These things really depend on the company. I’ve worked on and off at my family’s sheet metal fabrication company for 16 years. Hazardous? Yes, but there’s usually plenty of protections in place to prevent most injuries. Very very few people actually get hurt and it’s usually because someone did something dumb. I only encountered long hours when I worked at another fab company because they were bad at managing headcount and usually had too much work. For hour inconsistency, I’ve never encountered that except the one time I was laid off. Usually temps help fill in the gap if they’re scared they won’t have enough work long term instead of hiring another person full time and sending people home when work runs out. The hours were sustainable, but working the production floor was low pay. Usually $14 per hour for first shift and $21 per hour for graveyard shift IIRC. This is just my experience with two companies though, so mileage may vary.
Linda is more powerful than you could ever imagine.