The Safeworker Story
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see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqma1k3I50k
The Safeworker Story – A Healthier And Safer Future For Car Body Repairers
Within the European Union, more than 100,000 car body repair workers are directly exposed to the organic compound, styrene. Following a recent study, approximately 1,300 people a year who are exposed to styrene go on to develop health problems. The compound has been potentially linked to asthma, dermatitis and other indirect health issues.
Styrene, which is derived from petroleum and natural gas by-products, is widely used in the production of car repair materials such as bodyfiller.
In response to Styrene Reduction Directives, the European Union Framework 6 Programme commissioned a project with a grant of €1.3 million, aimed at removing the use of styrene in vehicle body fillers in order to improve conditions for workers in the car body repair industry. The project, involving participants from Denmark, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, was named “SafeWorker”.
For three years, the “Safeworker” consortium has been involved in researching and patenting a variety of bodyfiller materials which are hardened by exposure to ultra violet light; the most successful are now undergoing extensive laboratory and field trials prior to their launch.
The “Safeworker” products are not only intended to be more environmentally friendly and safer to use than conventional bodyfillers, they are also expected to reduce material wastage and shorten the time taken to repair a car. It is anticipated they will eventually replace the market for traditional bodyfillers.
“Safeworker” is a story of collaborative product research, development and testing across influential European organisations*. It is a compelling story that now unfolds on the website http://www.safeworkeruv.com
*Participating organisations include:
Auto & Miljø – (Denmark)
Confederación Española de Talleres de reparación de automóviles y afines – (Spain)
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung ev – (Germany)
Glas-Craft (UK) Limited – (UK)
Impact Repair Centres Ltd – (UK)
Institute Pedro Nunes Associação para a Inovação em Ciência e Tecnologia – (Portugal)
Motorbranschens Riksförbund – (Sweden)
Movac Group Ltd – (UK)
Pera Innovation Ltd – (UK)
Proxima NTR – (Poland)
Retail Motor Industry Federation Ltd – (UK)
UVASol Ltd – (UK)Project Objectives
• Save 250,000 working hours per annum
• Save medical associated costs for the EC of €50M per annum
• Faster repair turnaround time
• Increased equal employment opportunities
• Commercialisation of developed technology can occur at any time after project start
• Composite vehicle body filler material of comparable performance to existing products
• A combined material and UV light application system that enables transmission of sufficient UV light energy from a lamp into a volume of UV curable filler.
• Curable to a maximum depth of 3 mm in under 180 seconds
• Reduce occupational asthma and dermatitis by 1250 workers per annum
• Reduce styrene emissions by 13,800 kilograms per annum
• Educate at least 20,000 SME end users in the harmful effects of styrene
• Educate at least 20,000 SME end users in the benefits of styrene reduction
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