Floor Finishing Regulations Take Effect June 1st
New regulations that restrict the use of flammable wood floor finishing products will take effect on June 1, a measure that advocates say will prevent house fires. The regulations, issued by the Massachusetts Board of Fire Prevention Regulations, come as a new study reveals that the chemicals targeted in the regulations have caused far more fires than previously thought. READ FACT SHEET READ REPORT
The Massachusetts Floor Finishing Safety Task Force, formed in response to two Somerville fatalities and a third death in Hull, praised the regulations as an important step in protecting the public against these unnecessary risks. The Task Force includes representatives from the floor industry, trade unions, workplace safety, public health and environmental groups.
“These findings should set off an alarm for anyone who has their wood floor refinished or is in the business of refinishing,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, executive director of the workplace safety organization MassCOSH, and coordinator of the Floor Finishing Task Force. “These flammable products should never be used and we applaud the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations for instituting these regulations. We’re also eager to move ahead legislation that will ban the use of these products altogether.”
Conducted by University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Dorchester-based community group Viet AID, the study found that nearly half (43%) of 109 Massachusetts-based hardwood floor finishers interviewed said that their own companies had experienced fires while finishing wood floors. More than two-thirds (65%) said they were aware of other floor finishers who had experienced fires during wood floor finishing jobs.
The community-led Floor Finishing Safety Task Force proposed the regulations to the board in order to curb such fires, most of which are caused by a particular class of products known as lacquer sealer. The new regulations require a permit and a warning sign on every door of buildings where these highly flammable chemicals are used in floor finishing. The regulations also require the removal of ignition sources such as pilot lights before using these materials until the material has dried. Text of the regulations can be found in the Massachusetts regulations 527 CMR 10.15.
Although lacquer sealers are completely unnecessary for finishing wood floors, some floor finishers continue to use them because they are inexpensive and easy to use. These highly flammable materials are easily ignited by heat or sparks from smoking materials, pilot lights, and electrical appliances. The revised regulations address the many different hazards of floor finishing – improper electrical hook-ups, the storage of waste materials, and dust explosion hazards as well as the application of flammable liquids.
According to Lenore Azaroff, a research professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell that led the research project, “The flammable products under question produce vapors so hazardous that any spark produced by actions such as hitting a nail sticking out of the floor or rubbing your pants on a dry winter day can ignite blazes such as those described in Hull and Somerville. Outside of a controlled laboratory environment, there is simply no way to create a safe way to use these products in an industry that, by its nature, involves heavy machinery, friction, and wood dust.”
Many wood floor finishers in Massachusetts are Vietnamese-American. Viet- AID a leader in the Task Force, has been working with MassCOSH and other groups to raise awareness about the dangers of using lacquer sealer.
“We have provided training to the Vietnamese working in this industry to help them learn how to do the job safer and to use less toxic and less flammable products,” said Long Nguyen, Viet AID’s interim executive director. “Unfortunately there are still hundreds of floor finishers out there using flammable products to do their work because it’s believed to be faster and cheaper. The only way to ensure that workers and the public are safe is to take these products off the market.”
According to the Task Force, these regulations are an important first step, but they call on the legislature to pass a bill banning the use of these chemicals altogether.
“Prohibiting the Use and Sale of Highly Flammable Floor Finishing Products,” House Bill 2304, filed by Representative Martin Walsh (Dorchester) and led in the Senate by Senator Patricia Jehlen (Somerville) would prohibit the use and sale of highly flammable wood floor finishing products that can ignite at temperatures less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
