The primary objective of most automotive repair shops is to service customers' vehicles properly and to run a profitable business while doing so. But as most shop owners know, running a successful operation entails more than simply servicing vehicles and satisfying customers.

In any service industry, employees are often the most valuable resource a company can have. For a shop, it goes without saying that its employees play a crucial role in the shop's success. Technician safety and health is a prime concern for many shops. Protecting the livelihood of their employees is not only the humane thing for a shop owner to do, it also makes the employees happier and more productive, and often has a positive reciprocal effect on the shop's productivity.

The same often holds true for environmental issues. Many shop owners not only voluntarily comply with environmental regulations, they also go beyond the minimum requirements for a number of reasons. The need to preserve our environment is crucial - this fact is hardly debatable. But some shops view environmental measures as also beneficial to a shop's productivity, not burdensome or costly.

Safety
There were 6,112 fatal work injuries (including all major U.S. industries) in 1996, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics in its nationwide Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Of those fatalities, 579 resulted from objects striking workers. Seven percent (about 41) of those workers killed from striking objects in 1996 were automotive repairers. Most were pinned under falling vehicles or mobile equipment during repair.

At C & H Foreign Auto Repair in Spokane, Wash., safety takes precedence over everything else, according to owner Ed Cushman. "Safety should always come first and foremost in whatever activity you are doing."

Cushman's shop has a self-compiled booklet on safety regulations and precautions; the booklet is available as a reference for the shop's employees and new material is added continuously. Cushman closely follows all regulations pertaining to technician safety and health, but has also taken the initiative to make safety education a part of all regular shop employee meetings.

C & H has a policy whereby a shop employee serves as chairman of the shop's safety committee to make sure regulations are adhered to and safety precautions are made. Technicians have previously served as chairmen, but Cushman himself occupies that role now. He laughingly remarked, "No one else wanted the responsibility."

Most technicians in Cushman's shop are trained in first aid. In the state of Washington, it is not required that everyone in the shop possess first-aid training, but there must always be at least one person in the shop who possesses a first-aid card.

At Bright's Auto Service in Chino, Calif., technicians must receive training on any special equipment when they first become employed, or when the equipment is first introduced into the shop, before they can use it. The training is conducted by one of the shop's managers; once the training for a specific employee has been completed, it is recorded in the employee's service file.

Owner Dale Bright said the procedure is necessary to foster employee safety, but that not all employees understand its necessity all the time. He provided an example of a new, "smart mouth" technician who, when told he would have to receive training on an all-purpose forklift, responded that he had used forklifts before and didn't need any training. Bright told him, "It's simple: If you don't receive training and screw up, it's your fault. If you receive the training and screw up, it's probably just an accident." The technician, at that point, understood the significance of the training requirement, according to Bright.

Bright thinks that although safety precautions can be taken to help prevent accidents, some employees will always be somewhat negligent and not take proper measures such as wearing a mask when welding. "Some of these people are potential hazards to themselves," he said. "Everybody believes it [getting injured] won't happen to them. Everyone believes that it'll happen to someone else, and they don't take protective measures."

Bright takes the opposite approach and assumes something wrong will happen if precautions aren't taken. When he sees a technician doing something he deems unsafe, such as welding without wearing a mask or goggles, he will simply go over and turn the torch off. When the technician asks what's wrong, Bright will tell him the torch doesn't work unless he wears his mask. This approach is a bit comical, Bright admits, but he doesn't think lecturing or yelling at employees will do any good, and this method is just as effective at getting the point across.

The technicians at C & H wear latex gloves throughout the day, although it is not mandatory. The shop also has both water-based and petroleum-based parts cleaning machines, but this equipment does not require technicians to put their hands in the solutions.

The parts washers at Bright's Auto Service are all water-based now due to a California mandate, but Bright thinks these are actually more harmful to employees because the solution is heated more, which likely causes the skin's pores to open wider, allowing chemicals to penetrate the skin further.

Bright added that they do have gloves available at the shop, but technicians rarely choose to wear them.

Of course, ensuring technician safety sometimes involves more than considering solely shop hazards when enacting policies. In the 105-degree summertime heat of Southern Cal- ifornia, when dehydration and heat exhaustion are not uncommon, technicians at Bright's Auto Service have their own mobile water coolers "attached to them" to pull along while working.

Does having a strict safety policy work for the shop's benefit? At Cushman's shop, the total labor and industry claims for the past 10 years don't even total $1,000. In fact, there have been three claims in that time, and one of them involved Cushman having metal dust removed from himself.

Bright, too, said his shop has had very few claims made over the years.

But there have been many shops that have had to file claims in recent years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 21,000 "automobile mechanics" in 1996 who missed days of work because of occupational injuries or illnesses.

For each individual case of automotive technicians who missed work because of injury or illness caused at the workplace, 17 percent missed one day of work due to the specific incident, 11 percent missed two days, 19 percent missed three to five days, 11 percent missed six to 10 days, 8 percent missed 11 to 20 days, 6 percent missed 21 to 30 days, and the rest (28 percent) missed 31 or more days.

