Task |
Safe
Work Practice |
Impact
on Worker Exposure |
Dry
sanding |
Using vacuum sanders. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposure
to dusts. Vacuum sanders efficiently collect dusts
and other airborne particles generated during sanding
operations, some of which contain toxic chemicals. Therefore,
use of vacuum sanders minimizes potential worker exposures
to dusts and particulates. By preventing dusts from entering
the workspace air, vacuum sanders have the added benefit
of reducing the chances of dusts settling on freshly painted
cars, which can ruin paint jobs. |
Performing sanding tasks in
downdraft or crossdraft prep stations. |
Significant reduction
in inhalation exposure to dusts. By performing dry
sanding tasks in well ventilated areas, such as downdraft
or crossdraft prep stations, painters help ensure that
airborne dusts and particles are quickly removed from
their breathing zones. |
Wearing respirators designed
to prevent inhalation of dusts. |
Significant reduction
in inhalation exposure to dusts. Sanding operations
can lead to elevated short-term exposures to airborne
dusts, especially when painters use pneumatic sanders
without vacuum attachments. Painters can effectively minimize
their exposures to airborne dusts during dry sanding tasks
by wearing properly-maintained, tight-fitting respirators
that filter airborne particulates from the air that workers
breathe. Use of respirators is particularly important
when painters (1) do not use vacuum sanders, (2) do not
perform sanding operations in downdraft or crossdraft
prep stations, or (3) use compressed air to remove paint
dusts from car surfaces. (Note, tight-fitting respirators
offer protection far superior to that offered by loose-fitting,
disposable dust masks.) |
Solvent
wiping |
Wearing chemical-protective
gloves. |
Significant reduction in dermal exposure
to solvents. When wiping cars with solvents, painters
are in direct contact with cloth rags that are wet with
solvent. By wearing gloves during this task, painters
can easily prevent a potentially significant source of
chemical exposure. |
Performing solvent wiping in
downdraft or crossdraft prep stations or booths. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposure
to solvents. By performing solvent wiping tasks in
downdraft or crossdraft prep stations or spray booths,
painters help ensure that solvent vapors are quickly removed
from their breathing zones. |
Wearing respirators that prevent
inhalation of organic vapors. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposure
to solvents. Because many of the constituents in solvents
are both volatile and toxic, potentially dangerous exposures
might occur in the solvent wiping process. Painters can
minimize these exposures by wearing properly-maintained
respirators that control against exposure to volatile
organic compounds (VOCs). As noted later in this table,
painters should be trained periodically on the proper
use of respirators. |
Using the least toxic solvents
for wiping. |
Moderate reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposure to solvents. Auto refinish shops use a wide
range of solvents of varying composition of toxic chemicals
for different auto refinishing tasks. Paint distributors
might offer insight into which solvents are least harmful
to employees' health. |
Wet
sanding |
Wearing gloves. |
Marginal reduction in dermal exposure
to contaminated wash waters. Because painters usually
perform wet sanding after spraying primer on a car part,
wash water from wet sanding may contain trace amounts
of organic chemicals from the primers. Although the magnitude
of dermal exposures from wet sanding is probably low,
painters can reduce the potential for dermal exposure
by wearing gloves while wet sanding cars. |
Mixing
|
Wearing gloves, paint suits,
and respirators. |
Significant reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposure to painting materials. Because paint mixing
involves manual handling of volatile liquids, painters
who mix paints are susceptible to significant dermal and
inhalation exposures. Painters can protect themselves
from these exposures by wearing gloves, paint suits, and
properly maintained air-purifying respirators with organic
vapor cartridges when mixing paints. As discussed below,
painters should continue to wear these forms of PPE when
spraying paints and when cleaning spray guns--tasks that
typically are performed immediately after paint mixing.
