Old CARSS, new CARSS: how a federally funded study created an affordable way to improve safety in YOUR business

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bejan A ; Skan M
• Description:
  Over the years, you may have heard about the Collision Auto Repair Safety Study (CARSS), which was conducted in 49 shops in Minnesota. Our previous article (published in the May issue of this magazine) talked about the improvements that occurred during the one year of study participation. During that time, business owners, managers and employees had access to safety resources created specifically for collision shops. With the end of the study funding fast approaching, we asked AASP-MN Executive Director Judell Anderson to help us define the next steps and make important decisions about the future. The AASP-MNMechanicalAdvisory Committee members had two requests: Create safety materials specific to mechanical shops and make them available at an affordable cost. Feedback from collision shop owners echoed the call for affordable services. Thus, we created the new CARSS - CollisionAnd Repair Shop Safety - a simple and easy-to-use web-based resource that offers guided assistance to collision and mechanical repair shop owners committed to evaluating and improving safety in their businesses. The new CARSS website will become public in July. It will allow you to register each shop location separately and: 1. Create and customize safety programs (such as Right-to-Know, Respiratory Protection, and AWAIR) making them specific to your facility; 2. Provide on-line medical evaluation for respirator users; 3. Provide on-line training to your employees in English or Spanish (Right-to-Know, respiratory protection, fire safety and fire extinguishers, and hearing and eyesight protection); 4. Print checklists for specific safety hazards and use them to evaluate your facility; 5. Build a list of the manufacturers whose products you use - a convenient reference for obtaining safety data sheets using the links provided; 6. Print training records; 7. Receive monthly reminders about activities that are due; 8. Learn more about hazards in your shop and how to prevent or minimize them; and 9. Receive updates about safety regulations. We anticipate that these services will be available for an annual fee of about $300/shop, with sliding scale prices for businesses that have more than one location. Establishing partnerships with trade organizations such as AASP, manufacturers or product distributors may allow us to provide additional discounts. The CARSS website will assist you in complying with many OSHA standards. However, it is not intended to replace a comprehensive assessment conducted by a safety professional. If the website is a success, we hope to be able to offer "in-person" safety assessments in the future. Our next article will explain in detail how CARSS will help you become compliant with the Right-to-Know standard requirements, including the new mandatory training on safety data sheets that must be completed by December 1, 2013. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Education Eye Fires Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety Safety Management Sense Organs Staff Development

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• Keywords:
  Automobile-repair-shops Eye-protection Eye-protective-equipment Fire-prevention Fire-protection Fire-protection-equipment Fire-safety Hazards Hearing-protection Respirators Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-protection Respiratory-protective-equipment Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-programs Sociological-factors Training

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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
• Pages in Document:
  12
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046635
• Citation:
  AASP News 2013 Jun; 21(6):12
• Email:
  bejana@parknicollet.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Park Nicollet Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070801
• Source Full Name:
  Allance of Automotive Service Providers News
• End Date:
  20140731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:88cba41c7973f702c49d09791aecac88dcde30c8b3c5d4a35830b737bcff36a43ba5c4cd0a75086e3123c56c22c6e50f5183325f5bf0ef6b04639c4b547f17d8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201633/cdc_201633_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 399.04 KB ]