Revised On: March. 18, 2024 - 6:00 p.m.

Facility-Wide P2 Opportunities

• Identify the importance of safety and regulatory compliance
• Describe ways to keep your business organized

P2 Opportunities for Business Owners

The following P2 opportunities involve fundamental changes to how the business is run or are outside the scope of what an automotive technician may be involved in.

Safety First

Knowing the harms of materials and processes used at your facility makes all the difference in keeping your staff safe. The nature of auto repair and maintenance work exposes employees to various pollutants, hazardous chemicals, and safety risks.

• Training: Provide comprehensive training to all employees on the hazards of working with chemicals, machinery, and equipment. This should include training on the safe handling of hazardous materials, proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and emergency response procedures. Any safety data sheet (SDS) accompanying purchased products should be reviewed by staff handling said product.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Mandate appropriate PPE, gloves, safety goggles, respirators, and hearing protection, as needed. Regularly inspect and replace PPE to ensure its effectiveness.
• Proper Ventilation: Ensure the auto shop has adequate ventilation systems to control indoor air quality. Effective ventilation helps remove fumes, exhaust gases, and airborne contaminants from the workspace, reducing the risk of respiratory issues.
• Emergency Contacts: Keep emergency contact information readily available in case of accidents or spills, including contact numbers for local hazardous materials response teams.
• The added benefit of keeping staff safe is that it often coincides with reduced waste. The proper equipment and training to complete a job mean fewer worker incidents, fewer accidental waste releases, and more trust as a team.

Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory requirements are there to keep human and environmental health at the forefront of your business activities. They often provide a template for preparing, preventing, and responding to accidents or reducing releases of harmful substances. They shouldn’t just be considered requirements that must be complied with but as a way to keep you, your staff, and the surrounding community safe. To understand the importance of a regulation, a good question is, “What is this regulation trying to accomplish?” ADEQ is focused on compliance assistance. If you are unsure of a particular regulation, contact ADEQ for assistance. We’re here to help you understand and meet the requirements that apply to your facility.

Inventory Control System

Inventory control ensures that what’s being purchased is necessary, staff know what they are using, and expired products don’t occur. Inventory control is mentioned in a few of the topics but focuses on easy-to-implement inventory control activities. In this section, we will further delve into the subject and provide insights on how to set up an efficient inventory management system to help streamline your business operations. How do you get started?

Before implementing any inventory control methods, performing an inventory check of all the products and materials you have on-site is crucial. Make sure your products are organized to ensure your initial audit is accurate. You can use a digital spreadsheet or physical log to track your material or product, whether it has been used, and how much is still on-site. It is recommended that an inventory log be kept to avoid any discrepancies. Remember to note the date when you perform this audit. This will give you a starting point to work with for implementing inventory control methods.

Next, you need to determine your inventory’s par levels. PAR stands for Periodic Automatic Replacement levels, and it's a great tool to eliminate the risk of running out of items in your shop. You can determine the minimum amount of inventory to always keep on hand. The formula is as follows: 

Par Level = Average Inventory Usage + Safety Stock
Number of Deliveries per Time Period

Use the formula above to calculate the minimum amount of crucial inventory you should keep. Input these amounts into your tracking system to receive notifications when your stock is below the PAR level. Always order enough to restock up to that level to maintain an appropriate inventory.

Now, you can start tracking! To effectively manage inventory, it's crucial to track the usage of materials. Do you have a system to monitor when materials are purchased when they're used up, which staff uses them, and how often they're being used? This information is essential for successful inventory control. It's recommended to keep a record of item names, descriptions, date of purchase, amount purchased, and cost of each item. This key information can help determine how long items stay in inventory before reordering, which items are frequently used, and how long it takes to get through certain products. Quick access to this data can help you make informed decisions and improve your inventory management. With a tracking system ready to go, it’s time to employ some inventory control methods:

Reducing excess inventory—Having extra stock is ideal if you’re not quite sure what will be needed from week to week, but tracking can help to solve that. Excess inventory is money tied up in parts or supplies while inviting theextra risk of having to store possibly harmful chemicals on-site. Through tracking your inventory, you’ll be able to identify products or parts that are kept in storage for a substantial amount of time before being used and make adjustments to purchasing as necessary to reduce inventory.

Just-in-time (JIT) purchasing—JIT purchasing allows you to have only what’s needed on-site. This requires frequent inventory tracking so purchases are made as a product runs out.

First-in/First-Out (FIFO) —FIFO is where items in use are used to completion before new items are opened. This would prevent technicians from having multiple bottles of the same product on their workstation half used. An easy way to implement this is to physically organize products with opened items stored at the front of a shelf and newly purchased items in the back. Another option is to use a material checkout system.

Material Checkout —A material checkout system will make it so products in use by staff have to be checked out from an inventory list for use. This lets you track employee usage and prevent a product from being opened while one is already available (Checkout list, can’t use the material until checked out).

Segregate Materials — Segregating types of products and waste ensures that accidental mixing or disposal does not occur. Every product at your facility should be evaluated for incompatibility with other chemicals. The placement of these products should then be separated. This extends to waste as well. Hazardous wastes should not be kept near solid wastes. Mistakes happen, and mixing non-hazardous waste with hazardous can result in more hazardous waste generation for the facility. It should be clear when you are adding to or managing hazardous waste.

Labels and Dates —Using product labels and dates makes it easy to see which products belong where and if they are past their expiration date. For instance, flammable materials can be marked with a red label, meaning they should be stored in a flammable cabinet. If you employ this technique, do this at the intake of any applicable part/product. (Physical label and acts as a reminder, can be done on intake)

Inspections

Don’t just set and forget! Routine inspections of inventory, PPE, structures, equipment, and processes are recommended. Time spent putting P2 activities into practice and managing waste safely needs continuous oversight to ensure they become standardized for the facility. Every staff member can contribute to ensuring they are taking the precautions to use PPE, manage waste safely, and reduce their waste generation.

Signage and Training

Effective training and proper signage are essential to ensure staff members remain constantly aware of ongoing P2 considerations. Training sessions should cover various topics, including best management practices for activities carried out at your facility, as well as sustainable concepts such as P2 and circular economy. Regular training helps reinforce the lessons learned by both new and existing staff members. Similarly, signage serves as a visual reminder to help keep everyone on the same page. You can check out the following signage in our additional resources tab!

Paperwork

A significant component of many businesses' solid waste generation is paper. The recommended option to reduce paper waste is to move to digital invoices and forms. There may be a learning curve and setup costs associated. Still, with proper file management, pulling any previous customer records to help diagnose recurring issues or resolve billing discrepancies would be easy. You will also reduce any time and space spent organizing physical files. Be sure to recycle unwanted documents. Shred only confidential or sensitive documents, as shredding is more costly. If there are documents that you need to print, consider adjusting your printer settings to double-sided and black ink only. In addition, review any forms you use and adjust to fit in as few pages as possible. This can be taken even further by purchasing only recycled printer paper to support the demand for recycled products.

In the next lesson, we will talk about P2 Opportunities for Business Owner Considerations.