Juha

No, you cannot. Which is why you have legislation on the subject, to make it illegal for your employer to expose you to a known health risk without proper protective gear. If you really need FACTS on specific risks present at your workplace, you might want to consult your national institute of occupational health safety. They have research, publications and statistics available. To complement any anecdotal info you may get from strangers in an anonymous Internet forum discussion.

You ask about general "long term health problems", but seem to limit the discussion to chemical hazards? There are repetitive movements involved in all mechanical work, making it a easy to develop musculo-sceletoral disorders. I'm not sure how these are recognized or handled / compensated in the US. Also, there can be "typical" workshop problems such as shop floor being cluttered or slippery. In terms of number of cases (not severity), vast majority of work related health issues are simple accidents, not chronic occupational diseases resulting from a long term exposure to a causative agent. In Finland the overall ratio is roughly 30 accidents per one case of suspected occupational disease per year.

It's relatively easy and cheap to provide safe working environment, complete with proper tools, ergonomics and protective equipment where needed. It's more difficult for an employer to make sure every staff member's attitudes towards work safety are in par with the environment. This can be an issue in a bike shop like it often is an issue in larger manufacturing business. In fact, the one current "hot" work safety issue that is probably NOT present in a bike shop is having hordes of subcontractors operating in the same physical space or site, with little or no coordination with each other and often even lacking a common language to communicate with.

--J

(yes, my job is related to work safety issues)