How to Manage the Occupational Risks Associated with Sanding
Nothing we do in life is without risk or trade-off. Every task, whether or not we think about it consciously, involves an assessment of risk and reward. It is no different in the workplace, although the risks and the rewards are often distributed differently.
Get your free copy of this whitepaper to find outSanding is often a time-consuming process but a necessary one
Why Do You Sand?
Let's admit it, nobody really likes sanding. We're all in it for the finished product, let it be a car, a door or a wall.
If it were both possible and economical to eliminate sanding from the process of creating finished products, it would probably be eliminated. The following examples illustrate why sanding is required.
- Building, maintenance and renovation → Walls and ceilings need to be smooth prior to painting.
- Woodworking and furniture-making → The goal is a product that is smooth to the touch or has a high gloss, matt, or satin finish.
- Vehicle body repair → For removing paint, cleaning down to bare metal, smoothing out body filler, and preparing for the application of primer and base coat.
Hand-Sanding vs Power Tool Sanding
Risk and Reward
For some applications you still need to hand sand, but for most sanding processes you can use a power tool. There are many benefits of using electric and pneumatic sanders.
In addition to increasing productivity through ease of use and speed, power-sanders improve conditions dramatically for workers and reduce the risks that were typically associated with hand-sanding. However, some risk remained, such as those caused by dust, and some new ones arose.
In our whitepaper "How to Manage the Occupational Risks Associated with Sanding" you can read more about the hazards associated with the task of sanding and the harms that can result from prolonged exposure to those hazards.
Get Your Free Copy of Our Whitepaper
In this whitepaper, we consider the hazards associated with the task of sanding and the harms that can result from prolonged exposure to those hazards.
We go into the deep and explore:
- What is sanding and why is it a necessary process?
- Sanding-related hazards, such as dust, noise, and hand-arm vibration
- Best-practice solutions for sanding-related activities