By Rachael J. Mercer
When the issue of safety arises in your shop, most often it is caused by something “unsafe” that has either created a problem or has been discovered by a safety inspection. But you shouldn't wait until you get to that point to start thinking about safety.
As shop owners and managers, you urge your customers to maintain their vehicles in safe working condition. In the same manner, so should you maintain a working environment for your employees that is safe and hazard-free.
In learning about shop safety and protecting your employees, it's often easier to learn from the experiences and, sometimes, the mistakes of others.
Bill Filley, director of the Mechanical Division of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), and his business partner experienced a devastating shop fire several years ago. As Filley explained in a previous Members' Advantage column, “The fire began while a technician was removing a fuel tank from a van. Gasoline gushed out and splattered on a work light. An explosion followed and the fire quickly engulfed the van.”
Quickly, one employee extinguished the blaze that was burning the employee who had been working on the van. The extinguisher was emptied on the van, but to no avail. Before the fire stopped burning, the shop that only a minute before was a successful business stood in ruins. Four vehicles were destroyed, and an employee's arm and hand were burned. The damage was estimated at $500,000.
Obviously, the fire could have been much worse. In a worst-case scenario, it could have permanently or fatally injured the employee working with the van. Furthermore, many others could have been injured in the initial explosion or the blaze. The quick thinking of one employee likely saved another's life, and a prominently located fire extinguisher was key to preventing further injuries to the employee.
The saying goes that if you don't learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them. You might not have had a fire in your shop, but you can learn from this example. One change made in Filley's shop was to use fluorescent lamps instead of incandescent lamps. (It is believed that the explosion and fire would have been prevented had the work light been fluorescent.) This story should cause you to question whether or not your employees know where your fire extinguishers are, and how to operate them.
Fire Safety
While “fire safety” may be a misnomer of sorts, fire prevention is vital and preparation is the best way to stay safe should a fire arise in your shop. Maybe you've heard the joke about the man whose house (or shop, in this case) caught fire. With the best of intentions, he used his fire extinguisher and called the fire department, but all was lost. When the fire department questioned him about his use of the extinguisher, he said, “I pulled the pin and tossed it into the fire, but nothing ever happened.” Although we can all shake our heads and chuckle at this illustration, if a fire were to start in your shop, would you know where to quickly locate and how to properly use a fire extinguisher?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created to ensure a safe working environment for your employees. In doing so, OSHA can also protect you in many ways - preventing potential lawsuits, worker's compensation claims and other problems that could arise if the working environment you operate were unsafe.
OSHA has standards concerning fire safety, including requirements for fire extinguishers as well as fire detection devices. OSHA Standard 1910.157, subpart L concerns portable fire suppression equipment, and requires several things from you, as an employer. The standard states, “the employers shall provide portable fire extinguishers and shall mount, locate and identify them so they are readily accessible without subjecting the employees to possible injury.”
Several things should be noted from this standard. First, OSHA standards suggest multiple extinguishers. Secondly, OSHA requires that those extinguishers be located throughout the workplace, in easily accessible areas. You should seriously re-evaluate your compliance with this standard if your only extinguisher is located inside your office when your employees work in a bay area with no extinguishers.
Concerning extinguishers, OSHA also requires that each extinguisher be inspected at least once a year. In addition, OSHA requires that the employer routinely check the charged levels of extinguishers to ensure that they are fully charged and completely operable should the need to use them arise. OSHA Standard 1910.164, subpart L deals with other fire protection systems. It requires that “the employers shall assure that fire detectors and fire detection systems are tested and adjusted as often as needed to maintain proper reliability and operating condition.”
In the area of fire safety there are many things to take into consideration, including operability of the extinguishers, location of the extinguishers and proper detection systems that alert employees and others in time to adequately escape and/or fight the blaze.
Chemical Safety
OSHA defines hazardous and toxic substances as “those chemicals present in the workplace that are capable of causing harm.” OSHA includes in this definition chemicals and items such as dusts, mixtures and common materials such as paints, fuels and solvents. OSHA regulates and monitors the attire and work clothing that should be worn by those dealing with various chemicals.
For example, in a collision shop, various items that would concern OSHA as far as the safety of your employees are things like the dust they would encounter when sanding, or the fumes that would affect them during painting or priming vehicles. In a mechanical repair shop, items that most likely concern OSHA would involve the handling of oil, vehicle fluids and gasoline.
The OSHA Chemical Sampling Information file contains listings for approximately 1,500 substances that OSHA regulates. You may want to contact your local or state OSHA office/agency to understand OSHA requirements concerning proper attire and handling of chemicals that could injure your employees.
OSHA Ergonomic Standards
On January 16, 2001, OSHA enacted new ergonomic regulations that extensively covered many industries. According to the OSHA summary of the ergonomics program final rule, the purpose of the rule was “to address the significant risk of employee exposure to ergonomic risk factors in jobs in general industry workplaces. Risk factors addressed by this new standard include repetition, awkward posture, force, vibration and contact stress.” However, the U.S. Congress recently voted to repeal the new Ergonomics Rule that went into effect during the final week of the Clinton administration.
Lawmakers invoked the Congressional Review Act to issue a “resolution of disapproval.” President Bush is expected to sign the resolution, thereby revoking the Ergonomics Rule.
