I was alarmed recently while visiting a Canadian market to find that apparently the auto glass wholesaler’s most popular urethane system being sold had a safe-drive away time of more than eight hours.
As I asked around it seemed that everyone in this Canadian metropolitan area, regardless of who they worked for, was using it. The other thing I found was how few technicians really understood that they needed to give it the full eight hours before the car could be driven safely. This month I have been to two other markets in the United States and found the same issue.
No, I am not talking about Glass Doctor— we negotiate great pricing only on one-hour products or less as I’m sure other glass companies have also. But when the wholesalers’ most popular product is not a quick cure system, then a lot of inexpensive, high-drive away time adhesives are being used by many.
I may be dating myself but remember in the 1980s when auto glass shops would install windshields with butyl even though the windshield had been installed with urethane from the factory. Even worse yet, they would convert urethane installs to a rubber gasket. What were we thinking? It was wrong and everyone today agrees. Having a customer drive a car that has not cured the recommended time is wrong also.
The safety of your customers and their families should be enough for you to do what is right. “But, Doug, I am saving money,” you might say. No, you’re not—this is a litigious society.
We all remember the McDonald’s case in 1992 when someone ordered hot coffee, spilled it on him or herself, and then sued McDonald’s because the hot coffee was too hot. The jury awarded the plaintiff more than $2.7 million.
Here is my question. If you have installed a windshield with a urethane system that needs eight hours to pass before the car is safe to drive, but you allow the customer to drive the car before that, and then the customer has a wreck and the windshield comes out or the airbag doesn’t work as designed–do you think you might be headed for a lawsuit? (Remember the “hot coffee” lawsuit!)
As professionals we have to remember that we are accountable for anything that goes wrong. This isn’t saying anything against your customers; I simply am stating the obvious for those of us in the business. This being the case, we have to err on the side of caution—every day. Customers’ lives and your business are at risk.
Here is where we must continually work on training. The example above, with the urethane, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to safety issues where our people are responsible. It’s important every day—every hour.
Let me offer you a caution. You may hear from your technicians that you are “too paranoid” and that 99 percent of the time it doesn’t matter and nothing will happen.
That phrase, though, “99 percent of the time,” reminds me of something written about 20 years ago, found on Google™, entitled, “Is 99 Percent Good Enough?” It cited the following statistics. If 99 percent is good enough then:
- Two planes landing daily at O’Hare Airport in Chicago would be unsafe;
- 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour;
- 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months;
- 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year;
- 268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year; and
- My favorite—12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily!
Whether it is teaching our techs to use turn signals and put on a seatbelt to not using the dashboard for storing old hamburger wrappers and pop cans, to making sure they aren’t texting while driving, all the way to being careful about making sure urethane safe drive-away times are being followed, we have to focus on safety.
The good news is that if you are reading glassBYTEs.com™ you are most likely either in a leadership position with your company or should be. Because of that, your focus on safety will keep you out of the courts.
Hey, be careful with that coffee!
