Three Safety Threats In A Typical Garage, And How To Mitigate Them

If you are planning to open an auto garage shop, you will need garage liability insurance to shield your business from as many risks as possible. Garages can be dangerous places, and both your employees and clients can sue you if they get injured. Here are some of the major threats, and how to mitigate them:

Fire

Fire is one of the biggest risks in an auto shop. A typical auto shop has motor oil, gasoline, welding equipment, paint, rags and many other materials that can either ignite or fuel a fire. A garage fire can cause untold damage to equipment and client's cars. Some of the materials, such as gasoline, can even explode and cause injuries to workers and clients.

Therefore, you need to minimize your garage's risk of fire by:

• Cleaning all spills immediately.
• Educating employees on fire safety procedures         .
• Ventilating your shop to reduce accumulation of flammable fumes.
• Installing fire safety equipment, such as alarms and sprinklers.
• Enforcing a zero tolerance no smoking policy.

Machines and Equipment

Fire isn't the only thing that makes garages dangerous places. Other injury risks include:

• Getting injured by moving machinery, such as power tools.
• Being stuck by stored items, such as boxes of spare parts or stacked up wheels and rims.
• Working without proper training.

Measures for mitigating such risks include:

• Keeping clients out of dangerous areas, such as stores; only workers should be allowed into such areas since they have safety training.
• Proper storage of spares.
• Ensuring that all workers are fully trained for the machines and equipment they handle.

Mess

A messy place is a recipe for slip and fall accidents both for workers and visitors to the shop. Typical causes slips and falls include:

• Spills, such as those from oil, gasoline, fuel, paint and other fluids.
• Carelessly kept spares.
• Carelessly kept tools such as screwdrivers and wrenches.
• Carelessly thrown wiping rags.

Therefore, keep your shop clean and orderly to avoid such accidents. Clean all spills as soon as they occur and insist your workers store their tools properly when not using them. Installing shelves, for example, can help with the safe storage of small objects that can cause slip and fall accidents.

Despite your best precautions, however, you cannot be certain that an accident will not occur. Protect yourself from such risks by buying appropriate and adequate insurance coverage. Discuss your business with an insurance agent at a company like Ratcliffe Insurance to help you buy the right coverage.