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Motorcycle Shop Safety and the EnvironmentShop fluids and Safety...
You probably already know that just about every fluid associated with your motorcycle is toxic, hazardous, and slippery; many are flammable too. That includes many of the fluids around your garage or shop. If you work in a motorcycle shop or dealership, you may have seen the material safety data sheets for the toxic, volatile and dangerous materials and fluids you work with, but if you are a home hobby mechanic you may be unaware of the hazards, most of which are reasonably avoidable with proper precautions.
Health and SafetyIf the health and safety information (warnings) available in the material safety data sheets for your favorite parts cleaners has you worried, there are alternatives. Often the alternatives that are healthier for you are also more environmentally friendly too.
Sonic tank, blast cabinet, wash tankA sonic tank can do an amazing job cleaning carburetor parts, brake-fluid encrusted parts, and other really nasty things with nothing more than water, with the possible addition of either baking soda or dish soap (not both or you'll have a foam-over). Small sonic tanks are reasonably inexpensive, don't use much electricity, and are one of the most effective and environmentally friendly bike-parts-cleaning tools I've ever met. A blast cabinet is another great means of cleaning parts, and operated properly can be very environmentally friendly, but a bit big, expensive (both to buy and run) for most home shops. A recycling fluid wash tank is a good option and you can find a wider range of more environmentally responsible cleaning fluids available now; although you still have to dispose of the dirty fluid responsibly once it's contaminated.
Basics: Dish soap, baking soda, alcohol, abrasivesLots of dirty parts can be cleaned with basic, inexpensive and environmentally friendly cleaning fluids and materials if you're willing to provide some extra elbow grease and patience. Plan to clean in steps, less aggressive cleaning takes longer but it may cost less and will reduce your shop's toxic waste to a minimum.Ventilation is an important aspect of shop safety from a health perspective as well as to minimize fire hazards. If you have a garage or bike workshop at home you may have a relatively small workspace, with many volatile fluids in an enclosed space, so make sure it ventilates well enough that you can smell fresh air. Although some aromas are certainly inevitable, be mindful of new smells and their possibly flammable or toxic origins. Home-shop spaces often mean kids and pets nearby, and you have to take special precautions to ensure that your collection of toxic fluids, vapors and dangerous solids (like hot sparks off a grinder), are kept safely away from Junior, Fluffy and Fido.
Safety EquipmentShop safety equipment should be easily accessible and plentiful enough for guests if you have them. Your shop safety equipment should include (but not be limited to) eye protection such as a good pair of safety goggles or glasses. Ear protection or hearing protection like ear muffs or ear plugs. Gloves for chemical protection, such as nitrile gloves, particularly if you're handing toxic cleaners like brake cleaner or carb cleaner. If you do sanding or refinishing work you will need dust masks.Other safety equipment I've found useful include a face shield for grinding and a pair of mechanics gloves. If you have welding equipment you will need a welding jacket, gloves and helmet (and remember to store your auto-darkening helmet where it can 'see' the light and stay charged). Depending on what you plan to weld, you should also have a suitable vapor mask (particularly for aluminum or galvanized metals).
The shop first-aid kitEvery toolbox should have Band-Aids for those small wounds that cause you to leave bloody finger prints all over the shop if you don't wrap them up, but you should also have a full first aid kit with an eyewash bottle, a fire extinguisher and a few extras like a box of baking soda (great first step for neutralizing either strong acids or strongly basic solutions) and a instant-ice-pack for burns.Motorcyclists in general but particularly ones who work on their own bikes should probably have an up-to-date tetanus shot, although most likely the bio-hazards in your garage are your own bloody-finger-prints. If you TIG weld in your shop you may be able to blast surfaces with enough germ killing UV rays to have a relatively sterile environment.
Responsible Waste DisposalThe safe disposal of shop waste is an often overlooked aspect of shop safety, and even a small shop can generate a lot of waste that can be very dangerous if not handled right. In most of Canada tires can now go to recycling (Ontario has a new program in 2009: www.ontariots.ca) but a great deal of other shop waste is destined to be handled as hazardous waste, so consult your municipality for locations where you can safely dispose of your waste oil, bad gas, old coolant, rags soiled with toxic cleaners which all need to be disposed of in an environmentally responsible way. As internal combustion enthusiasts we do enough damage to the planet without adding to the problem by disposing of shop waste irresponsibly.
Reduce, reuse, recycle...Reusing things around your shop can be either a very good idea or a very bad idea, depending on what you choose to reuse. Reusing a $0.50 crush washer for your oil filter will probably cost you more than it saves you when you blow off your filter and crash in your own oil. Reusing your old socks to clean your motorcycle chain is probably a safer sort of recycling.In a big shop recycling can actually be lucrative, but even in a small shop you may accumulate enough scrap metal for it to be worth the trouble of sorting it and taking it to a scrap yard where they'll pay you by the pound, instead of putting it out at your curbside for municipal pickup. Some municipalities won't take the sort of metal scrap that a bike shop produces anyway.
Composting...While most motorcycle shops don't directly make much compost, your home garage space could become home to your composting worm farm, and let your household composting take place in your shop. Read more about keeping a worm composter: my slow pets.If you struggle to reconcile your environmental conscience with your enthusiasm for internal combustion (a struggle I share with you!) perhaps you have found great and creative ways to make your shop space more environmentally friendly; please share your thoughts! Wear your safety glasses, get dirty and wrench safely!
Andrea ~ DirtyGirl
Photos on this page are courtesy of Rob MacLennan - www.morallyambiguous.net More Reading...Tire Disposal/recycling in OntarioOntario Tire Stewardship:https://www.ontariots.ca/
Ontario Tire Recovery
Tires/Other Canadian provincesAlberta Tire Recycling http://www.albertarecycling.ca/Nova Scotia Tire disposal http://www.rrfb.com/pages/programs/tireprogram.cfm
Canada wide/FederalEnvironment Canada Used Tire Management Programhttp://www.ec.gc.ca/epr/default.asp?lang=En&n=84AE8783-1
Hazardous waste materials disposalOntario CanadaOntario Ministry of the Environment on Hazardous waste disposal:http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/hazardouswaste/index.php
Stewardship Ontario - Do what you can program:
Ontario Ministry of the Environment Hazardous Waste Information network:
New Ontario regulations for Hazardous Waste:
Other Canadian provincesSaskatchewan Waste Reduction Council:http://www.saskwastereduction.ca/
BC Government site about Hazardous Waste:
BC Environmental Industry Association:
Alberta Waste Not program:
PollutionNational Pollutant Release Inventory website:http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/npri/npri_home_e.cfm This online database allows members of the public to find out what pollutants are being released to the environment in their area and across Canada.
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