Raising awareness

To raise awareness about the need to keep working hands safe, Marigold Industrial has teamed up with a safety consultant who knows only too well the importance of hand protection.

Doug McIntosh had to have his arm amputated from below the elbow in 1997, six months after using a degreasing bath that contained Trichloroethylene. The chemical entered his body through a small cut at the end of one of his fingers, and was responsible for causing subdermal cancer. Prior to working with the substance, McIntosh had received little training or advice about safe handling of chemicals or the importance of hand and arm protection, COSHH and PPE.

Since his operation McIntosh has retrained as a safety consultant. He is at the forefront of a campaign to highlight the importance of hand and arm protection and will be working with Marigold Industrial, using his story as a case study that will be included in its educational and training materials.

John Thorne, chemical category manager for Marigold Industrial, comments: "Doug's is a stark and powerful message and one that we hope will strike a chord with workers across the UK. His was an extreme case, but the reality is that chemicals - even mild ones - strip the skin of its natural protection and without proper levels of protection for the chemical being worked with, the results can be damaging and painful."