So some of my coworkers and I were kicking around the idea yesterday of doing a study on the hazards of surfboard shaping. There has been much ado lately about reducing the environmental impact from the business but we have never seen any sort of study on the types of exposures that shapers/glassers/sanders experience and any related illnesses. The study would consist of workplace sampling for whatever constituents we determine to be relevant, questionnaires for production facilities relating to quantity of boards produced, # of employees, types of environmental controls and protective equipment used, etc.
The big question mark would be if the industry would welcome such an effort. Any thoughts on this? We can probably get access to some local production facilities to do the monitoring but will other facilities be willing to share info?
Still figuring out how we could get it funded. Maybe a NIOSH grant or something.
Wow, kinda bummed…no responses yet. I hope I didn’t scare people away. We’re NOT looking at this as a potential indictment of the business, just an impartial study. We work in environmental health and also happen to surf. Seeing as the industry is evolving in both its attitude and the materials it is using we thought it would be interesting to do a study like this. The results could be used by industry people to better design their workshops, have a better grasp on what risks their employee face and how to mitigate those risks.
If you would like to start some oc health in shaping it would be wonderful(sarcasm) slow things down make more expensive rule out common sense and accountability, see the thread on sueing. The odd workplace incedent is good it weeds out the idiots.
While I would love to entertain your sarcasm the fact is that basic health and safety is cheap and easily implemented. It also usually improves productivity and reduces your workers comp claims. I’m sure Clark felt the same way as you and it really paid off for him. Go back read his letter and pay attention on the issues related to employee illness.
The reality is that we would probably find that board building operations for the most part have hazards that would be easily managed if you actually cared. Improved building design with good airflow, employee education about the materials they are working with and the proper use of protective equipment. How many of your employees have seen an MSDS? How many actually know how to properly use and care for a respirator or even determine if it’s the right one?
There’s a hell of a lot more to safety than the odd accident. What chemicals do you work with? Many of the poly and epoxy chemicals have acute or long term effects and some of them are sensitizers. If you are working with respirable size particulates you have concerns about long term respiratory effects.
Safety is not rocket science, but it does require a cultural change in how you view your employees. Are they just people who work for you, or are they the real reason that you are making money? If you don’t care about your employees safety and don’t provide health care what does that say about you as an employer?
I’m not sure how the recent thread about some kook suing over dinged board has anything to do with health and safety but I can tell you that when an employee is injured or contracts an illness due to employer negligence the old “well, it cost too much to do it right and slowed us down” is an instant verdict in their favor.
i work in the industry. there is no health care, there is no workman’s comp, everyone is an “independant contractor.” some places are really set up nice, most are not. most factories would be fairly nice with anouther $10k put into them but it never seems to happen. until everyone upgraded to what they already know they should have a study into it would be fairly worthless.
Thanks for that link. Reading through it really just reinforced my belief that it would be good to have an objective study of what the actual exposures are in a shaping environment. I saw lots of comments about using respirators but several lead me to believe that they had false security in their use since they appear to have chosen the wrong ones. Yes ventilation is key but how many places actually take that into account when setting up their areas?
The only problem I see with doing the study is that there is now such a diversity of materials it would be difficult to ensure good sampling. However if I can get up with Shape Safely and combine his blank data with actual work place measurements of things like total respirable particulates we might get something worthwhile. The questionnaire would play a big part in figuring out who shapes what type of foam, what method they use, how many they shape, etc.
The thing that people don’t think about is that it’s better to have a proactive study done to help the industry improve rather than having the government come in as a regulatory agency.
The whole thing about independent contractors is a another issue but it does not absolve you from the obligation to provide them with a safe working environment. It is after all your facility, not theirs. BTW, much of Hollywood works the same way. How would you ever afford workers comp insurance for stunt men?
PS - We specifically did not want to look at actual foam blowing as that is a whole different work environment.
The thing that people don’t think about is that it’s better to have a proactive study done to help the industry improve rather than having the government come in as a regulatory agency.
I think asking NIOSH to fund your research could be an invitation for reg agencies such as OSHA to take a closer look at the board building industry. Maybe not… I’m not making boards for a living, but if I were, and with such a low profit margin, I’d hate to have to be concerned with gov’t interference in the workplace. Mind you, I’m not saying you’re wrong about safety concerns. Most reputable shops (at least the ones I’ve seen) have their empolyees (contract or not) using proper safety equipment. Anybody in the surfboard manufacturing business not using proper respirators and attire is just asking for trouble.
