HEALTH HAZARDS IN A SMALL AUTOMOTIVE BODY REPAIR SHOP

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Abstract
Significant numbers of occupationally exposed workers are engaged in small operations which are not covered by governmental or other occupational health services. The neighbourhood automotive body repair shop is one such activity. Workers there are regularly exposed, with few effective controls, to solvents, metal pigments and paints, polyester plastic fumes and dusts, noise and vibration. A study at a typical owner-operator shop throughout a 1-yr period revealed high, short-term exposures (relative to available TLV-STEL values) to solvent vapours and occasionally lead and chromium pigments. Conditions were exacerbated by the workers' disinclination to use protective equipment or exhaust ventilation, particularly during cold weather. Although noise and nuisance dust levels were sporadically high, they did not appear to pose a health problem. The possible causation of a Raynaud's syndrome by the use of pneumatic tools and the undefined toxic implications of an aliphatic isocyanate exposure from an enamel curing agent are discussed.

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