accidents happen; safety kits in the garage

[Tessie McMillan <tessmc@domain.elided>]

The stars don't seem to be sending me the right signals this week. I had 
hoped for Friday to be my first day back on the track since having 
surgery in January (and being confined to a "no driving" order for six 
months). However, it seems that I am encountering obstacle after obstacle. 

The most recent one involves my brake master cylinder failing 
[somewhat catastrophically] under pressure when I was bleeding my brakes 
this afternoon. 

I was using the Power Bleeder, had checked the seals at low 
pressure, upped the pressure, started bleeding, stopped for some reason to 
get something, and suddenly it seemed like the ceiling had opened up and 
was pouring down blue fluid. The plastic on the top half of the master 
cylinder just started to crack and give way. Brake fluid spewed 
everywhere (at 20 psi I can tell you it goes at least 15 feet): onto my 
car, the fenders, all over the engine bay, all over the floor, ALL OVER 
MY DOGGIE (who wasn't anywhere near this whole escapade), all over my 
tools, the walls, my project car (which thankfully was under a cover).... 
I was scared because the fluid is a poison and it eats through paint in 
nothing flat, but I didn't immediately know what to do to rectify the 
situation.

Well, I've just sat down after cleaning up for 2-1/2 hours straight. Lucy 
(my doggie) has had several warm and cold water rinses and can't figure 
out why I'm so panicked about getting her clean. I've put the 
wheels back on the car and backed it into the driveway, hosed the car 
down, hosed the engine down, and hosed the garage floor down several times 
(well, as best you can when you've got zilch for water pressure on a 95 
degree day). 

The sounds my car makes (this is my non Alfa, but it could easily be my 
Alfa -- I bled her brakes last week!) are pretty awful, but I think we'll 
live, and tomorrow we'll limp over to my mechanic to get a new master 
cylinder... and maybe a new V-belt, sigh....

What I'm focused on now is safety in the garage. Specifically, what kind 
of spill kits you'd have around, what kind of safety gear and safety 
equipment you'd have. As I was hosing the floor down I had plenty of time 
to think about this. A few years ago I worked in a clinical laboratory at 
the UW; we had our share of lab accidents (I got tripped into one 
involving sulfuric acid, myself) but we also had a reasonable assemblage 
of safety equipment and emergency stations. When I had the attack of the 
sulfuric acid, I jumped into a nearby sink and started hosing myself down 
with the water nozzle, and a coworker came along and dumped a gallon of 
sodium bicarb onto me. I was wearing a labcoat, and it and my clothes 
and shoes ended up shredded by the acid, and I suffered only minor burns. 
But in the average garage, would you need this kind of response? 
(safety clothes, safety shower and neutralizer). Would a spill kit 
(zeolite or something of that nature) be better for certain kinds of 
spills? I always wear protective glasses in the garage, no matter what I 
do, and usually gloves -- although more from vanity than anything else. 
I'm curious as to what your safety equipment/clothing/procedures run to. 

Now to go check on Lucy again.

Take care, and those of you in the Seattle area I'll see you in Bremerton 
on Friday (although I guess I won't be driving!)

Tess
Bellevue, WA U.S.A.
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