Compared to other industries, technicians average more missed days due to injury or illness. The median number of lost workdays due to work-related injury or illness in 1996 for all industries was five; seven was the median for automotive technicians. About a fourth of the cases for all industries combined resulted in 21 days or more away from work. More than a third of automotive technicians involved in an injury case missed 21 workdays or more.

Among all major industries, the leading nature of injury and illness was sprain and strain. The trunk, including the back, was the body part most affected by disabling work incidents in every major industry. Most other injuries and illnesses were to upper or lower extremities.

Among major disabling conditions (in all industries), the median days away from work were the highest for carpal tunnel syndrome (25 days), amputations (20 days) and fractures (17 days).

Repetitive motion, such as grasping tools, resulted in the longest absences from work among the leading events and exposures - a median of 17 days.

Which industry had the highest median days away from work when injured (10 days)? Truck drivers.

Al Thompson, owner of Al Thompson Automotive Service Inc. in Ft. Worth, Texas, said it is better to be proactive about implementing safety policies in the shop because it is cost-effective. A shop may spend $1,000 now to make renovations, he suggests, but could save $10,000 relative to potentially lost earnings, and penalties and fines from noncompliance and injured workers.

Shops can further ensure safety by asking their cities' agencies that regulate electrical and building codes to review the shop for compliance, according to Thompson. This endeavor can also be cost-effective for the shop if it is in compliance since the shop owner can then notify its insurance provider of its compliance, thereby qualifying for premium reductions.

Environment
"We really don't create much waste," C & H Foreign Auto Repair's Cushman said. Other than used oil that is hauled off to be recycled and brake fluid which is not recycled, most waste products are recycled in the shop.

Although it's not a requirement by law, Cushman's shop puts all wastewater through a water filtration system. This separates oil and heavy particulates from the water before releasing it.

As a shop complying with California's relatively strict environmental standards, Bright's Auto Service has an extremely formal policy when it comes to the handling and disposal of all hazardous waste. "We have a paper trail on everything," Bright said.

Cushman thinks most shops are professional and recycle their hazardous waste. "But of course," he added, "I hang out mostly with ASA members."

To Cushman and his shop, being environmentally friendly and taking proper safety precautions is not a hassle or an extra effort. "We've been working with this stuff so long, it's almost second nature now." In fact, he added, it is now "first nature."

His current facility is only 5 years old. Environmental principles were incorporated into the design of the new building, he said, so he hasn't had to contend with decision-making on the shop's environmentally friendly practices for quite some time because they are an included part of overall operations.

Thompson chooses to initiate environmental changes within his shop before regulations require him to do so. He has been on EPA's mailing list since 1988, and always tries to comply with proposed regulations before being forced to act. "Compliance earlier is always cheaper than compliance later." Thompson contends his shop is environmentally "99.99 percent pure."

While compliance certainly makes shops safer for technicians and the environment, it is also very cost-effective, according to Thompson. If a shop implements "good housekeeping," he said, it can avoid fines and penalties that could be handed down otherwise. The shop also fosters employee safety; and since a hurt employee can negatively impact a shop's productivity, a cost-benefit analysis suggests that spending money to foster employee safety is financially beneficial in the long run.

Some environmentally based policies actually serve as direct profit centers for Al Thompson Automotive Service. For the past six years, the shop has made money selling used oil filters the shop recycled.

The shop also makes a profit selling recycled cardboard, albeit a small profit. However, if shops in an area coordinate a group recycling effort, the profit could be substantial. Thompson estimates that if about 130 shops in the Fort Worth chapter coordinated just their cardboard recycling efforts, they would be able to annually raise about $15,000 in profits that could be used for training programs in the area.

The desire to be environmentally safe is simple common sense at the business, according to Cushman. "We want a place to work and live that's not destroyed."

Thompson's attitude on promoting environmentally safe practices translates into three simple premises: It saves landfill space, it is good for the public and it saves money for his business.

Research assistance for this article was provided by Denise Caspersen, ASA's research management specialist.

UST Deadline Nears

Owners and operators of underground storage tanks (USTs) have until Dec. 22 to upgrade, replace or close USTs that do not meet EPA's technical standards for protection against spills, overfills and corrosion.

EPA, which does not intend to extend this deadline, enacted these regulations as a result of states informing the agency that USTs are the most common source of groundwater contamination and that petroleum is the most common contaminant. During the last decade, more than 330,000 releases from substandard tanks have been reported. Many of these releases have caused serious environmental damage as well as harming human populations.

Penalties for operating tanks that are out of compliance can be as much as $11,000 per day per violation.

For more information, call EPA's UST hotline at (800) 424-9346 or visit EPA's UST Web site ( http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/).

Regulations, Compliance Information Online

Shop owners have a multitude of regulations to comply with as a part of operating a business, and staying completely informed of regulatory changes is not always an easy task. However, the Web sites for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) make the task easier by offering extensive information on regulations and compliance. For more helpful Web sites, check out September's Net Worth column.

EPA's address is http://www.epa.gov
OSHA's address is http://www.osha.gov

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