There are about 20,000 bodyshops and 36,000 mechanical repair workshops in the UK. It is an industry where profits are being increasingly squeezed to meet legislative demands, customers’ needs and competition. As if things aren’t tight enough, why worry about health, safety and environmental issues?

The motor vehicle repair owner is right when he states that his priority is to get the job done, and done well. Unless he can produce work to standard that attracts customers, at a price that is competitive as well as profitable, there will be no business to run and no work for people to do. However, though you may loathe the thought of it, failure to meet health, safety and environmental requirements can have a huge and negative impact upon a business. There are three reasons why:

LEGAL
You risk prosecution, fines and even imprisonment if you get caught not complying with the law. Your employees could claim compensation if you do not take reasonable precautions to ensure their health, safety and welfare.

FINANCIAL
Not managing safety and the environment can cause a hidden but significant dent in profits. Think how much it costs for one worker to be absent for one week, or the effect a fire would have on your workplace. And as from next year there will be the climate change levy to think about.

MORAL
If you don’t look after your workers - will they look after you? You will only get the level of care and commitment from your workers that you demonstrate to them. Besides, a tidy, clean and safe garage (eg with safety signs on obvious display) gives a positive impression to your customers.

The trick is to get the balance right!! So how does a bodyshop manager do this? What is needed is a decent safety management system that enables the key requirements to be achieved in a way that is easy to tackle. This will help to prevent safety and environmental issues falling to the bottom of the pile of work each time, and thereby making you vulnerable. Access to sensible advice about health and safety problems, as and when they arrive, is also a valuable asset to have, ie to have someone tell you in realistic terms exactly what must be done and how to do it.

What should you be doing? - practical issues

To assist readers, outlined below are some of the primary issues that any motor vehicle repair organisation should address:

Health and Safety policy

A safety policy must be written if you employ five or more people. The policy must be signed by the senior person and dated, and made known to everyone who works for you.

It should be prepared in three sections:

Policy Statement

• This is like your company mission statement, confirming that you will comply with health, safety and environmental legislation. This should be displayed throughout your site and is normally only a few paragraphs long

Responsibilities

• This should identify who does what in relation to health and safety, and how far their responsibility goes (like a job description). Examples that should be included are: overall responsibility for running the site, VOC record keeping etc, fire marshals and fire officer duties, first aider responsibilities, etc

Procedures

• How jobs should be undertaken safely. Examples include procedures for:
  • undertaking risk assessments
  • reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences
  • fire evacuation
  • safe systems of work for welding, emptying fuel tanks etc
  • manual handling procedures

Risk Assessments

• A risk assessment should be completed for all the tasks and areas within your company.
• Significant findings must be recorded, where you have five or more employees.
• A risk assessment has five simple steps:
  • identify your hazards (what could potentially go wrong, and how)
  • consider the risk (how many people are exposed to the risk, who are they, and how serious are the
  • consequences if it goes wrong
  • review what you are already doing to make the task or area safe
  • decide if your existing arrangements are enough
  • agree further control procedures to minimise harm to staff, customers and contractors

Examples of areas that should be assessed include:

		manual handling activities
		welding, cutting, gouging and other tasks involving use of naked flames or sharp tools
		use of chemicals (COSHH)
		exposure to noise levels
		fire and use of flammable substances
		customers straying into workshops
		customers bringing their children onto the premises

Health screening

Anyone working in a bodyshop environment is likely to be aware of the health hazards associated with exposure to vapours, fumes, mineral oils, noise etc.

Common health hazards that need managing include occupational asthma (eg from solvent vapours) and dermatitis from constant use of engine and other mineral oils.

Health checks should be provided to workers exposed to the above. Records should be kept, and may include:

• Lung function tests
  • Every six months for bodyshop workers or people coming into contact with the bodyshop environment (eg managers passing through)
• Dermatitis checks
  • Annually, for workers who are exposed to engine and other mineral oils
• Hearing tests
  • One to two yearly, for workers who are exposed to high levels of noise (exceeding 90 dB(A)).

Environmental compliance

Vehicle refinishers must keep records of amounts of products they purchase containing VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

These records should be kept even if an Authorisation from the Local Authority is not required.

Where you use more than 1 tonne of VOC in any 12 month period you must, by law, apply to the Local Authority for authorisation.

VOC emission monitoring is not required where compliant coatings are being used, but monitoring is necessary where non-compliant coatings are used. This must be undertaken from the spray-booth stack every six months.

Any waste that is removed from your site must be done so by an authorised organisation.

Waste transfer documentation must be kept for all waste that is removed. This includes your office waste, as well as used oils, tyres and body parts.

Fire

If you have more than 20 employees, or more than 10 on a floor other than the ground floor, you must apply to the Fire Authority for a Fire Certificate.

All sites must undertake a fire risk assessment, regardless of whether you have a fire certificate.

All sites must have the following:

• means for raising the alarm in the event of fire (eg fire alarm)
• fire evacuation procedure (this should include evacuating customers)
• fire fighting equipment (eg extinguishers)
• competent people to coordinate the evacuation

Easing the Burden

It’s not what you know that is likely to catch you out - it is what you don’t know, so the first step is to find a way of identifying what health, safety and environmental issues you have and whether your arrangements are meeting legal standards. There are basically three ways of doing this:

• employing someone with the knowledge (ie qualified and experienced)
• training someone in-house to be competent. To train someone to a suitable standard is likely to require your worker to be absent attending courses for a number of weeks.
• buying in the expertise under a contractual arrangement. "Lone trader" consultants tend to offer a cheaper service, but one person will not know everything, and what happens if that person becomes unavailable? Specialist safety organisations provide a wider level of expertise and cover, but their prices are also likely to be higher.

There are advantages and disadvantages with each, depending upon the size of your organisation. But remember, whatever action you decide to take, inaction is not an acceptable option.

First published in 'Body' Magazine, December 2000 issue

| top of page |

© 2003 Personnel Health & Safety Consultants Limited