Many small businesses are concerned over the cost to comply with this rule. The Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC) estimates the cost to small business would total an astronomical $4.5 billion a year.
Department of Labor Secretary Linda Chao said in a letter that if the resolution of disapproval is enacted, she intends to pursue a comprehensive approach to ergonomics, which may include new rule making, that addresses the concerns levied against the current standard.
This marked the first time legislators used the Congressional Review Act since it was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. The act allows Congress to review, within 60 days, any federal regulation issued by the president.
OSHA reports that the new standard would have affected approximately 6.1 million employers and 102 million employees in general industry workplaces. OSHA also estimated that the final standard would have prevented about 4.6 million work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) over the next 10 years and would have annual benefits of approximately $9.1 billion. On a per-establishment basis, annual compliance with the new OSHA standard would have been approximately $700, according to OSHA.
Other Preventive Measures
OSHA requires that medical and first aid equipment be available in your shop. Basic items such as Band-Aids, gauze, ointments, bandages and other first aid necessities should fill the kit. Further items required by OSHA or prepared by a first aid kit manufacturer will also be helpful in an emergency. In addition, because your employees and technicians deal with fluids such as transmission, windshield wiper and brake fluid, motor oil and gasoline, they run the risk of getting these fluids in their eyes or mouth. OSHA requires that you maintain a flushing/draining station for washing out employees' eyes or mouths, should they come into contact with these hazardous fluids.
Even though choking or other breathing problems are not necessarily things you would expect to occur in your shop, you can never be overprepared for an emergency. Local organizations like the Red Cross or medical specialists in your area most likely offer classes dealing with CPR and other rescue procedures like the Heimlich maneuver. This basic emergency knowledge could one day save the life of an employee or even a customer. Contact a local organization or a local hospital and discuss any fees they charge for learning these techniques. You may consider paying for yourself and your employees to learn how to save a life.
OSHA Consultations
Scheduling a voluntary
OSHA inspection:
- Call or write your local OSHA office.
- A consultant will discuss your needs with you and schedule a visit.
- Upon arriving for the consultation, the OSHA representative will hold an opening conference with you to review his role and your obligations.
- Together, the two of you (and any employees or partners) will walk through the shop.
- Upon identifying hazards or violations, you will discuss ways to eliminate them.
- You and the consultant will hold a closing conference, summarizing his findings and your commitment to correction and compliance.
- After the visit, the OSHA representative will mail a detailed report explaining his findings and recommendations.
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Despite the general consensus by many business owners that OSHA is a nosey governmental agency that only causes problems when fining shops for violations, OSHA is actually very safety-minded, and is very concerned with keeping your workplace and shop as safe and regulation-compliant as possible. Regulations and standards that apply specifically to your shop may differ from those that apply to another shop simply because of the materials you handle, the size of your location or the number of people you employ. It is very important to get specific information from OSHA to be certain you are complying with all the required regulations. One way to be sure of your compliance and your shop's safety is by scheduling a voluntary OSHA inspection.
Bill Filley learned about OSHA's voluntary inspections during a meeting of his local ASA chapter. He invited an OSHA inspector to visit his shop, and the representative relatively painlessly pointed out about 15 items that needed attention. Filley and his partner corrected the problems prior to the fire that destroyed the shop.
Filley wrote in the June 2000 Division Dispatch, “When the investigation (after the fire) started, it appeared that we might have a rough road ahead, but, in the course of answering their questions, we disclosed that we recently had a voluntary consultation and had complied fully with all recommendations. I believe this made a difference in how we were viewed as shop owners. The fire was ruled an accident, and we were charged no fines.”
There are many ways that you can be sure your shop is in complete compliance with OSHA standards. The easiest is to simply contact OSHA officials at the state or local level and ask that they complete a voluntary inspection. This type of OSHA inspection is confidential and any unsafe or unhealthy working conditions that are uncovered will not be routinely reported to the OSHA inspection staff. Your only obligation, according to OSHA, is to commit to correcting serious job safety and health hazards.
OSHA also offers classes that will teach you about various job safety issues. The OSHA Training Institute may be contacted for registration and related information. The Training Institute offers assistance for individuals with impaired hearing or other disabilities. For hearing impaired, the TDD number is (847) 297-4876. For general information, contact OSHA Training Institute, 1555 Times Drive, Des Plaines, Illinois 60018-1548, or call (847) 297-4913.
OSHA posters, which are often required to be posted in your workplace, are free and available in both Spanish and English. You may order them by writing to the OSHA publications office, Room N3101, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210. You may also download them free-of-charge from OSHA's Web site on the Internet at www.osha.gov/oshpubs/poster.html. For more information on ergonomics, contact the OSHA Ergonomics Team at (202) 693-2116, or visit the OSHA home page at www.osha.gov.
In whatever way you work to protect your employees and to provide a safe working environment, it is important that you work efficiently and quickly. Any accident is one too many, and any accident could potentially be fatal or life-altering. In addition, accidents attract OSHA inspections that could bring fines and other penalties. Furthermore, many insurance policies and companies require that a safe working environment accompany their insuring your business. Maintaining a safe and hazard-free shop is profitable, successful and necessary for your safety and that of your employees.
| Rachael J. Mercer is a freelance writer based in Cisco, Texas.
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