Miscellaneous Stir Sticks, 2010
There are many smart people doing many stupid things when it comes to safety in the dye studio. Its easy to be lazy, to think “oh, just this little bit does not matter” and all of us know that old habits are hard to break. Those old habits are not only hard to change but they are difficult to recognize and re-evaluate. The change may be as simple as rearranging your workspace or it may be more complicated like to stop drinking tea or coffee while you work (like that’s going to happen). But with some subtle and not so subtle reminders all us can make our dyeing practices safer, even if it is one little step at a time.
Dye Pot Lids & Rings, 2010
BASIC SHOULD AND SHOULD NOTS:
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, relax, take a break, day dream about your colors, do not dye.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Do not eat or smoke while working.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Do not drink while working. It is very easy to accidently pick up the wrong container. Also, spills happen quickly and foolishly.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Read all the labels carefully. This is your initial indication if a material is toxic or hazardous in any way. Make sure every container and product is labeled. You may know what it is but another person in your studio does not.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Tidy up at the end of each work session. I know, who can be bothered? But, be bothered! It is important to seal containers, put things away. Make sure anything that is potentially dangerous is properly stored and out of reach from little persons and fuzzy creatures that may live with you. Be a good studio-keeper even if you can’t be bothered to be a good house-keeper.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Dye Drawer Stuff, 2010
Ideally our work spaces are separate from our living spaces. If your studio is in your home consider what it is that you are doing in that space and set up your studio carefully. Is there a better place you can do specific studio activities? For example, mixing dyes in an enclosed box or heating dye pots outside and not on the kitchen stovetop because we SHOULD NOT BE USING KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Use a HEPA vacuum or a wet vac to vacuum dust and dirt. This prevents the dust from becoming airborne again.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
WEAR protective clothing: gloves, goggles, respirators and aprons when necessary. Turns out you have to have it on your body to protect yourself. Put those gloves on your hands.
Dye Gloves, all sorts and sizes, 2010
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Wear work clothes and wash them separately from your other clothes.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS.
Know potential exposure hazards and first aid treatments for those exposures.
DO NOT USE KITCHEN EQUIPMENT OR UTENSILS. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Dye Pots and Bucket, 2010
KNOW YOUR MATERIALS
- Choose the safest materials to use for your artwork. Find substitutes for toxic or hazardous materials.
- Collect MSDS reports for each chemical you use in your studio. These are extremely valuable references that are available from the manufacturer and often from the supplier. Learn how to read them. Find them online: http://www.ilpi.com/msds/
- Read labels and instructions for the products that you use. Ask the supplier for safety information and precautions that should be taken.
- Inventory your materials.
- Any substance being treated as a health hazard should be treated as a fire hazard as well.
- Know the shelf life of your materials. How does the shelf life change once the material is mixed with other chemicals or with water?
- Follow safe storage guidelines for flammable or toxic chemicals.
- Properly dispose of chemicals or materials once you are finished using them. If dye baths are acid or alkaline, neutralize them before disposal.
- Use adequate ventilation. There are two kinds of ventilation: dilute and local exhaust systems. Dilute means bringing clean air into the work area in order to dilute the contaminated air. Local exhaust systems collect contaminated air and remove it from the work area.
Acute and chronic reactions to chemical exposures can occur through ingestion, inhalation and skin contact. These exposures can occur in five forms of materials:
DUST: particles generated from handling, crushing, grinding.
MIST: droplets airborne through boiling, bubbling, spraying, splashing and agitation.
FUMES: small, solid particles formed by a chemical reaction like oxidation.
VAPORS: gaseous forms of substances which are normally in liquid or solid states: changed to vapors by increases in pressure or decreases in temperature.
GASES: compressible formless fluids that can occupy a space or enclosure
*Shortened and adapted from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Industrial Environment, Its Evaluation and Control. (Washington D.C. : US Government Printing Office 1973).
Not all of these may apply to your work but it is good to have a clear understanding of all of them so you recognize them. Remember, the smaller the particle the deeper into the lungs the material will go.
CONTACTS, REGULATIONS AND READING
Local Department of Environmental Quality
Local Fire Department
Local Poison Control
Local Department of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines.
Art Hazards: Internet and Library Resources:
Monona Rossol/ Arts, Craft and Theater Safety (A.C.T.S.):
Environmental Protection Health and Safety (EPHA) Art Safety:
Clark, Nancy, Thomas Cutter and Jean-Ann McGrane. Ventilation: A Practical Guide for Artists, Craftspeople, and Others in the Arts. Nick Lyon Books, originally published Center for Occupational Hazards, New York, 1984.
McCann, Michael. Health Hazards Manual for Artists. Lyons Press, New York.
Rossol, Monona. The Artist’s Complete Health and Safety Guide. 2nd edition. Allworth Press copublished with American Council for the Arts, New York, 1994.
Rossol, Monona. “Accent On Safety”, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot.
#86 Spring 1991, p.36-37.
#87 Summer 1991, p. 30-31.
#88 Fall 1991, p. 20-21.
#89 Winter 1991, p. 56-58.
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