(Note: As discussed later in this table, in some cases,
painters should upgrade respiratory protection to supplied-air
systems during spray painting operations.) |
Using nonhazardous cleaning
agents to wash hands and arms. |
Significant reduction in dermal exposures
to solvents. Some painters use solvents to remove
paints that have spilled on their hands and arms--a practice
that clearly results in significant dermal exposures to
toxic chemicals. Painters can avoid this source of exposure
completely by using nonhazardous cleaning agents to wash
their hands and arms. (Note, painters can also prevent
the need for cleaning their hands and arms in the first
place by wearing gloves and paint suits while handling
painting materials.) |
Providing adequate ventilation. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Paint mixing rooms typically contain
many sources of organic vapors, including open paint containers,
paint waste drums, and gun cleaners. Shop owners can minimize
the accumulation of these vapors by installing ventilation
systems that are specifically designed to remove organic
vapors from the paint mixing room and to prevent the vapors
from entering workers' breathing zones. |
Closing all containers of painting
materials immediately after their use. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Evaporative losses of volatile
constituents will occur from virtually any open or partially-open
container of paint materials. Painters can effectively
minimize these evaporative losses, which in turn will
reduce inhalation exposures to organic vapors, by closing
all containers of paint materials immediately after their
use. |
Spraying:
|
Using high-volume, low-pressure
(HVLP) spray guns to spray primers, basecoats, and clearcoats. |
Significant reduction in inhalation and
dermal exposure to paint overspray. When operated
correctly, HVLP spray guns have notably higher transfer
efficiencies than conventional spray guns. The higher
transfer efficiency means more paint materials end up
on the car part being painted rather than in the work
place air. |
Consulting with paint distributors
and gun manufacturers to determine the HVLP gun settings
that optimize transfer efficiencies. |
Moderate reduction in
inhalation and dermal exposure to paint overspray.
The transfer efficiency of HVLP guns, and therefore the
amount of paint overspray generated, is highly dependent
on the gun settings that a painter selects (e.g., pressure
in the air feed line) and on the painter's spraying technique.
Paint distributors and spray gun manufacturers might have
tips for helping painters improve their transfer efficiencies
when using HVLP guns. |
Training painters on proper
spraying techniques. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation and dermal
exposure to paint overspray. Studies have shown that,
through certain training programs, painters can increase
their spray transfer efficiencies by improving certain
elements of their paint spraying techniques. As noted
earlier, increased transfer efficiencies mean more chemicals
are applied to cars and less are emitted to the work place
air. |
Spraying:
(2) spray booths
|
Performing as many spraying
tasks as possible, and all clearcoat spraying tasks, in
ventilated spray booths. |
Significant reduction in inhalation and
dermal exposure to paint overspray. Properly maintained
ventilated spray booths efficiently remove paint overspray
from workers' breathing zones, thus minimizing worker
exposures to potentially hazardous overspray. Downdraft
spray booths typically provide the most effective ventilation
and thus the best protection. Spray booths offer an added
benefit of providing controlled flow of dust-free air
over freshly painted car parts. For optimal protection
against exposure to paints and diisocyanates, workers
should always wear adequate PPE while spraying paints
(see below). |
Ensuring the continued effectiveness
of spray booths through regular filter changes and maintenance
procedures. |
Moderate reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposure to paint overspray. By developing and strictly
following a spray booth maintenance schedule, painters
can ensure consistent air exchanges in spray booths and
steady flow patterns of clean air through spray booths.
Consistent air exchanges are needed to remove paint overspray
from workers' breathing zones and steady flow patterns
help provide a high quality finish on painted cars. |
Continue running spray booths
after completing jobs and after curing cycles, such that
the booths vent all airborne vapors before workers re-enter
the booths. |
Moderate reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposure to paint overspray. Some quantities of paint
overspray may linger in spray booths after painters apply
primers, basecoats, and clearcoats. To ensure ventilation
systems remove all overspray from spray booths, painters
should run the booth for several minutes after applying
primers and basecoats. For spray booths with "curing"
or "baking" options, painters should vent the booth for
5-10 minute after the curing cycle is complete to remove
any vapors emitted from the coating during the curing
process. (Note, several booth models have cool down cycles
that automatically vent the booth with fresh air at the
end of the curing cycle.) |
Spraying:
(3) PPE
|
Installing and using supplied-air
respirator systems in spray booths. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposures
to paint overspray. Based on the results of several
exposure monitoring studies conducted in the auto refinish
industry, the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) has recommended that painters use supplied-air
respirators during all spraying operations, even those
performed in downdraft spray booths. Supplied-air systems
typically provide far superior respiratory protection
to workers than air-purifying respirators, and these systems
also eliminate concerns regarding cartridge change-out
procedures and, depending on the type of facemask used,
concerns that employees may not achieve proper face to
facepiece seals. |
Wearing gloves, paint suits,
and head socks while spraying cars. |
Significant reduction in dermal exposures
to paint overspray. Paint spraying operations generate
a visible cloud of overspray that clearly has the potential
to contact any parts of painters' bodies that are exposed.
