620.10 Operational Procedures and Safety

Safety Measures For Handling Waterborne Paints

Guidance. The following precautions are to be followed to alleviate the possibility of injury when removing inspection covers from the paint tanks on stripers, nurse trucks and bulk storage facilities for water borne paints:

A. Personnel should always be grounded when removing the inspection cover from the tank. To be electrically grounded, one hand must be touching the metal of the tank to prevent static electricity from arcing between the other hand and some portion of the tank.

B. When opening paint tanks on the striper, nurse truck and bulk tanks inside enclosed areas, adequate ventilation must be available to dissipate the ammonia fumes that are associated with water borne paints. When opening tanks for inspection and filling purposes, allow the fumes to dissipate before looking into the tank.

C. When using a rod to measure paint levels in the storage tanks of the striper, nurse truck or even the bulk storage facility, the rod should be made of a non-conductive, non-corrosive material.

D. When performing maintenance inside any paint storage tank that contains paint or wet paint residue, the top of the tank should be totally removed and fresh air ventilation should be provided.

E. Before entering any paint tanks, the Risk Management policy on Confined Spaces should be reviewed.