Hazards and Safety Measures Auto Body Shop

What do you think makes a car look appealing? Is it because of its style or the paint? All these features make a car look pleasant, but for it to look attractive, there must be some work done on it. The people in the automotive repair and auto body shop do the job, and this is a profession that many people are involved in, but people don’t understand it because they don’t know the hazards exposed to the professionals during work. This paper is going to outline the various risks and what the car repair and auto body industry should do to ensure that all their employees are safe.

The people working in the car repair and auto body shop have a high rate of exposure to very many risks during their line of duty. Some of these include exposure to particles and chemicals; the worker deals with paints, polishes and uses machines that emit dust and other dangerous particles. Employees are at a risk of inhaling asbestos dust emitted from brakes and clutches which is very dangerous and leads to lung cancer. The chemical hazards include organics from polyisocyanates, diisocyanates, hexavalent chromium obtained during spray painting operations, silica during the sandblasting process, and metal fumes when welding and cutting. These substances pose a danger to their respiratory system, injure their eyes and also cause damages on their skin. During work, the workers are at a risk of suffering back injuries and muscle strains due to the lifting of heavy items using improper techniques which cause imbalance and leads to injuries. Due to the use of gadgets that produce a lot of noise, the workers might lose their hearing. Another risk that the workers might encounter is injuries such as cuts and burns from the equipment used during work (Dessler, 1999).

Importance of health administration at Car Repair

The owners of car repair and auto body shop should come up with measures to protect their employees from risks they face while working. Some of them include enlightening their workers about the workplace hazardous material information system (WHMIS) which is an education and training program that educates people about hazardous materials and safety measures to take when handling them. The car repair employers should ensure that there is adequate ventilation in the buildings to stop the accumulation of toxic fumes. The shop owners should also make sure before workers start working; their bodies have been protected by wearing respirators, gloves, paint suits and eye protector and follow the safety measures by the Occupation Safety & Health Administration (Storey, 2014).T The employers can prevent back injuries and muscle strains by training the employee’s proper techniques used for lifting heavy objects (Dessle, 2011).T Some precautions include carrying heavy items close to the body rather than lifting them up away from the body, ask for help from other workers if the load is too heavy, avoid bending while carrying heavy items because it adds extra pressure on the back. Employees should be given protective gear while using the machines to safeguard them and make sure they follow all the guidelines provided by manufacturers to reduce and prevent the risk of accidents brought about by improper use of equipment. The employers should also provide them with hearing protections to prevent ear damages is the noise is too much such as earplugs

From the research, it is clear that professionals in the car repair and auto body industry face very many risks such as exposure to dangerous chemicals while repairing and painting vehicles, back strains and also ear problems. The employers should, therefore, take measures such as providing them with protective gears and training them on how to handle bulky items during work to increase their safety.

References

Dessler, G. (1999). How to earn your employees’ commitment.T The Academy of Management Executive (1993-2005), 58-67.

Dessler, G. (2011).T Fundamentals of human resource management. Pearson High

Storey, J. (2014).T New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.