Painters can prevent such exposures by covering as much
exposed skin as possible while spraying car parts. Excellent
protection can be achieved by consistent use of gloves,
paint suits, and head socks. Using this dermal protection
also prevents employees from inadvertently exposing family
members to painting materials, which might have otherwise
settled on painters' clothes. |
Ensuring that painters consistently
wear the required PPE. |
Significant reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposures to all substances. Clearly, purchasing PPE
for painters is of little benefit if painters do not consistently
wear and maintain the required PPE. Because one-time exposures
to diisocyanates have been linked to adverse health effects,
it is especially important for painters to wear PPE every
time they work with paint mixtures containing diisocyanates.
Therefore, shop owners should play an active role in ensuring
(1) that painters understand why they should wear PPE
and (2) that painters consistently wear PPE. |
Implementing change-out procedures
for air-purifying respirator (APR) cartridges. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation exposures
to paint overspray. Most APRs have recommended "change-out"
cycles, which indicate the duration of time that the respirator
cartridges can be safely used before they become saturated
and no longer protect the user. To avoid unnecessary inhalation
exposures as a result of painters using respirator cartridges
longer than their recommended service lives, auto refinish
shops should have formal change out procedures. (Note,
such schedules are now required under OSHA's Respiratory
Protection Standard.) |
Consulting with painters when
selecting PPE. |
Moderate reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposures to all substances. Because painters (and
not shop owners) ultimately wear PPE, it is important
that shop owners select PPE that painters will be comfortable
wearing. To reach this end, shop owners should work closely
with painters whenever selecting and purchasing PPE. |
Gun
cleaning
|
Performing gun cleaning tasks
in a well ventilated area. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Gun cleaning, whether automated
or manual, typically involves the use of volatile solvents
to remove residual paint materials from spray guns. By
placing gun cleaners and by performing manual gun cleaning
in well ventilated areas, such as in a ventilated mixing
room or immediately adjacent to a downdraft prep area,
painters can help ensure that solvent vapors generated
by cleaning operations are quickly removed from workers'
breathing zones. |
Wearing gloves, paint suits,
and respirators when cleaning guns. |
Significant reduction in dermal and inhalation
exposures to solvent vapors. Because gun cleaning
involves use of volatile liquids, painters are susceptible
to significant dermal and inhalation exposures while cleaning
guns. Painters can protect themselves from these exposures
by wearing gloves, paint suits, and properly maintained
respirators with organic vapor cartridges when cleaning
guns. Use of PPE during gun cleaning should not be particularly
burdensome, especially since painters should already be
wearing PPE when spraying paints--the task that usually
immediately precedes gun cleaning. |
Purchasing gun cleaning equipment
that painters will use. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Many auto refinish shops have automated
gun cleaners that painters do not use, generally because
some painters do not believe automated units can effectively
remove trace amounts of impurities from the spray guns.
Because gun cleaning tasks are potentially significant
sources of inhalation exposures to solvents, shop owners
and painters should work together to identify gun cleaning
technologies that painters will actually use. Shops should
consider using gun cleaners on a free "trial basis" (an
option provided by some distributors) before purchasing
any units. |
Getting conventional gun cleaning
systems to work. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Some painters choose not to use
automated gun cleaners because the cleaning solvents get
contaminated with residual paint too quickly. Shops should
investigate alternative approaches for using automated
gun cleaners in a manner that optimizes the use of cleaning
solvents (e.g., using two gun cleaners, one with "dirtier"
solvents dedicated to initial cleaning and rinsing and
one with "cleaner" solvents dedicated to final removal
of trace impurities; instructing painters to rinse spray
gun cups with a small amount of solvent and to dump the
solvent and excess paint into a waste barrel prior to
putting the spray gun and cup in the cleaner). |
Maintaining automated gun cleaners. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Air quality measurements taken
in auto refinish shops have shown that automated gun cleaners
can be the greatest source of solvent vapors in the work
place. Because loose fittings, leaking hoses, and other
poorly maintained parts can increase solvent vapor emissions
from cleaning units, painters should frequently inspect
gun cleaners and promptly perform necessary maintenance
tasks. |
Not allowing unsafe manual cleaning
procedures. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Some painters use gun cleaning
approaches that can contribute to significant exposures,
such as spraying "clean" solvents under pressure as a
final cleaning stage or dipping spray guns in open containers
of solvent. Shop owners and painters should work together
to decide which gun cleaning approaches are clearly unsafe.
