Safety management in various fields is an interest of mine. The industrial field tends to have more accidents than most other types of job sites, so I’ve spent a lot of time learning about industrial accidents. How do they happen? Why do they happen? How do they affect employees, business owners, and clients? How do they impact the overall success of an industrial business? Some of the answers to these questions can be found in this blog. I started it to share the information that I’ve been collecting with people that are in my field of interest. If you work or own a business in the industrial field, knowing how to prevent accidents at work should be important to you. The information here can help you learn how to be more proactive in preventing them.
Preventing Accidents at Work
5 Reasons To Consider Investing In Radiant Floor Heating For Your Mechanic's Shop
Henry Ellis
Radiant flooring gets a lot of buzz in the residential heating world, but many business owners are finding out that it works well in some commercial applications too. Keeping a mechanic's shop warm and comfortable with a radiant heating system works well for the employees, owners, and customers alike. Learn the five benefits of this type of commercial heating equipment for every vehicle repair company.
Preventing Winter Hazards
The work areas of the shop are full of slip hazards on a warm day due to oil spills and misplaced tools. However, cars that come in with water and snow dripping off increase the danger of working in the shop even more due to the development of ice patches in an unheated garage. While any kind of heating can keep ice from forming to put your mechanics at risk, warm floors are especially useful for controlling frost and ice. The puddles also evaporate faster when heated from below.
Recycling a Free Source of Heat
How many oil changes do you handle each week? Whether it's the backbone of your business or only an occasional request, you likely end up with plenty of drums of used oil that can't be easily recycled. Instead of paying for a company to pick up and process all that waste, put it to good use by buying a boiler for your radiant floor heating system that burns up that waste oil.
Using waste oil in a boiler might sound like a source of air pollution that you have to do in secret. It's actually quite the opposite -- burning waste oil for heat is one of the best ways to recycle it, as long as you use equipment designed for this particular fuel source to control the emissions. Check local restrictions on using these devices before buying one in case you need a special permit. You shouldn't have any troubles getting it approved since the EPA studied the air pollution produced and found no major objections to the process when using professional equipment.
Reducing Heat Loss
Radiant flooring is usually used in enclosed spaces, but it works surprisingly well even when you need to leave the garage bay doors open for the majority of the day. Running space heaters or forced-air furnaces in an open bay is usually wasteful and inefficient. The rising effect of heating from the floor up ensures that most of your heat stays inside the garage instead of flowing out the door. If you're going to use the same system for the offices, waiting rooms, and work areas, make sure there are two separate zone controls so running extra heat to the bays doesn't make the indoor space too warm for comfort.
Eliminating Excess Noise
Mechanic shops are already full of noise pollution. If you and your workers are struggling to shout at each other over the sounds of air compressors and revving engines, the rumbling of a furnace or the roaring of a large-scale space heater could push you over the edge into violating OSHA noise exposure rules. Radiant floor heating is practically silent. If you put the boiler outside or in a small backroom, no one will hear anything as the heat is generated.
Increasing Productivity
Finally, you can help your team members work faster and stay healthier in the winter by keeping the shop comfortably warm. This is especially important for mechanics since they often spend hours on their backs to get under the cars. Laying on ice cold concrete for extended periods can result in stiff joints, back pain, and even an increased susceptibility to kidney infections. You'll notice that everyone's in a better mood too when they're not having to huddle around a fume-producing kerosene heater just to get warm.
For more information on radiant heat, consider contacting a professional like those at Mercury Tec.
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