Shop Safety & Lift Operation

An auto shop puts heavy vehicles overhead, fuel near sparks, and running engines indoors, all in the same room. Most serious injuries come from a few routine jobs done carelessly: a vehicle set on the wrong lift points, a jack with no stand under it, a solvent fire, or exhaust building up in a closed bay. Learn the routines here and use them on every car, including the quick ones.

What You Will Be Able to Do

• Inspect a lift before use and spot a reason to take it out of service.
• Find the correct lift points, raise a vehicle in stages and set it on the mechanical locks.
• Support a vehicle correctly with a floor jack and rated jack stands.
• Control exhaust, fire, chemical, battery and compressed air hazards in the bay.
• Recognize a hybrid or electric vehicle and know which parts are not yours to touch.

Lift Operation

A vehicle lift holds several thousand pounds over your head. The main US standards come from the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) and are published through ANSI: ALCTV covers how lifts are built and tested, and ALOIM covers how they are operated, inspected and maintained. ALOIM calls for a qualified lift inspector to inspect every lift at least once a year. It also calls for operators to be trained, so ask to be shown your shop's lifts before you use one alone.

Lift Types You Will See

Check the Lift Before You Use It

Walk around the lift before a vehicle goes on it. Do not use it, and tell your supervisor, if you find any of these:

• Hydraulic fluid on the floor or weeping at hoses and fittings.
• Locks that do not engage with a clear click on every post.
• Frayed, kinked or slack cables or chains, or uneven post movement.
• Arm restraints that do not hold the arm in place once the lift is raised.
• Pads or adapters that are crushed, cracked or missing.
• A missing capacity label, or an annual inspection that is overdue.

Raise a Vehicle Step by Step

1. Check the capacity and the weight. Lift capacity is stamped on the lift, commonly 9,000 to 10,000 pounds for passenger bays. Electric vehicles and heavy-duty pickups weigh more than they look. Weight balance matters too, because a nose-heavy truck can overload the front arms of an asymmetric lift even when the total is within the rating.
2. Check overhead. Look for roof racks, antennas, door openers, lights and exhaust reels.
3. Clear the area. Nobody stays in the vehicle. Move tools, creepers and drain pans out of the way.
4. Position the vehicle. Center it as the lift maker specifies, with the center of gravity between the arms.
5. Find the manufacturer's lift points. Use the service information or ALI's lifting point guide, not a guess. Pinch welds, frame rails and reinforced pads differ by vehicle. Some vehicles need specific adapters, and using a flat pad can crush a floor pan or damage a battery pack.
6. Set the pads. Each pad must sit flat and square under its lift point. Use only the height adapters the lift maker supplies. Never stack blocks of wood.
7. Raise until the tires just leave the floor, then stop. Check all pads for contact.
8. Shake test. Stand clear and push firmly on the vehicle. If it shifts, lower it and reset the pads.
9. Raise to working height, then lower onto the locks. Listen for the locks on each post and confirm the vehicle has settled onto them.

Warning: Never go under a vehicle held only by hydraulic pressure. Seals and hoses fail. The vehicle must be resting on the mechanical locks.

1. Watch the balance as you work. Removing an engine, transmission or rear axle shifts the center of gravity. Use the lift maker's method, such as supplementary supports, before heavy parts come off.
2. To lower, clear tools and people, raise slightly off the locks, release them, and lower slowly while watching all four corners. Swing the arms out before you drive the vehicle off.

Floor Jacks and Jack Stands

A floor jack is for lifting, not holding. If a job happens away from a lift, use this order:

1. Park on level, hard ground, set the parking brake and chock the wheels that stay down.
2. Lift only at a jacking point shown in the service information.
3. Set a jack stand under a solid support point right away. Plastic trim, exhaust pipes and thin floor metal are not support points.
4. Lower the vehicle gently onto the stand, then shake it before you reach underneath.

Stand ratings are often stated per pair, so a stand marked 3 tons may mean 3 tons for the pair, not each. Read the label on the stand. Take a bent or cracked stand out of service.

Warning: Never get under a vehicle supported only by a jack. Jacks can sink, slip or leak down without warning.

Exhaust and Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide has no smell or color. It causes headache, dizziness and confusion, then collapse. Engine exhaust in a closed bay can reach harmful levels quickly, and the OSHA limit for an 8-hour average is 50 parts per million.

• Connect the exhaust extraction hose before you start an engine indoors, and use one for each running vehicle.
• Open doors and keep ventilation running. Do not rely on an open door alone in a long test.
• Move a vehicle outside for long idle tests when you have no extraction.
• If you feel dizzy or get a headache, go to fresh air and tell someone.

Fire

Fuel, solvents and sparks share the same building.

• Know where the nearest extinguisher is before you need it, and confirm it is rated for flammable liquid and electrical fires. Shops commonly use ABC units.
• Use the PASS method if you are trained and the fire is small: pull the pin, aim at the base, squeeze, sweep.
• Do not use water on burning fuel or oil, because it spreads the fire.
• Keep fuel in approved containers, and catch fuel in an approved container during fuel system work. Never drain it into an open pan near a heater or a grinder.
• Keep aerosol cleaners away from torches, welders and grinders. Chlorinated brake cleaner can break down into toxic phosgene gas near a welding arc, so clean with it well away from any welding and let parts dry first.
• Put solvent and oil soaked rags in a closed metal waste can. Oily rags can heat up and ignite on their own.

If a fire is beyond a small extinguisher, leave, follow the shop's evacuation plan and call 911. Do not go back for tools.

Chemicals and Skin Contact

Every chemical in the shop has a Safety Data Sheet. Know where they are kept, and read the label before you use a product for the first time.

