Beware! Shortcuts can cost you...

Some time ago, I published a post on Explosion-Proof, what it is, and why we need it when mixing auto refinish. If you want to check it out, you can scroll back through my earlier posts or if the hyperlink works, here it is. I have also made mention in similar posts on the need for this kind of safety and what we recommend. But the real reason for me writing this post is that some new developments have been coming to light in the last several months that could have an adverse effect both financially and operationally, on how your business operates.

To start, I must first say that as in the title, beware. While it is possible to cut a few corners on some aspects of daily activities to make our jobs easier or not be so painful on the wallet, the safety of you and your employees and the value of your property should not be one of them. Please, and I cant stress enough, be very careful as to what your shortcuts are. As the old adage goes, do not be penny wise and pound foolish...

So get to the point, you say. I get it, so here we go. Recently, there is some buzz in the industry about all this Ex-Proof mumbo-jumbo. Easy to call it that if somebody does not understand it. The thing is, for the last forty years, it has been a given that the industry wants and needs the highest level of protection available for the environment that the equipment, in this case the paint scale, and terminal if applicable, are used in.

Sparing the long boring details of Ex-Protection, which is an entire days worth or more of instruction, in which I personally am certified to teach, there are for arguments sake three levels of Ex safety. the lowest form being completely non-Explosion-Proof, offering zero protection from fire or explosion, to Class I Division 2, which is somewhat Ex-Proof, but not very good, to full-blown Class I Division 1, which offers the highest form of protection for you and your shop, and has been the industry standard for nearly four decades. For full disclosure, I have to mention that there are even higher levels of protection, but the products that the super-high protection is required for is not applicable to our common industry. For example, something like Class II, Division 1 would be used for those highly dangerous things like airborne dust, or flyings, in a grain elevator. Believe it or not, highly flammable and explosive. Dont believe it, just hit Google for yourself. You may want to take a look at some of the examples that I put in this post later on.

Let me also mention here that Sartorius cannot and will not tell anyone what kind of atmosphere they have in their shop, and consequently, nor will we dictate to you what you need to put in there. That is under the complete jurisdiction of your local fire marshal. This person or other local authority is supposed to come in and classify the room in which you store and mix your paint. I can say that as a general rule, most municipalities rate the entire paint room as a Class I, Division 1 Hazardous Area. While this is not always the case, in the majority of instances, it is. However, the rules are open to interpretation of the local authority doing the inspection. In order to take this hassle off your plate, your paint supplier has already made the decision for you, and will offer nothing but CLI DIV1 Intrinsically-safe (Ex-Proof) scales and terminals from Sartorius, or even from our competitor, who also makes a great machine. This better-safe-than-sorry approach has proved itself time and again over the years. With this decision in place, this frees you the shop owner from making the complicated decisions as to what the area you are working in is, and also spares you the liability in the event of an accident. For the record, accidents range from small fires to very large explosions, which have resulted in casualties, yes, including loss of life. I have examples to prove it. This way, your insurance company will investigate and understand that your paint mixing scale and terminal are not the cause for any incident, and hey, maybe even make sure that your shopkeepers insurance premiums that you reluctantly must pay are lower that if you are shall we say, less protected. While I dont know all the intricacies of insurance law, for a layman like me, this is the equivalent of being a good driver for many years paying low rates versus being a poor driver with a bad record who is placed in the assigned risk. We all know that being in the assigned risk category costs you considerably more moolah.

We have learned recently that for the sake of saving cost, some companies are strongly considering switching over from that really-safe C1D1 equipment to the less-safe C1D2 approved equipment. This appears to be purely a financial decision. I dare say that it is a financial decision that is designed to save them money, not you. I would not expect to see a price reduction in your paint mixing equipment. I would expect to see an increase in revenue reporting to the shareholders of the entities involved. After all, everyone reports to the shareholder, right? Okay, enough corporate politics, regardless of my position on the matter.

Sartorius manufactures all types of approved equipment, in all areas of Ex. We make C1D1, C1D2, and non-Ex. Where we sell it all depends on the region it goes to. For example, in other countries, the Ex regulations may not be as tight as they are here in North America, so they can get away with less safe equipment. They really dont care if there is an accident or not, it is a risk that these countries are taking and do so solely on a cost of equipment basis. We understand, Ex technology is expensive, but a necessary evil, in this writers humble opinion. But this way of thinking is starting to make its infiltration into the US marketplace, which is not necessarily a good thing. Yes, there is indeed a cost savings involved, and again, not necessarily a savings to you, but to that of your equipment supplier perhaps, but is it really worth the risk?

Let me give you some hypothetical scenarios. If the situation were different, and you are making the financial decision of your business in this area, lets face it, sure, we all would want to save some coin wherever we could. But here we go:

You own a moderate sized shop that mixes your own paint.

You have a nice spray booth and associated paint room.

The booth and paint room are inspected by the local authority, and both are classified as Class I, Division 1 Hazardous Areas, meaning that there is a potential risk of fire and explosion due to solvent or other highly flammable vapors being present.

You have the choice of buying equipment to go in the paint room that is either approved for C1D1 for $$$$ dollars, or go for the less-expensive ($$) C1D2 gear. This includes lighting, electrical, and ventilation, not just our paint scales. (But just as a reference, taking list price, our TopMix2Touch system, C1D1 Approved, lists for about $7000. If you choose a less-approved version, you might be able to save about $1500.)

In order to save your business a few bucks, you pick the less-expensive, less-safe C1D2 equipment, and install it in you r paint room. You just saved yourself $1500.

Things may be fine for weeks, months, or years, or maybe even go the life of your business without having even a single incident, but lets say, there is one careless guy that leaves a can of sprayable clear or open thinner/reducer on the bench, and something shorts out in the paint mixing system, and ignites those vapors emanating from the can. The fire spreads to the other cans and heats them up, and they start to explode, then the gun washer laden with solvent goes. Before you know it, the entire place is engulfed in flames, and you or your employees are struggling to either get out or put out the fire, and God forbid, they dont survive.

Your fire department arrives and extinguishes the blaze, and you assess the damage to your lifes work and savings, your customers vehicles, and figure out what to say to the family of your deceased employee(s). This is all very extreme and graphic, I know, but I am going somewhere with this.

Now that the day is over, you contact your insurance company. You can rest easy, you say, because you have shopkeepers insurance that covers you for everything with a million-dollar policy, right? Here is where it gets tricky: Perhaps not, everything is not alright. Your insurance adjuster shows up and starts doing his investigation. He starts pouring through your records, and finds the approvals for your paint room classification. Then he goes in and sees the equipment you have in the paint room, and that it is not up to the standards that is defined. Your adjuster walks out, and within the week, you get a letter in the mail from your underwriter with the big red stamp, NOT COVERED/CLAIM DENIED. His reasoning, your paint mixing area is classified as a C1D1 Hazardous Area, but you, the responsible party, installed C1 D2 equipment. That right there is immediate cause for dismissal, and you are left holding the bag for everything. Its a total loss. Everything you have invested, and the lawsuit brought against you for the negligence and wrongful death of your trusted employee(s) has now become catastrophic, and now staring into the business end of a 12-gauge now starts to look appealing to you.

Again, I am sorry, this is all very drastic, and yes, very rare. But it does and has happened. As mentioned before, I am trained and certified to teach Ex-Proof theory to all Sartorius Personnel worldwide, so I have some examples, a few I have shared at the end of this article. So again I would just strongly caution you. Just because someone says you can, doesnt mean you should. Keep priorities in order. Dont be penny wise and pound foolish. Question