Tutorial on
carving stone
Health and safety
http://www.hse.gov.uk/stonemasonry/
http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/index.htm
When I
go to the artisan’s studios in Italy, I am always amazed to see the lack
of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) worn by people who work all day
long with marble. Few goggles, masks and ear plugs or goggles are worn,
which is a shame. I remember having seen an artisan with his whole face
white, nostrils white and the rest, because I was using the angle
grinder with virtually no protection. Some people don’t even use steel
toe cap boots but sandals instead. Well, it is not a good example as
every day, more people get injured because they don’t wear the correct
PPE, the worst is to develop a long term illness associated to the arts
practiced without consideration for the health and safety. The best way
to deal with the risks associated with your art is to search for the
health hazards of any product you are working with, so that you know
what you are dealing with.
Stones
Most
stones contain silica, which can result in a disease called silicosis.
The silica or asbestos content varies from virtually none at all for
some limestones and up 80% for granites. Sandstone, slate, soapstone and
granite contain large amounts of free silica. Serpentine, soapstone and
greenstones contain asbestos which is not better. Even marble and
limestone stones contain certain amount of silica. Therefore, it is
better to know about the seriouness of the danger prior to choosing a
particular stone. Basically, I avoid all the most dangerous stones to
work with. In this case, I remove completely the most hazardous
substances and dusts, I still have to deal with marble, limestone and
alabaster dust, but the protective gear is much lighter as well as less
expensive to get.
Noise
Machineries create noise, dust and vibrations. All of these inconvenient
have to be known and protections need to be worn otherwise, the
consequences on you health could be irreversible. For the noise, ear
plugs are not very effective, I prefer my ear defenders. Don’t buy the
cheapest, their sound proofing is not very good, upgrade to a more
efficient ear defender set. Check the specifications first.
Dust
A good
mask is supposed to protect your lungs against the finest dust, a whole
range of masks is available. The data sheets should mention what the
mask is used for. Goggles are also an important piece of kit to have to
protect yourself from stone chippings and the dust. If you wear
prescription glasses with your goggles, the mask, will build up with
mist, good goggles need to have an anti-mist coating but sadly it is not
a panacea.
Vibrations See
http://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/index.htm
Pneumatic and electric tools can create a high
level of vibrations, and that needs to be controlled. The Vibration
White Fingers (VWF) syndrome is caused by the loss of blood circulation
in the fingers and the effects can be irreversible. The first signs
appear when you feel some numbness or tickling in the fingers after you
have worked over a long period of time without any proper PPE. That is
the wake up call to stop working this way. Anti-vibration gloves exist,
and I have tried some which were impossible to work with. I have found
some padded gloves which were very good. When I work with my Cuturi
hammer, I use these gloves and I try not to grasp firmly the tools so
that most of the vibrations are not transmitted to my body. The recent
regulations (UK regulations) indicate that we should not work for more
that 20-30 minutes at a time or per day… Well, we can’t really work
then!!! A fine balance has to be found to get a fair compromise between
health and art. The Health And Safety Executive (HSE) indicated the
latest directives in the UK, and can be found with the link:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/misc112.pdf.
Miscellaneous
You
need a good set of gloves to protect your hands. I use different types,
depending of the type of work:
thick
gloves when lifting stones, hammering and using the angle grinder.
thin
gloves when using the riflers.
padded
gloves with vibrating tools.
Mechanical/Manual handling.
See
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg383.pdf and
http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/index.htm
If
possible, use as many mechanical means as possible to handle the
sculptures and the blocks.
I have
a few lifting machines every sculptor must have as well:
A 100kg trolley for small stones
A
1tonne folding crane
A wooden “A frame” which I have built but not used yet as I am
waiting for a load of heavy stones to be delivered from a stone
supplier.
All
these very useful “helpers” give me the flexibility to move my stones
around without hand-lifting too much.
Don’t
forget to watch your fingers and your feel when selecting or moving your
stones, it’s so easy to squash a finger when the stone falls or slips
that it is worth taking some extra care and taking your time to:
-prepare the area where the stone will go next, avoid any trip hazard at
any cost
-wear
your gloves & steel toe cap shoes
-assess
the weight
-if it
is heavier than 20kg, use other means for lifting i.e. a folding crane,
a friend could help, don’t lift it on your own. A back is for life!
-grip
it firmly and slowly
-keep
your body as close as possible to your stone
-get
use to know how your feet are positioned so that you won’t trip over
another stone or get your foot twisted if the position is uncomfortable
after the stone is lifted
-lift
using your legs, not your back
A lot of valuable information can be seen in the
link
http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/index.htm
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