Reviews
Part of A quarterly watchlist of six items for member run print studios
Paperwork for independent print studios
A practical document kit for independent print studios, with printmaking processes, safety rules, waste records, and emergency-plan requirements.
What to take away
- Independent print studios shared by multiple people need written documents as much as tools.
- Write the emergency plan down. Verbal instructions do not survive a real incident.
- Use a consistent color scheme for hazard marking so that meaning does not depend on who made the label.
- Induction records protect the studio and the member equally.
The document kit
- House rules,one page, on the wall. State who may use the studio, which processes and materials are allowed, required PPE, cleanup and storage expectations, prohibited activities, and who makes decisions.
- Process list,naming supported and unsupported processes. For each, note the equipment, materials, hazards, controls, and cleanup and waste procedures. Consider processes such as screen printing, ferric-chloride etching, lithography, cyanotype, and monoprint.
- Induction record,signed and dated by the member and instructor for each process. Record the process, hazards and relevant SDS, PPE, equipment and operating steps, cleanup and waste handling, emergency response, and any review or refresher after a significant change.
- Maintenance log,per machine, recording the date, person, work performed, defects, and any follow-up needed.
- Waste register,naming each waste stream, its process and contents, container and label, hazard determination, storage location, and route out. Record applicable dates, the responsible person, and any transporter, destination, manifest, or disposal receipt.
- Emergency plan,posted where it can be read from the bench, with reporting, evacuation, accountability, emergency contacts, and the location of first aid and eyewash.
Print studios may generate solvent- and ink-contaminated rags, screen-reclaim chemistry, ferric-chloride etchant, photopolymer developer, spent photographic fixer, and cyanotype ferricyanide/citrate solutions. List only the streams the studio actually produces, and determine how each must be managed from its SDS and applicable federal and state rules; a stream’s name alone does not establish whether it is hazardous waste.
For waste determined to be hazardous, consult the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements in 40 CFR parts 260–273 and the state environmental agency. Where required for off-site hazardous-waste shipments, document the EPA hazardous waste manifest (EPA Form 8700-22), transporter, and destination; do not treat the register itself as permission to dispose of waste.
Most of the document kit can be written and posted with supplies already on hand. It supports safe work, but does not replace appropriate equipment or training.
The six-document studio kit
- House rulesone page, on the wall
- Process listsupported and unsupported processes
- Induction recordsigned, dated, per member
- Maintenance logper machine, date and person
- Waste registereach stream, container, route
- Emergency planposted, readable from bench
Write each document for the person who has never been in the room. The test is whether a competent printer who has never met you could arrive, read the wall, and work safely without asking anyone a question. Most studio documents fail that test because they were written by someone who already knew the answers.
The emergency plan
Write it down and keep it in the room. The federal requirement for emergency action plans sets a useful minimum: procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency, procedures for evacuation including exit route assignments, and the plan kept in writing, in the workplace, available to read.
Emergency plan minimum contents
- Reporting a fire or other emergency
- Evacuation procedures and exit route assignments
- Plan kept in writing, in the workplace
- Available to read by anyone
- Location of eyewash and first aid kit
- Who to call for a chemical spill
A print studio version adds two lines: where the eyewash and first aid kit are, and who to call if a chemical is spilled. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.151(c) requires suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing where employees may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials. Both the equipment locations and the spill contact should be answerable by a member on their first day.
Marking hazards consistently
Labels invented by whoever was holding the marker are worse than no labels, because they teach people that labels do not mean anything. Adopt a scheme and hold to it.
OSHA’s workplace safety-color provisions are at 29 CFR 1910.144 and 1910.145; ANSI Z535.1 is the Safety Colors standard. OSHA identifies red for fire-protection equipment and danger, and yellow for caution and physical hazards. The color-code language also uses a 100°F flash point for identifying certain portable containers of flammable liquids.
Print the labels rather than writing them. A printed label is read; a handwritten one is decoration.
Apply the scheme to containers, to storage areas and to the machines themselves, and put a small legend on the wall explaining what each color means. A code that only the person who invented it can decode is worse than no code, because it produces false confidence in everyone else.
The physical kit that supports the documents
The physical kit
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| First aid kit, stocked and checked | The plan refers to it |
| Eyewash within reach of wet processes | Corrosive splash response |
| Labeled waste containers, one per stream | The waste register is only real if the bins exist |
| A clipboard per machine | Maintenance logs get filled in when they are attached |
| Printed label maker | Consistency, and legibility |
Assign an owner and a review date to each document. Revisit them when processes, chemicals, equipment, or the layout change, and follow any renewal dates on product labels or manufacturer instructions. Our studio watchlist for independent print studios covers renewals and reviews.
