Seven key questions to ask your abrasive blaster/sand blaster
Before you entrust your valuable assets into the hands of an abrasive blaster, it makes sense to make sure you've chosen the right service provider. These questions will help you make a good decision.
1. How do I know you'll take care of my equipment?
Before you entrust your equipment or treasured item to an abrasive blaster, make sure they'll take adequate care of it. It's always a good idea to look at their own yard and equipment – if they don't seem to take care of that, you may be better off going elsewhere!
Ask them about the equipment they use but, more importantly, about their experience with abrasive blasting.
You're welcome to drop by to Tauranga Sandblasting and look around our premises. We have been in business since 1980, and only getting better with time. Many of our operators have been in the business for many years and have honed their skills to a high standard.
2. What abrasive medium do you use?
Despite the term "sandblasting", sand shouldn't really be used. Blasting with sand releases silicates into the air which is a health hazard for the operator and others in the vicinity, much like asbestos fibres that can cause cancer.
At Tauranga Sandblasting, we use mainly garnet, which is very effective in removing any unwanted layer from metal but is safe for people and the environment. It is completely inert, so even if garnet particles find their way into the airways or ecosystem, it does no damage.
We can use a range of abrasive mediums to suit the specific application.
3. What guarantees do you offer?
Nobody wants things to go wrong, but if they do, there has to be legal recourse. You need to be protected just as surely as your equipment you entrust to an abrasive blaster. Find out what your abrasive blaster has in place to deal with any possible future problems.
4. Do you have adequate public liability insurance?
You have to protect your investment and ensure that you're not on the losing end if things should go wrong as a result of abrasive blasting procedures. With Tauranga Sandblasting, you have the peace of mind that our standard public liability insurance covers losses to $1 million, with cover of ten times that available by prior arrangement.
5. How do you communicate with me?
Abrasive blasting/sandblasting/ is what we think about at Tauranga Sandblasting, so you can concentrate on your business. We'll get in touch with you by phone with regular reminders of upcoming scheduled work and, when the time comes, you can be sure we'll be there and ready to do our job.
6. What are you doing about staff safety?
You can appreciate that a high-powered stream of abrasive particles that can strip paint or rust from metal can be harmful to people if not used correctly. Also, the dust it creates could be a health hazard. The level of care an abrasive blasting operation takes of the people in it gives you an indication of the level of care they take with your equipment too, so do watch out for dodgy practices.
Staff at Tauranga Sandblasting are issued with full safety gear and are expected to adhere strictly to safety procedures. We take our responsibility as employers seriously and, in turn, we're rewarded with happy and healthy staff, few accidental interruptions to our work and people who remain with us long enough to give our customers the benefit of their experience and skills.
7. What are you doing about protecting the environment?
Abrasive blasting/sandblasting is an industrial process that uses force and sometimes chemicals, as well as potentially introducing foreign matter in the form of the abrasive medium into the local environment. If you have any concern for the environment, you should question your abrasive blaster about the steps they undertake to limit environmental impact to the minimum.
This is why we only use inert garnet for our abrasive blasting operations, contain contamination by working in enclosed spaces and cleaning up when we're done. Any spillage that might occur will not damage the environment, as the garnet dust is inert.
The latest audit by Environment Bay of Plenty shows Tauranga Sandblasting achieved a "High Level of Compliance".