What would you do

37chief

Well-known Member
Location
California
I go for a smog check today. There is a kid sand blasting in a building next to the smog place. Sand blowing out the roll up door. I ask him to stop sand blasting while I am getting my vehicle checked, I don't want to be breathing the dust. About that time his boss walks up, and reads me the riot act for asking his employee to stop. All this kid had for a mask was a small cotton mask over his nose and mouth. I know it's none of my business, but I believe the kid should have a air supplied full face shield. Should I just be happy my car passed the test, and forget the kid with an inadequate dust mask. Any thoughts. Stan
 
I'd say you were correct. Being it is a profit-making business, you are correct. That boy is somebody's boy, and if he was yours you would be REALLY correct. I'd notify the air pollution people, whoever they are; State Natural Resources, or OSHA, or local. But you are correct. That person is taking advantage of the young person's health.
 
If there's someone to talk to I would too. The kid probably doesn't realize he's possibly doing permanent lung damage to himself and his boss is probably too cheap to make sure he's provided the proper safety equipment and really doesn't care about the kid.
 
Without proper breathing protection, you can get silicosis which turns your lungs into cement. Makes it hard to breathe.
 
Sounds like this person is not working in compliance with OSHA regulations.Employer could be getting over on the people working for them and should not be. Employees should always have the correct equipment required to perform the work.
We do a lot of work for NYS, and they monitor safety closely. The contractor we are doing some work for at a state facility currently was reminded about encapsulating the work area where they were removing an old door from a masonry opening, concern was the dust from demolition. Inmates also fuel the fire, slightest odor or anything of the sort will be used by them as leverage against the facility staff.
 
From what I've heard, sand blasting with the door open is a no-no too. I took some fenders to be sandblasted a couple of years ago, and I was surprised that most body shops don't do it any more. that had me take them to someone with a specialized shop, with all sorts of air filtering equipment. He, and the body shops, claimed it was EPA regs. So the guy you encountered is probably skirting the line from a business standpoint as well as an employer standpoint.
 
I would mind my own business. It's up to the business and the kid how they are equipped. If the kid didn't like it he could quit.
 
There is this OLD man mowing the weeds next to my house. He is stirring up the pollen. It is making my dog cough. So I think I should call the EPA and 911 to have him stopped. He should be arrested for being a nuisance to the neighborhood. Sound like something you would like done/happen to you??????

So mind your own business. This modern world is full of busy bodies as it is, don't add to the issue. It is between the kid and his boss.

For those that say it is going to hurt the kid. Maybe. I sand blasted for years. I only used common dust mask and some common sense.
 
id let it alone, are they in violation, yes, but this kind of thing has a way of backfiring, dont forget, your contact info is on that smog check, any epa or osha fines, you might get a visit you dont want, from either the shop, or the epa, under the guise of "getting info" for their report, there getting info alright and checking out your operation too!
 
When I used to live in CT the state emissions station was right next door to the city sewage treatment plant. Every time the wind came out of the west most of the cars would fail. They finally ended the program because it was a nightmare. My life has been so much better since getting the hell out of that mismanaged state.
 
What was he blasting? What type of paint? What type of blast media was being used? Was positive ventilation present? Did you read the MSDS for any of the products? These are all questions you don't have answers too and therefore are imposing your own opinion on the situation. I've been in the aviation quality business for 30+ years and have heard numerous complaints by employees and government oversights concerning perceived violations. MSDS declarations provide minimum required PPE level exposures and type of environments for media blasting. The business owner will go through periodic audits for safety, health and welfare violations. In this situation, if you don't have answers to all the variables, you should mind your own business.
You could file a complaint and/or opinionated violation with your local environmental office and possibly have the business suspended from performing any media blasting until an investigation is completed. If the business is found to be in compliance, you could be sued by the business owner for lost earnings. Is it really worth poking your nose into someone else's business that you don't have answers to the questions referenced above?
 
As of 9-27-17 OSHA's new pet is silica. it has changed the way any industry associated with anything that produces dust has to handle containment and employees around it.
 
I was not there and there for you have to do what you think is right.
There's a good chance the young man has not been train properly and does not know the damage he could be doing to his body. I was put in this situation when I was young and didn't know better. I have problem breathing now and I'm sure it is related. I work in construction still and see people taken advantage of all the time because they don't know better or they're scared of losing their job.
 
Rarely a blasting media or film being removed that is kept at bay by a bad fitting paper mask. One thing if its an old fella or owner doing it to himself, another if he's making some kid do it that doesn't know any better.
 
