When it comes to operating a car wash, rules and safety matter
It is a cliché to say many do no like rules. There are too many to follow and too many to remember for some. Especially when it comes to operating a business.
When it comes to starting and operating a car wash, knowing what those rules are is important for starting a car wash and operating successfully going forward.
Recently, the Canadian Car Wash Association held a series of webinars where industry experts took time to speak with Canadian car wash operators to discuss issue and concerns in the industry.
Duro Bicanic, president of Bicorp Design Group Ltd., a full-service consulting firm for the car wash industry, spoke about the challenges involved in starting a car wash in Canada.
The fist challenge Bicanic says of anyone looking to open a car wash is finding the right location with high traffic flow. Why? While everyone would like to think people plan when it comes to washing their vehicles, the reality is that more often a car wash is an impulse decision.
“You really are not thinking about a car wash,” he says. “You are going about your daily business, driving someplace and suddenly you see a car wash, and you decided you with to go in. Only to get that impulse decision, you must be in front of people. You must be in a place with a high volume of traffic – close to a mall, grocery store or someplace where people often go – to grab their attention so they will come in for a wash.”
Along with location, Bicanic adds the site chosen needs to be of adequate size to make entering and leaving the car wash easy. If people find that the location makes a left turn into the wash difficult or time consuming, “or they have to make a U-turn to reach you or accessing you site is easier only after they have done that they needed to do, that can be a dealbreaker.”
Once you have found a location, that next challenge will be dealing with the local municipalities and their site regulations. This is sometime overlooked, but critical to keep in mind as each rule and regulations vary between jurisdictions.
Bicanic says that he has had some municipalities approve sites within their jurisdiction for a car wash in only a few months; others have taken several years to receive approvals.
“It really depends on the planners involved,” he continues. “I’ve had planners who are very gun-ho and want to help you, who help you go through the process quickly, and others who seem to throw obstacles in your way.”
Zoning will also play a major role in the kind of car wash you will decide to open, or even to throw additional obstacles in one’s way to opening a car wash. “It is not uncommon to find a great site, but it is not zoned for a car wash,” Bicanic says. “It could be a commercial site, and it may only be zoned for a coin wash and not an automatic wash. In that case, you will need to get a rezoning, only that takes time. Zoning is the longest process and can take anywhere from eight months to a year.”
So now that you have spent maybe a year getting all your zoning worked out, meeting the municipal regulations and such, and your car wash is now running, there are other issues you need to now start dealing with. That is the safety and security of your staff.
Pamela Patry, occupational health and safety consultant with Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS), specializing in delivering services for small business across Ontario, is making sure your new staff—and even experienced staff—know the rules and regulations on safety in a workplace and are following them.
This requires regular training and review by everyone at the car wash. Sometimes it can be as simple, Patry says, as taking time at the end of each shift to review the day and operations. Taking five or ten minutes to review with everyone what has happened during the workday and to reinforce all safety procedures and what staff needs to be doing to keep everyone safe during working hours.
Patry says that this will help management and staff identify any gaps when it comes to safety and to the work on closing those gaps. One example could be safety training. “Are your workers competent in the job they are assigned to do,” she continues. “Have you given them the right [safety] training? Do they understand that training and what they need to do? And with people often working different shifts or at different locations, do they work with all the needed knowledge and training they need to do their jobs safely?”
That ongoing safety training should also reinforce the need for proper gear in the car wash, regardless of if the staff is working in the tunnel or outside. That means making sure they wear such high-visibility safety vests, proper footwear and gloves, and clothing appropriate for summer and winter weather.
Patry adds that management also need to reinforce the idea that while it is important for staff to work effectively and quickly, that does not mean cutting corners when it comes to safety.
“We need to make sure they have adequate time to do their jobs, so they are not rushing or trying to cut corners to get things done,” she continues. “So, if a task involves steps, A, B, C and then D, we need to make sure they are not cutting out that step D because it takes a bit of extra time.”
She also stressed the importance that onsite safety also requires make sure the site is safe to work on so regular inspections need to be done to ensure that equipment and moving parts are protected and will not cause harm to a person working. “Are there guards in place around moving equipment and if so, are those guards being used effectively to protect people and not preventing them from doing their jobs.”