• Wear nitrile gloves for oil, coolant, brake fluid and solvents. Change them when they tear.
• Used engine oil picks up contaminants, and long-term skin contact is linked to dermatitis and skin cancer. Wash exposed skin and do not keep oily rags in your pockets.
• Never clean your hands with gasoline or brake cleaner. Both go through skin and dry it out.
• Know where the eyewash station is. Flush a chemical splash for at least 15 minutes, and take the product name to the doctor.
• Keep used oil, coolant, brake fluid and solvents in their own marked containers. Mixing them can turn recyclable waste into hazardous waste. Nothing goes down a floor drain.
• Ethylene glycol coolant tastes sweet and is poisonous to people and animals. Wipe up spills.

Brake and Clutch Dust

Older and some imported friction parts can contain asbestos, and you cannot tell by looking. OSHA's asbestos standard has a section just for brake and clutch work. Treat all brake dust as if it might contain asbestos.

• Never blow out brakes or clutches with compressed air, and never dry brush them.
• Use an enclosure with a HEPA vacuum, or a low-pressure wet cleaning method that keeps the dust wet and collects it in a catch basin.
• Dispose of dust and wipes in sealed, labeled containers as your shop directs.

Batteries

A lead-acid battery gives off hydrogen gas while charging, and a spark can make it explode and throw acid.

• Wear splash goggles and gloves when handling or charging a battery.
• Keep sparks and flames away, and charge in a ventilated area.
• Turn the charger off before you connect or disconnect the clips.
• Disconnect the negative cable first and reconnect it last. With the ground cable off, a wrench that touches the body while you work on the positive post will not short the battery.
• Use a battery strap or carrier. Batteries are heavy, and hugging one puts acid against your clothes.
• Treat spilled acid as your shop's spill plan directs, usually by neutralizing with baking soda and then rinsing.

Compressed Air and Air Tools

Shop air often runs at 120 psi or higher.

• Check hoses and couplers before use. Tag out anything cut, bulging or cracked.
• Do not point an air nozzle at yourself or anyone else, and never blow dust off clothing or skin. Air can enter the body through a cut and cause serious injury.
• OSHA limits air used for cleaning to under 30 psi at the nozzle, and requires chip guarding and PPE. Use a nozzle that meets this rule.
• Use impact-rated sockets on impact tools. A chrome socket can shatter.
• Wear hearing protection when you run impact tools, grinders and air chisels. OSHA's action level for hearing protection programs starts at an 85 decibel 8-hour average, and these tools can run well above that.

What to Wear in the Bay

• Safety glasses with side shields, rated ANSI Z87.1, whenever you are in the bay.
• Boots with safety toes and oil-resistant soles.
• Close-fitting clothes, with long hair tied back and no rings or necklaces. A ring on a battery terminal or a hood latch can cause a serious burn or tear a finger.
• No loose gloves near rotating equipment such as a brake lathe, drill press or bench grinder.

Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

Hybrid and electric vehicles carry high-voltage systems, often 100 to 800 volts of direct current. Working on those systems requires specific training, the right insulated PPE and the manufacturer's procedure. This guide does not qualify you, and neither does general shop experience.

Warning: Orange cables and the parts they connect to are high voltage. Contact can kill. If you have not been trained and authorized for that vehicle, do not touch, cut, unplug or probe them, and do not pull the service disconnect.

Even if you never open the high-voltage system, these rules apply to you:

• Check for hybrid or EV badges, a charge port and orange cables before you start any job.
• A vehicle that seems silent may be on and able to move. Confirm it is shut off, and keep the key fob away from the vehicle.
• Shutting off the vehicle does not mean the system is safe. High voltage can stay in the system after shutdown until a trained person follows the disable procedure.
• Use lift points that clear the battery pack. A damaged pack can overheat and catch fire hours or days later, so report any strike or dent right away.
• Tell your supervisor about any damaged orange cable, crash damage, leaking battery coolant or burning smell. Keep people away and do not touch it.

Routine tire, brake and fluid work is often possible on these vehicles, but follow the service information. Some brake systems can apply on their own, and some coolant loops serve high-voltage parts.

Airbags and Other Stored Energy

Some parts can hurt you even with the engine off.

• Airbags and seat belt pretensioners can fire if mishandled. Follow the service procedure for disabling the system before you work near them, and carry a live airbag with the cover facing away from you.
• Hot radiators hold pressure. Let the system cool before you open it.
• A coil spring on a strut holds enough force to kill. Compress it only with an approved spring compressor.
• Tires under pressure store a lot of energy. Stay out of the path of a tire while it inflates.

Common Mistakes

Check Your Understanding

1. You raise a pickup a few inches and the rear shifts when you push on it. What do you do? Lower it, reset the pads on the correct lift points and try again. Do not raise it further.
2. A lift has a small puddle of oil under the power unit, but it still goes up fine. Can you use it? No. Tell your supervisor. A leak is a reason to take the lift out of service until it is checked.
3. You need to diagnose a rough idle for 20 minutes in a closed bay in winter. What do you set up first? Connect the exhaust extraction hose and confirm the ventilation is running.
4. A tire job comes in on a hybrid, and you see an orange cable with a torn cover near the rear wheel. What do you do? Do not touch it. Stop, keep people away and tell your supervisor, so that a trained technician can deal with it.

Key Takeaways

• Use the manufacturer's lift points, shake test the vehicle and rest it on the mechanical locks before you go under it.
• A jack lifts and a stand holds. Never work under a jack alone.
• Connect exhaust extraction before you run an engine indoors.
• Keep brake dust wet or vacuumed, never blown.
• High-voltage hybrid and EV work needs specific training. Orange cables are not yours to touch without it.
• Speak up when you see a shortcut. Stopping a job for a real hazard is part of the work.