All I know is, the stuff was blowing out the door, in the air, and a layer of dust on the ground in front of the door. May be ok, but I doubt it. All I wanted was clean air going into my lungs, not some unknown substance. Stan
 
As a worker I would call OSHA on myself. As a passerby I would mind my business. { Osha regs state that each contractor on a site is responsible for controlling his own dust.] It was a violation.
 
I Believe that looking out for your fellow man is only common decency. We seem to be well on our way to killing off "Mother Earth" as it is by "minding our own business." gm
 
Having worked in an underground silica sand mine I wouldn't worry about it, I worked in way way more dust then what you are talking about. The masks we had to wear did not have oxygen to them just replaceable filters. There was so much dust we had to change the filters on the mill (330 CAT) and the drill every shift change, 12 hours! And OSHA hmm, I worked in a couple places they worried about OSHA, OSHA is nothing compared to MSHA to deal with!
 
It sounds like this might be a temporary thing that is happening, like maybe they need to do such-and-such job, and might even be on a strict time limit. If the sandblasting happens all the time or is very common there, then I might have been tempted to contact OSHA, or to speak with the boss. IMO, it was wrong to speak with the employee -- he's more than likely just following orders. If, however, this is not a normal occurrence there, then I would assume different circumstances and keep my distance as best I could.

It's often easy to hash out what we would or would not do in a certain situation, but there's so very much more information that we use in real life to actually make those decisions.
 
You would not believe how many workers never wore there masks in the mine, I wore mine when servicing equipment. I was hacking up dust for a few months after I quit. Never got my lungs checked after I quit, but have not had any issues with breathing, so never worried about it. Had a bolting crew from KY come in and there was an old guy working with them, (he was a hoot) said he never wore a mask even in the coal mines.

Don't think I am saying it is okay to do with out just saying many people don't wear them when they should.
 
It's not OK to give orders to somebody's employee unless there's an eminent danger which in this case it was something for your convenience. The employer had a right to be upset. If you wanted him to stop work for your convenience you should have asked his employer.
 
I'm the guy who picked up the safety brochures about the various industrial diseases from the town hall when filing permits. Some nasty diseases out there.
 
Nobody really knows the full story. The sandblasting may be a once in a blue moon job and for that shop to spend thousands of dollars on equipment to control dust is silly. I'm sure what the kid was doing was the same thing the owner of the business had done himself many times. In any case occasionally sandblasting using a paper dust mask isn't going to hurt anyone. If it's something going on every day the sand would be in everything in the guys shop and he would have to do something about it. People think if you own a business you are making money hand over fist and should be able to solve every little problem. In reality he would have to have regular sandblasting work to even approach the idea of having the proper equipment.
 
Probably will not get silicosis by breathing what I did. Every time I get dust from my tractor work with out a mask I am coughing most of the evening. I do make dust, but not in an industrial park. I probably have already done some damage to my lungs, just don't want to make it worse. Been exposed to Agent Orange, does it mean I will get cancer probably not. Stan
 
Stop beating me up. I will let the kid breath all the dust he wants. When I was a lot younger my boss had me go into a large trichloroethylene seam heated degreaser to scrape the heating coils. Even though it was empty the stuff I was scraping off was very harmful. Trichloroethylene is so toxic it isn't used anymore as far as I know. My boss or my self didn't realize how harmful this stuff was. Just like the kids boss having him doing sand blasting for his powder coating business,. which was 5 bays from his power coating application booth. Stan
 
Just got done doing about 20 different saftey test quiz things at work on the computer. Company required nation wide. Very thorough and took almost a week to complete. First thing you should have done was pull out your smartphone and run a video of that kid blasting. Then call OSHA. THAT is a $7000.oo fine as soon as the inspector sees your footage. That requires PPE equipment and not some Bs about it would not hurt someone. If the owner knows darn well it is dangerouse and ignores what would be safe then they can get nialed $50,000.oo.
 
Would you let someone blow cigarette smoke in your face. You don't know what he was blasting off the metal he was blasting. I wouldn't want to breath the dust or have it on my clothes or car. I would have asked him to stop until I was gone.
The kids boss is just a jerk. They should be blasting in a enclosed room and the blaster should be wearing the appropriate safety gear.
 
I read all the posts below. Looks like we're split about 50/50 on this one. I'm still on the fence. You all make good points.
 
I don't see how it can not be OK to have a cigarette in a restaurant cause of all the people around you, but be OK to let pulverized silica dust as well as whatever was being blasted into an environment where it can get into my lungs, to me it's the same difference. Can only imagine what kind of havoc was being done to the finish on a mans car. Been around silica dust bout 40 years now, ain't good for lungs or paint. I'm on your side on this one Chief
 

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