Safety Programs, Workplace Safety Conditions and Employee Safety Practices in Auto Collision Repair Businesses

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bejan A ; Brosseau L ; Parker D ; Skan M
• Description:
  Objective: The goal of this project was to measure workplace safety conditions in 49 representative collision repair businesses in Minnesota, as a first step in motivating owners to make improvements. Methods: Safety conditions were measured using observations, owner interviews, program reviews, and safety practice and climate surveys. Results: Businesses employed an average of 7 employees (range 1.29) and achieved an average safety assessment score of 66% (SD 7.5%). Most frequent deficiencies were in written programs and policies, right-to-know and respiratory protection (50.60% of items). Businesses generally performed well (80%) on items related to electrical and machine safety and lockout/tagout. Overall scores were significantly higher for the 13 businesses that had a past or current relationship with a safety consultant; scores were also higher for written safety programs, right-to-know, paint booth and mixing room conditions, electrical and machine safety, lockout/tagout and respiratory protection. Most businesses provided employees with safety glasses (84%) and hearing protection (91%). Half of the shops provided disposable latex rather than nitrile gloves; employees reported wearing gloves consistently for paint spraying, mixing and cleaning spray guns. All shops provided respirators with adequate protection: 80% half-mask elastomeric with organic vapor cartridges and N95 prefilters and 20% air supplied respirators. While most employees reported using respirators more than 75% of the time when spraying inside the booth, fewer wore respirators consistently when spraying outside. Less than half of the elastomeric respirator users reported being clean-shaved when using respirators. Safety climate scores were significantly lower for employees in comparison to owners and managers; perceptions of management commitment showed the biggest differences. Conclusions: All of these measures were useful in identifying specific areas for improvement and for motivating owners to commit to making specific improvements. Each type of measure yields different insights about safety conditions while also corroborating specific areas needing improvement. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Ear Eye Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Sense Organs
• Keywords:
  Automobile Repair Shops Ear Protection Eye Protective Equipment Gloves Lockout Tagout Paint Spraying Respiratory Protective Equipment Safety Climate Safety Practices Worker Safety
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  16-17
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062510
• Citation:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec. Falls Church, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2013 May; :16-17
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f6ea324007aedaa4e310baf4455c50e5fc11f8cd601009bf05341d68cfa42c94a5a60e1c9587c72429b967222b8f2867bd797eb7df9e381128b0c63087feb581
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225745/cdc_225745_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 995.29 KB ]