Under no circumstance should painters clean guns by spraying
solvents under pressure in the open shop air. |
Shops should implement gun cleaning
procedures that require reuse of cleaning solvents. |
No reduction in inhalation exposures to
solvent vapors. Re-use of cleaning solvents, to the
greatest extent possible, helps auto refinish shops optimize
their use of raw materials. Although re-use of solvents
does not necessarily result in a reduction in the amount
of evaporative losses (and worker exposures), the practice
of re-using solvents is encouraged from an environmental
and economic perspective. |
Waste
management |
Ensuring that recycling operations
do not emit significant quantities of solvent vapors into
areas in which painters work. |
Significant reduction in inhalation exposures
to solvent vapors. Evaporative losses of solvents
from solvent recycling units are known to occur, especially
through loose fittings or leaking connections. Shop owners
can minimize worker exposures to these evaporative losses
either by moving solvent recycling units away from where
painters work or by placing solvent recycling units in
well-ventilated areas and by immediately fixing loose
or leaking fittings. |
Ensuring that paint and waste
containers are closed throughout the work day. |
Moderate reduction in inhalation
exposures to solvent vapors. As noted earlier, most
paint materials contain significant quantities of volatile
constituents that can readily evaporate into the workplace
unless stored in closed containers. Therefore, painters
should ensure that containers of waste paint are always
closed, possibly by using specially designed funnels equipped
with lids to prevent escape of vapors from drums into
which workers frequently poor wastes. |
Placing waste paint drums atop
spill containment pallets. |
Marginal reduction in dermal
and inhalation exposures to waste paints. Most auto
refinish shops store waste paints in 55-gallon drums.
Storing these (and other) drums atop containment pallets
can help mitigate the potential consequences of leaks
and spills. |
Health
and safety training and management
|
Providing initial training to
new employees and periodic refresher training to all other
employees on important health and safety topics. |
Significant reduction in worker exposures.
Because painters' working habits have a strong impact
on how safely painters refinish cars, shop owners should
develop and implement training programs to ensure that
painters understand and consistently follow safe working
practices. More specifically, shop owners should (1) administer
initial training to all new hires to ensure that new employees
do not develop unsafe working habits and (2) administer
refresher training to all employees to ensure that they
continue to appreciate, and protect themselves from, the
hazards of the workplace. |
Taking advantage of free training
courses that paint distributors, insurance carriers, and
equipment manufacturers are known to offer. |
Significant reduction in worker exposures.
Paint distributors and PPE distributors often offer training
on safe work practices for auto refinishing, sometimes
at no cost to the shop. Shop owners should take advantage
of these training resources, which can educate painters
on important health and safety concepts that may have
been overlooked in training offered by the shops. |
Developing and implementing effective
hazard communication programs and respiratory protection
programs. |
Significant reduction in worker exposures.
A hazard communication program documents a facility's
plan for informing employees of the specific hazards posed
by working with hazardous chemicals. By knowing the specific
hazards posed by primers, basecoats, clearcoats, and solvents,
painters may be more likely to protect themselves from
the hazards. A respiratory protection program documents
a facility's plan for ensuring that all employees adequately
protect themselves from unhealthy inhalation exposures.
These programs generally indicate when respiratory protection
is necessary, what kind of respiratory protection should
be used, and how the shop can assess the effectiveness
of the program (e.g., by periodic medical evaluations).
Both programs are regulatory requirements of the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). |
Assigning an employee or hiring
a consultant to oversee and implement the safe work practices
listed throughout this table. |
Significant reduction in worker exposures.
Shop owners generally do not have enough time to both
manage business items and ensure that painters perform
auto refinishing tasks safely. To effectively implement
safe work practices, shop owners should consider designating
an employee, or possibly hiring a consultant, as the shop's
"safety manager." This employee (or consultant) should
work closely with the shop owner, the painters, paint
distributors, PPE distributors, and equipment manufacturers
to ensure a safe working environment for the auto refinishing
process. |
Conducting periodic inspections
of auto refinishing operations. |
Moderate reduction in worker exposures.
Although auto refinish shops might have health and safety
policies and standard operating procedures, painters may
not always follow them, especially guidelines for wearing
PPE. By requiring periodic safety inspections of the auto
refinishing process, shop owners can identify and promptly
correct unsafe work practices. |