[rfisher-asamichigan-com]

As Tom said, check with your State Trade Association – The “Globally Harmonized System” is basically updating the “Right to Know” laws to comply with a gloabl understanding. The first thing you will see is that your Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), as they were called up until this point, are being renamed “Safety Data Sheets” (SDS) and required to be posted for compliance. There are two SDS posters like this. Though I am unaware of any FREE compilation specific to the automotive repair industry, the repair facility should be able to create their own. The first requirement of this law is fast approaching – employee training by December 1, 2013. The remainder of the law has deadlines for compliance between now and June 2016 I believe. We organized a training webinar back in late February and broadcasted it in late April with our State OSHA (MiOSHA). The very PowerPoint that was performed and very helpful is on the page of this link, about a third of the way down in the middle of the page titled “Hazard Communication Employee Training” and allows you to download the PowerPoint. My recommendation would be to see if your State has something similar – here is that link http://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-61256_11407-284831–,00.html  MIOSHA also has forms available as samples – the obligation of the employer is to train their personnel…you should get with your vendors ASAP to figure out getting, compiling and organizing your new Safety Data Sheet Book before the deadlines. ASA Michigan members have had full access to a library of forms, deadlines, pictograms, etc including the Webinar since mid-May 2013…if you are an ASA Michigan member and need further assistance please email me at rfisher@asamichigan.com  

[rfisher-asamichigan-com]

Obviously there is a challenge here, but I don’t think that there is enough information here to offer suggestions just yet, so I would like to clarify your business.  Based on your summary it appears that you are an automotive collision repair business correct?  And secondly, your production area is 790 meters sq. which is equal to about 8,500 square feet?  How many repair bays do you have?

[rfisher-asamichigan-com]

Aaron –

This is a very difficult situation for repair facilities to experience. I see that you resolved the situation with the customer and it appears that satisfaction was mutually shared. Before offering thoughts for future situations I want to say that the most important thing for successful repair facilities is to have communication, integrity and trust with their customers, this assures a long term customer. The right answer is the one that worked.

Today’s vehicles are complex and we will see more challenges in the future. We will periodically have these types of unusual challenges and how we deal with them could “make or break” the situation – financially for the repair facility, the technician or a future customer. As an industry, we must understand that other professionals occasionally are plagued with challenges too. I compare our industry to the medical field during analogies at times, because the human body is also complex and it is one that people understand due to their own experiences. What patient would feel comfortable with a doctor that refunds or discounts their visit because they “didn’t fix the problem the first time”? As an industry we sometimes discount ourselves for the professionals that we are because we may have misssed a step in the process, we thought that it was what the customer would accept or it was a “knee-jerk” resolution; we need to stop that so that we remain profitable and stay in business to meet their future needs; it is a psuedo resolution that creates bad consumer behavior.

We have all gone into a doctor’s office with symptoms that we have paid for a visit and had to return becuase the symptoms were still there, paying for another visit. The first thing the docotr will state is “I have to run some more tests”. It is frustrating to the patient, but they understand that this was not the “usual fix” and it shows concern by the doctor that he/she wants to find the problem – it is part of the “diagnostics”. we, albiet our health insurance or our own out-of-pocket, pay more for the “diagnostics” looking for the solution and the answer…as professionals, we should heed to this process and help consumers understand what we are upo against.

Now, the patient might walk out of that doctor’s office and go somewhere else…and this is the important part – if the symptoms listed are the same, the next doctor is going to perform the very same “tests” and charge for them, confirming the first doctor’s follow up. IF this occurs, the patient realizes the first doctor was doing the right thing and would probably return on the next visit.

In many aspects, the autmotive repair facilities should realize that this “process” has validity if it isn’t abused. We inform the customer of what it appears to be, we perform the testing and diagnostics that are common and work towards a “cure”. If this “common repair” to the “symptom doesn’t work, we need to let the customer know that “further tests” must be performed. Communication should include the next steps leading up to and including the “worst case scenario”. the communciation should also increase during this time so that the customer is aware of the “phase” you are at in diagnostics. Within this method, they also realize the level of expertise is increasing as is the cost of repair and it is more serious than they thought.

The parallel might seem drastic, but the key is communication in the diagnostic process that keep shte consumer informed of what you are going through.

After saying all of this, we must reassure ourselves that when we are repairing a vehicle that we are truly diagnosing symptoms and not “throwing parts at it”…if our techmique is the latter, the above is void.

Aaron, you believe you saved your customer and that was the result you needed. I hope moving forward the above may assist you should a challenge like this pose itself again.

Ray Fisher