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COSHH and vehicle spray painters - key messages

Substances hazardous to health in vehicle spray painting include:

  • paints, lacquers and under-seals.

Other substances hazardous to health in motor vehicle repair include:

  • fuels, brake fluids and lubricants, including waste oil;
  • fumes and gases from welding and cutting;
  • dusts from abrasive wheels, etc;
  • degreasing fluids, cleaning products, including strong hand cleaners;
  • adhesives and fillers;
  • battery acid.

Example: Spray painting with isocyanate-based two-pack top coat

Isocyanate can cause asthma. You must reduce exposure to isocyanate as far below the WEL of 0.02 mg/m3 (8 hours) and 0.07 mg/m3 (15 minutes) as reasonably practicable. You normally need to use health surveillance.

Isocyanate can also cause dermatitis.

Control measures include:

  • enclosed, extracted spray booth marked with its clearance time;
  • air-line respiratory protective equipment;
  • other personal protective equipment;
  • health surveillance for asthma and skin checks.

Help in identifying the right controls is on the MVR COSHH essentials web page[61]. Control information for isocyanate appears in:

Visit the HSE MVR website[67] for more information.

Employees

Your employer provides equipment to protect your health, such as:

  • spray booth for all paint spraying (including gun washings);
  • personal protective equipment.

You have a duty to use these properly and co-operate with any monitoring and health surveillance.

See also

Link URLs in this page

  1. COSHHhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/index.htm
  2. COSHH overviewhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/index.htm
  3. What is a ‘substance hazardous to health’?https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/substance.htm
  4. I’m self-employed. Does this apply to me?https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/selfemployed.htm
  5. What you need to dohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/whatdo.htm
  6. COSHH assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/assessment.htm
  7. Substitutionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/substitution.htm
  8. Exposure limitshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/exposurelimits.htm
  9. Chemical safety data sheetshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/datasheets.htm
  10. Control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/control.htm
  11. Permits to workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/permits.htm
  12. Personal protective equipmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/ppe.htm
  13. Monitoringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/monitoring.htm
  14. Health surveillancehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/surveillance.htm
  15. Training for employeeshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/training.htm
  16. Emergencieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/basics/emergencies.htm
  17. Detailed overviewhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/detail/index.htm
  18. COSHH, CLP and REACHhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/detail/coshh-clp-reach.htm
  19. REACH and COSHHhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/detail/reach.htm
  20. Principles of good practicehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/detail/goodpractice.htm
  21. Overview - Your industryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/index.htm
  22. Agriculturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/agriculture.htm
  23. Bakinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/baking.htm
  24. Beautyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/beauty.htm
  25. Cateringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/catering.htm
  26. Cleaninghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/cleaning.htm
  27. Engineeringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/engineering.htm
  28. Fumigationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/fumigation.htm
  29. Hairdressinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/hairdressing.htm
  30. Offshore oil and gashttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/offshore.htm
  31. Printinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/printing.htm
  32. Motor vehicle repairhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/mvr.htm
  33. Weldinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/welding.htm
  34. Woodworkinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/industry/woodworking.htm
  35. Frequently asked questionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/faq.htm
  36. Overview - Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/resources.htm
  37. COSHH Essentialshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/essentials/index.htm
  38. Overview - Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/index.htm
  39. Soldererhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/solder.htm
  40. Bakerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/baker.htm
  41. Cookhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/cook.htm
  42. Weldershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/welder.htm
  43. Isocyanateshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/isocyanates.htm
  44. Dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/dermatitis.htm
  45. Overview - Example risk assessmentshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/index.htm
  46. Officehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/office.htm
  47. DIY shop https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/diyshop.htm
  48. Workshop https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/workshop.htm
  49. Engineer https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/engineer.htm
  50. Sandwich makerhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/sandwichmaker.htm
  51. Garden centrehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/gardencentre.htm
  52. Paving companyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/paving.htm
  53. Feed mill https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/feedmill.htm
  54. Die caster https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/diecaster.htm
  55. Electronicshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/electronics.htm
  56. Fruit farmhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/fruitfarm.htm
  57. Warehousehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/warehouse.htm
  58. Further informationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/furtherinfo.htm
  59. Publicationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/publications.htm
  60. Research reportshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/research-reports.htm
  61. MVR COSHH essentials web pagehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/topics/general-coshh.htm
  62. MR1 Mixing two-pack paint, etchttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/mr1.pdf
  63. MR2 Spraying two-pack products in a spray/bake booth;https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/mr2.pdf
  64. MR3 Cleaning two-pack spray guns;https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/mr3.pdf
  65. MR4 Brush or roller application of two-pack products; https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/mr4.pdf
  66. MR5 Flatting, SMART repair, welding, etc.https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/mr5.pdf
  67. HSE MVR websitehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/index.htm
  68. EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limitshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/eh40.htm
  69. Working with substances hazardous to health: A brief guide to COSHHhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg136.htm
  70. COSHH Essentialshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/essentials/index.htm
  71. Case studies (Examples of real life situations with COSHH)https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/casestudies/index.htm
  72. Example risk assessments (Use these to get ideas for completing assessments)https://www.hse.gov.uk/COSHH/riskassess/index.htm
  73. Nanotechnologyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/nanotechnology/index.htm
  74. Risk assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/index.htm
  75. Local exhaust ventilation micrositehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/lev/index.htm
  76. Chemicals micrositehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/chemicals/index.htm
  77. Motor vehicle repair microsite https://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/index.htm

Glossary of abbreviations/acronyms on this page

WEL

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2020-09-16