At least two readers nominated the preptofinish.com blog for the 2016 Best Construction Blog competition. The nominations certainly represent interest in a truly worthy site that achieves its mission effectively.
The mission of Prep to Finish is to train the paint industry labor pool of the future, while also educating today?s workforce on best practices in product and process, with a particular emphasis on safety, efficiency and profit.
This blog makes extensive use of video, effectively. Demonstrations of technical training at trades schools may not be?the material for prime time broadcast, but they certainly have relevance on a site dedicated to encouraging young and established painters to truly understand their craft and apply best practices. (And in viewing this blog, you’ll quickly appreciate that truly skilled painters require much knowledge to do their work to the highest standards.)
A posting regarding safety — especially reminding painters of the dangers from paint fumes and substances — shows how this blog provides an exceptional public service to the painting community.
Ruling out poor planning, what factors are really working against a painter?s ability to reach retirement?
If the chemicals evaporating during paint off gassing weren?t enough, the particles in the air on paint jobs are filling painter lungs all day long. Every day.
We all try not to think about it, but painting comes with health risk.
While workplace safety regulations seem laser focused on literally keeping workers from getting hurt in accidents, the quieter and more subtle danger might be higher by simply breathing on job sites.
Serious stuff, yes, but absolutely important for painters to know and remediate.
Solutions include ensuring painters are trained and properly equipped with the right personal protective equipment (PPE). ?\
Job site cleanliness is perhaps the biggest area that needs improvement in most companies.
If your company is using a cheap shop vac, you are basically sucking dust off the floor and blowing it back into the room where it can be inhaled.
Putting efficient sanders on dust extractors is step one to reducing exposure because this captures dust at the source during prep and keeps it from either becoming airborne or settling into the room environment.
There are other suggestions:
Another great step is making sure that your company is using?waterborne instead of solvent based products. This reduces exposure greatly. With that, make sure that your company training program is able to educate painters on efficient and safe use of these new product technologies.
Train one person in your company and empower them to help others better understand product and process. We call this #trainthetrainer.
On the tool side, select sprayers that don?t waste product. We still cringe when we see companies doing everything with airless sprayers using too much pressure and oversized tips in the name of production. Airless still has its time and place but its not everyday and everywhere anymore.
This article is a small representation of the content on this site, which I believe should be a must read for anyone who works with paints and coatings.
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