Working wet, are they really safe?

A couple of weeks ago I spoke at an event in Florida about water recycling and dust handling.

A great crowd who were generally surprised by the level of dust in the water in many shops.

Whilst on site I was watching the hand polishers work and the morning sun was streaming through an open door … made for interesting viewing.

In the mist

This video shows just how much water spray is around the clothes and face of a hand polisher.

That water spray contains the dust that you would see back in the old days of dry polishing. Remember the thick clouds of it coating everything ?

Without that sunlight, looks safe right ?

With the sunlight, he is immersed in it. Thankfully this shop enforces the wearing of masks and is super clean and safe, but so so many guys don’t wear masks, in the misguided feeling that they are safe because they are “working wet”. Try putting a piece of black cloth next to a wet polisher then Let it dry out. Look at the result. Covered in dust ….

It is crucially important to draw this air away from your workers as they work, mitigating or preventing this risk, with suitable and purpose made equipment such as these dust collectors.

MB40

But at the very least, get the guys to wear masks. Now more than ever we are used to wearing them.

Make it mandatory.

Please.

(Simon is involved in the safety council of the Natural Stone Institute and throughout 2021, Turrini UK and USA along with the wider Stone Industry Group, are offering to pay the membership of the NSI for customers purchasing their equipment, enabling free access to a wealth of information and safety courses.

Find out more here https://fb.watch/3prjYbQlgi/)

Leave a Reply