Collision shops improve safety through CARSS

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bejan A ; Brosseau L ; Parker D
• Description:
  As a shop owner, you know what makes good business sense: Quality repair work, satisfied customers, reliable employees and a safe shop. Your expertise and experience enable you to recognize quality repair work, but how do you know if you have a safe shop? If you think that "zero accidents" indicates a safe shop and that you will pass an OSHA inspection, you may be in for a surprise! Take a moment and read about the findings of the Collision Auto Repair Safety Study (CARSS). CARSS, a research collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Park Nicollet Institute, was funded by a federal grant. (For more background information, read Joel Gausten's article in the August 2010 issue of this magazine.) AASP-MN was our main partner and we worked closely with Executive Director Judell Anderson throughout the study. Many members generously volunteered their time to assist with preparing the study materials and recruiting participants. (Thank you! We could have not done this without you!) Forty-nine collision shops in the greater Twin Cities and St. Cloud area participated in the study between 2009 and 2012. Of these, 33 shops were AASP-MN members. During the initial visit, the shop's safety programs and practices were evaluated. Shop owners received a report of the findings and decided which issues to correct over the next year. All shops received the following free services: Safety consultation, access to employee safety training, written safety program templates, checklists, information about job hazards and solutions, medical evaluation for respirator users and respirator fit testing. After one year, 45 shops were visited again and workplace safety was re-evaluated. The findings of our initial and follow-up visits are shown in Table 1. The survey used in the study had 92 questions divided into eight sections. For analysis, some questions were also grouped in three categories. The initial evaluation shows that only 54 percent of the safety items were present in the shops. At follow-up, 71 percent of the items were present an increase of 17 percent. The greatest improvement occurred in written safety documentation and records (41 percent). On the other hand, Facility and equipment safety improved by only five percent. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Ear Ergonomics Eye Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Occupational Health Paint Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety Safety Management Sense Organs Skin Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Automobile-repair-shops Compressed-gases Compressors Ear-protection Ear-protectors Ears Eye-protection Eye-protective-equipment Hazards Medical-services Painting Paints Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Respirators Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-protection Respiratory-protective-equipment Safety-climate Safety-education Safety-practices Safety-programs Skin-protection Training Work-environment Workers

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• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Newsletter
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046632
• Citation:
  AASP News 2013 May; 21(5):17,20
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Park Nicollet Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20070801
• Source Full Name:
  Alliance of Automotive Service Providers News
• End Date:
  20140731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:592b197641140236739766432894d6d447104090d6f18ecb102e09e01a460a8cf6ed3e445f0fe088372ce343c4b6234d48d53b8a9b53aface253270f3f9b6db0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201631/cdc_201631_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 751.97 KB ]