Vehicle repair, bodyshops and dealerships, UK wide
Automotive Health and Safety
A vehicle workshop puts respiratory sensitisers, suspended vehicles, high voltage batteries and compressed air into a space the size of a small warehouse. AL23 Safety helps vehicle repairers, bodyshops, dealer groups and fleet workshops control those risks and hold up to inspection across the UK.
Why it matters in automotive
The risks are real and so are the duties
HSE launched 1,000 targeted inspections of motor vehicle repair businesses from 24 September 2025. The focus is isocyanate paint, the leading cause of occupational asthma in the UK. Inspectors are checking three controls in the booth. Ventilation at negative pressure, air fed breathing apparatus rather than an ordinary filtering half mask and a clearance time displayed where sprayers can see it.
They are also checking health surveillance backed by biological monitoring, which means urine testing that finds exposure before symptoms appear. Outcomes are improvement notices, prohibition notices and prosecution with unlimited fines. HSE's lung disease work counts around 22,000 new cases of breathing and lung problems each year.
The main risks
Where the harm comes from
Isocyanate paint
Two pack paint is the leading cause of occupational asthma in the UK and a single uncontrolled exposure can sensitise a sprayer for life.
Vehicles falling
Vehicles dropping from unsupported jacks remain a recurring cause of death, alongside lift and prop failures.
High voltage systems
Traction packs hold enough energy to kill and a damaged pack can enter thermal runaway and re-ignite hours later.
Dust and fume
All welding fume is a Group 1 human carcinogen including mild steel. Filler sanding produces respirable dust including silica.
Tyres and wheels
Inflation outside a cage and work on multi piece wheels both produce explosive failures at close range.
Vibration, noise and skin
Air tools drive hand arm vibration, workshops run loud and used oil attacks skin.
The regulations that apply
Your legal framework, in plain terms
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 set the duty to assess and control. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 govern paint, thinners, welding fume, filler dust and used oil. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 govern lifts, jacks and mobile elevating work platforms. The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 apply to mixing rooms, booths and solvent stores. Traction work sits under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and older vehicles bring in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 through legacy friction materials.
Three COSHH duties do most of the work in a bodyshop. Regulation 7 requires exposure to be prevented or adequately controlled. For asthmagens such as isocyanates it must go as low as reasonably practicable whatever any limit says. Regulation 9 requires engineering controls to be maintained, examined and tested, with local exhaust ventilation thoroughly examined at least once every 14 months and records kept for five years. Regulation 11 requires health surveillance where exposure to a sensitiser is foreseeable, which in a spraying business is not optional.
Thorough examination intervals are equally fixed. A vehicle lift that can carry a person is examined every six months. A lift that cannot goes every 12 months. Mobile elevating work platforms lift people and therefore go at six months. Daily and weekly checks under PUWER sit underneath that. BS EN 1493 is the product standard and SAFED guidance is the industry reference for examination.
Electric vehicle work is where people expect a specific rule and there is not one. Competence is evidenced through IMI TechSafe and the IMI level 2 to level 4 electric and hybrid qualifications. An industry campaign wants TechSafe made a mandated repair standard. As at 2026 it is not mandated. The test is whether the technician is competent, not whether they hold a card.
Fire safety in vehicle workshops and dealerships
Paint booths and lithium packs drive the ignition risk
Paint and batteries define the fire problem here. Mixing rooms, spray booths and solvent stores create explosive atmospheres that fall under DSEAR, which means hazardous area classification, ignition source control and equipment suited to the zone. Booth extraction, filter changes and waste solvent handling belong in the same conversation as the fire risk assessment rather than a separate file.
Lithium traction batteries change the strategy. A damaged or suspect pack needs a quarantine area with a defined separation distance, ideally outdoors. It has to stay there long enough for the re-ignition risk to pass. Charging installations are designed to section 722 of BS 7671. Moving a defective pack off site brings ADR requirements.
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, as amended by section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, the responsible person must record the fire risk assessment in full and record the fire safety arrangements. On a site with a showroom, workshop and tenanted units you must also identify the other responsible persons. AL23 Safety provides BAFE SP205 third-party certified fire risk assessments, independently certificated by SSAIB.
How we help
Built around your operation
Most of our automotive work starts in the booth and the ramp bay. That is where the enforcement sits and where the irreversible harm happens.
- Task based COSHH assessments for two pack paint, primers, thinners, welding fume and filler dust, written for the job rather than copied from a data sheet.
- Spray booth and LEV testing and thorough examination at the 14 month interval, checking pressure regime, air movement, filter condition and whether the posted clearance time matches measured performance.
- Health surveillance scoping for isocyanate exposure, including how biological monitoring feeds back into controls, alongside air fed RPE selection, air quality, face fit testing and clearance time discipline.
- Vehicle lift, hoist and MEWP compliance through our machinery safety, PUWER and LOLER support, covering examination scheduling, defect close out and pre-use checks.
- High voltage safe systems for electric and hybrid repair, covering isolation and proving, lock off, insulated tools, Class 0 gloves to BS EN 60903 with a retest regime, exclusion zones and no lone working on live high voltage.
- Damaged battery handling, covering quarantine location, separation distance and ADR requirements for moving a pack.
- Tyre and wheel procedures, covering inflation cages, multi piece wheel controls and the checks before refitting.
- Noise, hand arm vibration and manual handling assessment, with used oil storage, waste solvent segregation and skin exposure covered in the same visit.
Why AL23 Safety
Sector-aware support that gets used
Accountable
When something is non-compliant, we say so clearly and set out the fix. If your sprayers are in filtering half masks, that goes in the report in plain words.
One team, three disciplines
Health and safety, fire safety and fire engineering, all in-house. Booth DSEAR and the fire risk assessment come from one team.
Practical, not just compliant
You get the clearance time notice, the pre-use check sheet and the toolbox talk points, not just findings.
Nationwide
We support vehicle repairers, bodyshops and dealer groups across the UK.
Get in touch
A straight answer on where your booth stands
Send us your last booth test date, your health surveillance arrangements and your lift examination reports. We will tell you what is missing. Call +44 161 399 2523 or email info@al23safety.com.
Common questions
Answers, up front
Cannot see your question? Get in touch and we will answer it directly.
Contact usHSE's campaign treats air fed breathing apparatus as one of three essential controls, alongside booth ventilation at negative pressure and a displayed clearance time. That means a full visor air fed unit or an air fed half mask with eye protection. An ordinary filtering half mask is not what inspectors are looking for.
Every six months where the lift can carry a person, otherwise every 12 months. That is a LOLER duty, separate from servicing by your supplier. Daily and weekly pre-use checks under PUWER still apply.
There is no statutory electric vehicle qualification. The law requires competence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and PUWER. IMI TechSafe and the IMI level 2 to level 4 qualifications are how most businesses evidence it. As at 2026 TechSafe is not mandated.
Cost depends on how many sites you run, whether booth and LEV testing are in scope and whether electric vehicle work is carried out. A single bodyshop review is usually a one day visit plus reporting. A dealer group suits a rolling programme against a retainer.
Related services