SAFETY IN BOAT BUILDING

First of all a reality check.
Epoxy, paints and solvents are chronic toxins, that means the affect is cumulative over time, like smoking. Exposure to solvents and epoxy causes dermatitis and breathing problems.
Professional boat builders exposed over long periods risk cancer and neural damage.
Your body can absorb chemicals in three ways:
1. Absorption across the skin.
2. By inhalation of the dust or vapours,
3. Ingestion of particles or drinking the solvent (not common amongst boat builders)
The first two are the common routes and risk can be minimised by relatively simple means.

Respirators.

If you hang your respirator upside down on a bench hook, the first breath you take will be a weeks accumulated grot. Delicious. Store your respirators in an ice-cream container or sealable polythene bag. DO NOT LEAVE THEM OUT ON THE BENCH. Get into the habit of taking the mask off and putting in the container.
There are two types of respirator. The common type is simple paper dust mask with or without a filter. These effectively stop you picking your nose but not much else. They will only protect you for minor dust producing tasks over short periods (less than half an hour). Paper masks will not protect you from vapours or sprays.
For major tasks such as spraying or painting, you need a proper face sealing respirator. Why is that people are happy to pay over $100 for a tool to do the sanding, but balk at the $70 for a respirator? You need a respirator with proper organic vapour cartridges. Once the cartridges are unsealed, write the date on with ball-point or white out pen, and change them after six months. As with paper masks, store the respirator in a sealed container.

EDITORS NOTE:

If you need convincing of the need for wearing a respirator around boatbuilding try placing a few sheets of black paper around your workshop for the day.
You will be shocked at the amount of build-up in a short space of time.
This is especially true when mixing epoxy with glue extenders or filler powders

Gloves

A box of 100 disposable gloves will cost you $15. You might go through three boxes in the course of building a Navigator, so why is it that at 30 cents a pair so many builders try and recycle disposable gloves?
Many recommend washing up type gloves for working with epoxy or paint. These thick gloves have advantages, the wrists are protected and they are mechanically stronger. But in fact, they give you a false sense of security.
Why? All gloves, including non disposable gloves, have minute holes in them that allow chemicals to pass through. If you turn a pair of thicker gloves inside out after use and sniff the inside you will be able to smell the epoxy. At that stage it is wise to chuck the glove out or you are effectively wearing the chemical next to your skin. This is a sure fire way of getting dermatitis.
The permeation time varies according the chemical, type of glove and environmental conditions. Thicker gloves are useful when you need the mechanical strength and longer protection, for example when laying up glass, but you should wear disposable gloves inside.
There are two common types of disposable glove, vinyl and latex, and you can use either with epoxy. However Latex will dissolve in Mineral turpentine, and Acetone goes straight through Vinyl. Latex handles aldehydes better than vinyl. I have one box of each type in the workshop.
Latex may cause allergic reaction in some users - it is best to buy non powdered gloves, as it is the powder inside the glove that facilitates the allergic reaction.
The permeation time for disposable gloves is relatively short. Disposable gloves should be worn until exposed to the chemical, half an hour or so at most, then peeled off into the rubbish.
If you are really sensitive to chemicals, wear a pair of cotton gloves inside the disposable gloves and wash them frequently.
All users should use copious quantities of silicon barrier cream.

Electricity.

Electric shocks killed five New Zealanders last year and electrical faults caused numerous house fires. Most bench tools are double insulated. Double insulation will not protect you if the earth on the supply is not functional, or the plug and wiring are in poor condition.
If your mains wiring is not already protected (almost all houses built before 1995) use a plug in RCD.
Check all your plugs and rewire any that show coloured insulation.
Check all extension cords. There should be no bruising or coloured insulation at any point.