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A Randomized Intervention in Collision Repair Shops



Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Collision repair shops are mostly small businesses with fewer than 5 employees. They face unique challenges in implementing health and safety regulatory requirements. Owners are often unaware of safety laws, and often seek information from easily accessible channels such as suppliers. These sources lack training and their financial interests may play a role in the type and amount of information provided. In addition owners are often reluctant to develop and enforce safety rules. Furthermore,, owners do not regard the identification and control of risks as a priority and have limited resources to hire professional safety consultants. Collision repair technicians encounter a wide variety of physical and chemical hazards during vehicle repair, assembly and painting. The Collision Auto Repair Safety Study (CARSS) was designed to assist business owners located within 50 miles of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area with identifying and implementing improvements to address isocyanates, solvents, fire and explosion, flying objects and dust, noise, and electrical hazards. Over a six-year period, we conducted employee exposure assessment studies, focus groups, created collision repair industry-specific training modules, safety programs, evaluation forms, work-practices questionnaires, newsletters, hazard info sheets, and implemented intervention activities. The intervention had two parts: (1) A health and safety assessment was conducted at baseline and owners were assisted with creating and implementing a Shop Improvement Plan. Technical assistance included quarterly reminders and newsletters, safety training, and providing respirator fit test and medical evaluation for respirator users. Another health and safety assessment was conducted one year post enrollment. (2) Each business received up to three reminder postcards, but not other contact was initiated by the study staff. A health and safety assessment was conducted 2 years post enrollment. Employees' exposures to solvents and dust during operations other than spray painting and paint gun cleaning did not exceed the current occupational exposure limits. However, noise exposures were variable and we documented elevated noise exposures in one facility that handled a large number of vehicles. The CARSS intervention resulted in statistically significant improvements in many aspects of health and safety. Improvements were greatest in areas for which CARSS was able to offer technical assistance such as respiratory protection, Right-to-Know training, and personal protective equipment for the ears, eyes, and skin. The smallest improvements were seen in areas related to electrical and machine safety and the paint booth and mixing room. Most changes remained in place at the time of the two-year follow-up.. Improvements were more likely to continue if the deficiencies to be corrected had been included in a formal Shop Improvement Plan. Collision shop owners can improve safety and health in their business if they receive consistent guidance regarding the issues to be corrected and follow-up is done primarily in person. The availability of free assistance free was an incentive for participation. Web-based resources can be a valuable tool to reach a large number of businesses, but improvements to the site functionality are necessary to ensure its viability. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Series:
    Grant Final Reports
  • Publisher:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Grant
  • Genre:
    Final Grant Report
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Division:
    OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    1-31
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20046628
  • NTIS Accession Number:
    PB2016-100010
  • Citation:
    Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R01-OH-009086, 2014 Oct; :1-31
  • Contact Point Address:
    David L. Parker, Park Nicollet Institute, 3800 Park Nicollet Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55416
  • Email:
    parked@parknicollet.com
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2015
  • Performing Organization:
    Park Nicollet Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Start Date:
    20070801
  • Source Full Name:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  • End Date:
    20140731
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:f351147bda6b5ae0b671dab1d5882bf35e1279734a96632ebddc1d2e3f5aa3093437d407833a646b8909256109fbb709f219ef1158f8bb914289ccb9175bfbb0
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.30 MB ]
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