Solvent Safety and Degreasing
Construction and general industry · Ver en español
Talking points
- Solvents — acetone, MEK, toluene, mineral spirits, xylene — dissolve coatings and grease but also dissolve the natural oils in your skin, leading to dermatitis and chemical absorption.
- Most solvents are flammable. Their vapors are heavier than air and can travel along the ground to ignition sources far from where you are working.
- Ventilation is the primary control. Work outdoors or use local exhaust ventilation to keep vapor concentrations below the PEL. Natural ventilation indoors is almost never sufficient.
- Never wash your hands with solvents. They drive contaminants through the skin and into the bloodstream. Use appropriate hand cleaners designed for industrial use.
- Solvent-soaked rags are a spontaneous combustion risk. Place them in approved, self-closing metal containers — never in open trash cans or piled on surfaces.
Ask the crew
Are we using solvents today — and are the rags going into the proper metal containers, or are they sitting out?
Standards this talk is built on
A toolbox talk is a short safety briefing. It supports the training a standard requires; it does not replace it.
Run this talk with your crew and keep the record
In Jobsite, workers sign in on their phones in English or Spanish, and you keep who attended, when, and where, with every other talk your crew has had.
Using an AI assistant? Jobsite's free MCP server serves this library, with OSHA rule text, no sign-in: https://jobsitecerts.com/api/mcp/public (/mcp)
Sign-in sheet
Print this page to collect signatures, or run the talk in Jobsite and workers sign in on their phones.
| Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|
© Jobsite. Free to read aloud, print and use in your own crew's safety meetings. Republishing, reselling or bulk-copying these talks is not permitted.