Safety, Health, Environment and First Aid
Safety, Health, Environment and First Aid
This domain tests how a painter recognises solvent, dust, fume and physical hazards, applies the right controls, and responds correctly to injury. Questions usually hinge on matching a product hazard to a specific control, not on generic slogans.
Hazard classes and controls
- Solvent vapour causes headache, dizziness and narcosis. Controls are dilution and extraction ventilation, closed containers and low-VOC products.
- Lead and chromate pigments create dust and fume. Use wet sanding, HEPA extraction and blood-lead surveillance where required.
- Isocyanates in two-pack polyurethane are respiratory sensitisers. Use air-fed breathing apparatus and full skin cover.
- Silica, wood dust and filler dust need local exhaust ventilation, a P2/P3 respirator and eye protection.
- A flash point below 23 °C means highly flammable. Bond and earth containers when decanting.
First aid essentials
- Eye splash: irrigate with clean water for at least 15 minutes, hold the lids open, then seek medical help.
- Skin contact: remove contaminated clothing and wash with soap and water. Never clean skin with thinner.
- Inhalation: move the casualty to fresh air, keep them warm and call for help. Do not give food or drink to an unconscious person.
- Burns: cool with running water for 20 minutes, cover with cling film and do not apply creams.
Worked example
A painter must spray a two-pack polyurethane in a booth. The safety data sheet gives an HDI exposure limit of 0.005 ppm and states respiratory sensitiser. A half-mask with a particulate filter is the wrong choice because the hazard is vapour and the skin is also an absorption route. The correct control is air-fed breathing apparatus plus booth extraction and full coveralls.
Traps
- Assuming a dust mask protects against solvent vapour.
- Using thinner to remove paint from skin.
- Storing thinners in unlabelled drink bottles.