How to Improve Operator Safety in the Paint Mixing Room

When you work with paints, you are constantly exposed to flammable and dangerous substances. As a paint line owner, you are responsible for the safety of your employees. There is an easy and cost-effective way to increase operator safety in the paint mixing room.

Every paint line owner is responsible for the health and safety of its employees. This involves taking appropriate safety measures to protect operators from these safety issues in the paint mixing room.

Loud and dirty environment

A paint mixing room has several pneumatic pumps that produce a lot of noise. The best way to protect operators from this noisy and stressing environment is to let them stay in as short time as possible. Traditional paint mixing rooms are also far from clean and tidy. Spoiled paint, dust and other undesired substances can cause health issues.

Hazardous areas

When entering the paint mixing room, operators are potentially exposed to a variety of hazardous substances. Exposure to these substances, either through inhalation of vapours, aerosols or mists, or absorption through the skin, may cause injury or ill-health including respiratory problems, such as asthma and even lung cancer.

Unsafe operator practices

A traditional paint mixing room requires a lot of manual labour: checking paint levels, adding new paint, monitoring and controlling tank and fluid parameters, changing settings, etc. Even when ventilated, workers are exposed to some level of toxic chemicals while in the closed and confined area of the paint mixing room. As many paints are also flammable, improper handling or use may also cause fire or explosion.

There is an easy and cost-effective way to increase operator safety in the paint mixing room: Graco’s Intelligent Paint Kitchen. It’s a smart set of sensors, actuators, and control modules that communicate with each other and allow you to control the paint room and consult (real-time) key paint circulation data from outside the hazardous area.

Maintenance and human intervention are kept to a minimum, which means operators don’t have to enter the hazardous area as much as in a traditional paint mixing room.