The NIOSH thing was just a potential avenue. Being as this work would fall outside the scope of what we are contracted to do currently we need to figure out how to pay for it. We’re just looking for funding to pay for sampling and analysis, our time would be free. Sure it would be great to get help from someone like SIMA but since we are not looking at methods to sell more boards I doubt they would be interested.
Reverb ,which 3M monitoring system are you talking about?
The ultimate product we would hope to produce would be two publishable papers. One written for health and safety professionals and one written for board builders. The one written for you guys would have some exposure data for various materials used and operations conducted and recommendation for selection and use of protective equipment and ventilation. The papers would not contain any info about any specific companies that participated in the study (unless they wish to be mentioned), but would be more of a compilation of data from the sampling and questionnaires.
I agree that lots of companies are probably using protective equipment, but are they making the right choices about the equipment and do people actually use it correctly? You would be surprised how many times we see respirators being used incorrectly, even in industries such as asbestos abatement where the workers are supposed to have a good understanding of the hazards.
First off is picking the right respirator. It helps if you know what the concentration of the contaminant is first since each style of respirator is given a “protection factor” which is the amount of reduction you are allowed to take credit for in the contaminant level.
Protection factors:
N95 dust masks: 10
half face: 10
full face: 25
The difference between N95 and the half face with HEPA is that the HEPA will filter much smaller particles with a higher efficiency.
Next you have to know what type of filter you need. For strictly dust you can use HEPA cartridges, or an N95 mask. For dust and organics you need a combo cartridge that has the filter and a charcoal layer.
You also need to consider size. Half masks are sized so you need to try them on. The best way to do it without having some quantitative measurements done is to first put it on and tighten it up snug (but not tight). Cover the inhalation valves or canisters with your hands and suck in. If you can draw and hold a a vacuum you pass. Next cover the exhalation valve and blow out slightly, you should feel the mask push out little bit but not break the seal. If you pass these it probably fits.
The next thing to consider is filter change out. For HEPAs is pretty easy to tell when it needs done 'cause it gets hard to breath through. For the combo cartridges you need to read the info that came with to see how long they are good for, but if you start smelling the organics it time. As for taking care of them I just wipe the inside with a wetwipe after use and seal it up in a quart ziplock bag.
As for working with wood. Many people do not realize it but many hard woods have hazardous properties. Some are acute and some are sensitizers. A sensitizer is a chemical that over time causes your body to become allergic to it. You may not have any reaction to it for a long time and then all of a sudden have a severe, even life threatening reaction once you are sensitized. Google wood toxicity, there a couple of good sites that list the issues with various woods. This can also occur with latex, which is why you see a lot of health care people switching to nitrile (the colored) gloves.
Do not purchase respirators that have not been certified by NIOSH, it will clearly state it on the packaging.
Well, seeing as my 9 year old son is taking an interst in my shop, and my daughter just turned 1 on Feb. 24th, and I just found out that we are having another baby, I need to start wearing my mask all the time. I need to set a good safety example, and I need to be around for these kids when they need me.
There is a difference in common sense and going the occ health route. This all costs, when the overheads take over eg insurance , enviro levies, council fees ,so does productivity. This then makes the prices rise and so on. Then the labor rises becuase as an independant contractor I have to pay all of this, so we go back to the china , thia threads because labor is cheap as is the cost of living/dying. When I say common sense , use the best mask,gloves, ventilation you can afford. Don’t drink acetone no matter how much the bet and wash your hands after you go to the toilet.
The problem is people don’t want to be accountable for there own actions ( why was the puddle on the concrete slippery, there should have been a sign) common sense!!!
Basic occ health IS common sense. Problem is that common sense is not all that common. Most of the injury investigations I do end up with a cause something akin to stupidity. If the guy gets hurt and tells me he got hurt doing something stupid is that common sense? The thing is you have to actually taker the time to determine what common sense approach you would like to use. Willy-nilly I’ll just use this cause it only costs a dollar or it’s what I’ve got laying around isn’t common sense, it’s laziness.
I remember hangin’ around in Skip Frye’s shop, watchin’ him shape a board, and I said,“You don’t wear a mask?” his response was, “Sometimes… but it’s all particulate matter, so it’s goin’ to come out the other end eventually!” We laughed, and he went right on shaping… then I thought about Diff and others who have died at a relatively early age compared to our human longevity, and wondered if there might be any correlation… I guess only time will tell.