Manchester Collision Center Goes Green

At Manchester Collision Center, we're dedicated to making sure our repair processes and equipment meet the highest standards for health, safety and environmental protection. We?re constantly researching new ways to change the industry as well as the way we interact with our workplace and environment. Here are just a few examples of the extra steps we take every day to help ensure the protection of our employees and environment.

Protecting Our Natural Environment

    
• Manchester Collision is in compliance with all applicable state and federal environmental regulations including hazardous waste laws and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP). The business has a third party conduct compliance audits semi-annually.
    
• Our spray booths have commercially insulated walls to keep heat in and use afterburners to quickly ramp up the heat. They also have programmed timers that shut off automatically, reducing the use of heat and electricity.
    
• To reduce energy usage, we use fast-dry paint products and infra-red/UV-B lights to cure paint and shorten the duration of the spray booths bake cycles.
    
• Our technicians are ASE Refrigerant Recovery and Recycling Certified to comply with industry standards and regulatory requirements for refrigerant recovery and recycling.
    
• Excess paint and thinner is always recycled. Residue is washed off with a gun cleaner to eliminate fumes and eliminate solvent-based thinner use. A paint thinner recycler is used to distill and reuse thinner as well as turn waste paint into a solid material that is safely and properly managed.
    
• We recycle all cardboard, sheet metal & plastic bumper body parts. Our facility participates in a single-stream recycling program to ensure that the maximum amount generated from business operations in recycled.
    
• Paint spraying always occurs in a downdraft spray booth with sophisticated HVLP (high volume, low pressure guns). Use of HVLP spray guns can significantly reduce overspray which will reduce harmful emissions and save paint. Manchester Collision uses energy efficient lighting throughout  the building, has an Energy Star purchase policy for equipment, and     participates in the EPA Energy Star Challenge to reduce its energy usage on an on-going basis.
    
• The facility uses non-toxic janitorial supplies throughout the building to help ensure that employees and customers exposure to harmful chemicals is minimized.

Protecting our Employees

    
• All spray applications (including primer, basecoat and, clear coat applications) are performed in a spray booth or ventilated and enclosed prep station which minimizes painter and other worker exposures to solvents and other harmful components of paints and coatings during spray applications.
    
• All of our painters wear hooded fresh-air paint masks that constantly supplies fresh outside air to the painter.
    
• Painters also wear a full body paint suit to avoid skin absorption of toxins as well as impermeable gloves to prevent solvents and other skin irritants from coming in contact with the skin.
    
• Painters & technicians consistently wear safety goggles or glasses at all times to prevent eye injuries that can be caused from debris, equipment and other eye irritants. All associates are trained to focus on health and safety procedures on a daily basis to ensure an accident-free work environment.
    
• All of our staff receive annual trainings on workplace safety issues such as Emergency Response and Fire Extinguisher Usage, Chemical ?Right to Know? Training, and Respiratory Protection.  
    
• All Painters who wear respirators receive medical evaluations as well as fit testing and training annually.
    
• Manchester Collision uses automated gun cleaners to reduce painters and technicians exposure to harmful cleaning solvents by allowing them to perform part of the cleaning process remotely. Automatic cleaners also typically reuse solvents in the cleaning process which reduces solvent waste.