pressure washer safety and Avoidable Hazards

Think pressure washer safety, don't let this happen to you.

Heard about the guy that was cleaning a hood at a resturaunt, his van caught fire and fried his van and his machine and part of the resturaunt roof to boot.

The worst part is he didn't have insurance or a fire extinguisher on hand to put out the fire. He had chemicals, brooms and brushes stored behind the machine and ran the machine without moving them first. There was also kitchen grease on the floor from the last job. Do you think pressure washer safety ever crossed his mind?

The lessons to learn here are:

1) Do not run a machine in a van with chemicals or extra fuel near the machine. Remove all flamables from the van.

2) Keep a clean area all the way around your machine. And clean up any messes from the last job.

3) Never refill the fuels while the engine is still hot enough to ignite the fumes of the gas or diesel fuel.

4) Never store flamables in the van when the machine is running. Open all of the doors for proper ventilation.

5) Always carry a fire extinguisher that will put out a grease fire.

6) Carry insurance against your rig and the contents of your van along with liability coverage.

7) Don't park near the building.

8) If you spill fuel on the van floor boards make sure it is cleaned up and no fumes are present before starting your machine.

9) Keep all plastic away from the exhaust.

10) Never leave a machine running when unattended.

I know, Some of you will say he got what he deserved, after all the above rules all fall into the realm of simple common sense.

If you think you're being more competitive by not carrying insurance Forget it! You are only fooling yourself and courting financial disaster. Freely providing copies of your insurance certificate to your customers will only enhance your professional credibility, secure more jobs and help to justify the prices you need to make a solid profit.

Sometimes when you are very tired it may be difficult to always do thorough cleanups between jobs but tired or not develop the discipline to clean up every time. After all, you think pressure washer safety because you're a professional... Right?

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