Auto Body Shop Safety
For those of us that work in in auto body shops, we are well aware of the potential hazards. Safety of the staff and customers is a top priority. But proper auto body shop safety also helps us do a better job at acheiving our mission, which is to get your car back to you in pre-accidient condition quickly and efficiently. It is important to keep the shop orderly and clean to try and reduce the risks as much as possible; to accomplish this, the staff of the auto body shop need to be intimately familiar with safety procedures. Below, we’ll discuss some common mishaps which can happen and how to prevent them.
Dirty Floor
Starting from the bottom, the floors of auto body shops have a tendency to get incredibly dirty from the garage bay door always being open. Dust and the chemical residue can combine to create an unhealthy atmosphere.
To prevent this, the floor must be swept regularly, and ventilation allowed. We also want to especially keep dust a debris away from freshly painted surfaces, so dust control in a body shop is critical.
Spills
There are a large variety of fluids in an auto body shop, and a good number of them, such as oil and fuel, may be flammable. This can be especially risky if someone needs to use a welder. This isn’t even to mention slips or the problems they may cause should they make contact with car parts.
Workers must therefore clean spills as soon as they happen, and once the spills are cleaned, the materials must be disposed of rather than used again. Our expert technicians are our most valuable resource and we cannot afford to have them on the couch nursing a banged up knee from an accident that could have been prevented.
Disposal of Waste Materials
Some of the waste produced by auto body shops are also flammable, not to mention potentially toxic to people or the environment if not disposed of properly.
To safely dispose of them, old motor oil and plastic bottles can be sent to recycling, provided they are clean enough. Newspapers and oily rags can also be recycled, but need to be done so separately.
Electricity
Auto repair shops have many different varieties of electrical equipment, often running at the same time. It can be easy to lose track of what is on and what is off, and mistakes can happen.
The number one rule we follow when it comes to electricity to treat every wire as a live wire. To avoid electric shocks, we check that the power is off before using tools, and disconnect the car battery before working on the car.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
The PPE needed for an auto body shop are different than those for some other physical jobs, which include:
- Safety goggles – these are needed when working either under the car or over the engine, and they need to be used to keep staff’s eyes from dust, oil splashes and steam.
- Work shoes – the shoes needed for automotive work should have nonslip soles to prevent slipping on residual grease. They also need steel toe caps to protect worker’s feet just in case parts fall on their feet.
- Work gloves – Cars can get extremely hot whilst mechanics work on it, and other parts can be sharp if broken (not to mention greasy). Gloves will help prevent both filth and injury.
Eating Food in The Auto Body Shop
Eating should never happen in the shop at all. There are too many chemicals, dust and fumes inside the shop which can taint your food and possibly make workers sick.
To avoid this, staff have a separate area designated for eating.
Customer Safety
You may want to come into the service area to see the progress on your car, but we can’t allow that in most circumstances. It can be dangerous in the shop area so for this reason we will bring your car to a safe area for viewing.
What Customers Are Saying
Quality Assured Collision Center has been serving the Long Beach, CA community since 2004. We specialize in collision repair, body work, dent repair, car restoration, and mechanical work. We can offer towing, drop-off and pick-up and even perform a free 15-point inspection on your vehicle. As experts on all insurance situations, we will help guide you through the process and we work with all types of financing situations for those paying out of pocket.
Call us now or text us a picture of your vehicle to (562) 353-4071.