Forklifts are busily moving around loading finished products onto trucks.   Beside a few shipping doors was an even bigger roll up door where small trucks could be driven right inside.   Next to that a man door with an emergency exit sign was open.    Outside it is explained to you that in the case of an alarm you would go around the building to the front parking lot and await instructions.

Your tour is nearly finished and you are shown the lunchroom with its vending machines and fridges.  You see about ten microwaves and can smell the lunch that someone had recently warmed up.   Finally you see the washroom and the change room which are beside each other.   You are assigned a locker and given a combination lock.   Tomorrow you will arrive early to start your first official day on the job.

Vocabulary words in this story are: front doors, foyer, front desk, reception desk, guide, factory floor, sparks, robots, steel, employees, flight of stairs, shop floor, supervisor, hand shake, shipping department, forklifts, shipping doors, roll up door, man door, truck, parking lot, lunch room, washroom, and change room.

Let me know in the comments if you do not know any of these words, or even if you know all of them.