KPA Adds VOC Air Monitoring and Waste Analysis for Automotive Businesses

Collision repair shops need evidence about both the air employees breathe and the waste their work generates. KPA is adding Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) air monitoring and hazardous waste analysis for automotive businesses, combining sampling, certified laboratory work, interpretation and documentation in one program. The practical point is that decisions about respirators and waste handling depend on information a shop can support with records.

Exposure estimates shape respirator decisions

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) respiratory protection standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, requires employers to make a “reasonable estimate of employee exposures,” according to KPA. When an employer can’t make that estimate, KPA says the standard calls for treating the air as immediately dangerous to life or health. That could mean using the most protective respirator approved for those conditions, which KPA describes as the most expensive option.

For a collision center, this puts exposure measurement at the center of equipment choices. A respirator selected without a clear picture of the hazard may not be supported by the information available if the shop’s program is questioned. Sampling and a documented interpretation can give the business a basis for explaining what it measured and how that information informed its approach.

The issue includes isocyanates found in automotive clearcoats and hardeners. KPA says OSHA has not established exposure limits for certain isocyanates used in these products. It also points to longstanding warnings from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) that exposure to diisocyanates can cause occupational asthma and, in documented cases, death. Those points make it especially important for businesses to understand the specific materials and conditions involved, rather than assume that a general estimate answers every question.

Measurement has limits: the results describe the samples collected and the conditions represented by those samples. A useful program therefore needs to connect the sampling work with an interpretation that a business can understand and retain. KPA says its service includes those steps alongside certified laboratory analysis and the records associated with the work.

Waste determinations need records too

Air monitoring is only one part of the evidence KPA says automotive businesses may need. Hazardous waste determinations also require support. Under 40 CFR 262.11, businesses must support their own waste determinations and keep the records for at least three years. KPA says penalties can reach $93,058 per day, per violation.

For a shop, this means a label or a past decision alone may not explain why a waste stream was classified a particular way. Retained analysis and a clear record of the determination provide the basis for showing how the business reached its conclusion. That matters when materials or processes change, or when someone later asks what the shop knew when it made the decision.

KPA’s offer brings air sampling and waste analysis together under one program. According to the company, the work covers sample collection, certified lab analysis, interpretation and the documentation businesses need to support their records. KPA says certified laboratory partners and its in-house environmental, health and safety consultants support the service for dealerships, collision centers and auto care businesses.

Respiratory protection ranks among frequently cited standards

KPA points to OSHA’s top 10 most frequently cited standards last year as a reminder that workplace protection requirements reach beyond exposure monitoring. Respiratory protection ranked fifth in fiscal year 2025. The full list KPA cites is:

1. Fall protection, general requirements (29 CFR 1926.501)
2. Hazard communication, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200)
3. Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053)
4. Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147)
5. Respiratory protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134)
6. Scaffolding, construction (29 CFR 1926.451)
7. Fall protection training, construction (29 CFR 1926.503)
8. Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178)
9. Eye and face protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.102)
10. Machine guarding, general industry (29 CFR 1910.212)

A new addition to KPA’s automotive services

KPA says the monitoring and analysis program builds on expanded environmental, health and safety services it introduced in July and is its latest automotive addition this year. CEO Wayne Curtis said the underlying problem is often an unsupported assumption: for example, choosing a respirator for a hazard no one measured, or continuing to classify a drum based on an earlier label. He said those decisions can affect employees across multiple locations.

The program’s value will hinge on how clearly its results help a business connect measurements to its work practices and records. For dealerships and repair facilities, KPA is pitching a single service that covers air and waste questions; the immediate takeaway is to have evidence behind exposure estimates and waste determinations before anyone asks to see it.

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