Painting

Paint's Importance

Paint serves a vital role across construction and industrial landscapes. It provides a protective coating that allows walls to withstand wear and tear from the sun, wind, and outdoor elements. Without paint, buildings, machinery, and homes will begin to rust, scratch, and wither away. And a fresh coat of paint can transform any structure into an outer look with beauty and color.

Industry Overview

Is painting considered construction? You better believe it! Most painters make a living by working in the construction industry, and those painting services make up the construction sub-industry identified by NAICS 238320. The coded number allows the government to classify all activities performed by a particular sector's businesses, helping workers and suppliers better understand the industry.

According to IBISWorld, the painting industry produces over $18 billion in economic activity each year, with over 236,000 total businesses within this sector. All companies operating in this industry are referred to as Painting and Wall Covering Contractors.

Those who work in this part of the construction industry paint buildings and structures, both the interior and exterior. Before we move on to explore more about these workers, let's first highlight some of the tools that all painters, even your hobbyists, may find interesting.

HomeAdvisor, Guides, and Painting Color Charts

Much of the guesswork has been taken out of the painting process. Painters, and those seeking painting services, have unlimited resources to ensure coatings go up the way they are envisioned. Here are some of the most useful educational resources for painters:

Home Advisor

HomeAdvisoris an excellent resource for those looking to tackle a painting project. Besides offering all types of relevant painting content, their website accurately estimates painting costs and offers suggestions for local painting contractors by zip code .

Here are three of their top painting pages, based on wen traffic:

• Home Interior Painting Costs
• Home Exterior Painting Costs
• Painter Costs

Within seconds, you'll be armed with tons of important painting information by visiting HomeAdvisor.

Painter Guides

It can be a daunting task to determine where to start in a painting project. Painter-Guide.com is a free resource with numerous guides designed to help painters by providing painting insights and suggestions. Whether you're painting a house on your own or are a contractor hoping to grow your business, you'll find all kinds of valuable painting information when you visit Painter-Guide.com. The product reviews alone are worth the visit to this website.

Here’s a shortlist of some of the top resources you’ll find on Painter-Guide.com:

• Best Brushes
• Best Paints
• Best Sprayers
• Contractor Paint Checklist

We know you're going to enjoy visiting all the painting resources found on Painter-Guide.com. And, before we head off into safety and PPE, we've got one more nugget of painting information to share.

Paint Color Charts

A color chart provides painters with a visual reference aid. It helps painters and customers see what colors work best together.

BEHR's online Color Smart selector guide is perfect for those wanting to explore their paint choices across the full-color spectrum.

Associations Painting America

The Painter Contractors Association (PCA), a national association dedicated to those who find employment through painting and decorating, set the industry's standards. Over 310,100 contractors take advantage of the association's educational resources, networking opportunities, and events. Here are two of the top resources for painters that can be found on the PCA website:

Other painting contractor unions and associations include:

• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT ) – This union represents over 100,000 painters, glaziers, and floor installers.
• TheAssociated General Contractors of America (AGC ) – Over 27,000 members look to AGC for construction insight.

All painting associations have one thing in mind, arming painters with the most relevant, up-to-date information possible to help them best perform their job. Many different types of painters in this industry look to these professional associations for answers.

Employment and Occupations

Whether they're painting older homes, new homes, outside decks, or commercial buildings, professional painters help finish construction projects by adding a beautiful coat of paint and protection.

Painters are also found across numerous industrial sectors, applying the coatings to maintenance facilities, machines, and buildings. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 379,500 painters with employment in 2019. Here is a breakdown of where painters are employed:

Within the construction industry, the BLS shows 214,400 painting contractors.
That means 56% of all painters work in construction.

The above descriptions of where painters work help simplify where painters operate. They are everywhere, painting all kinds of objects and materials across multiple industries. Here are some things painters paint:

B .

• Bridges
  
• Bathtubs
• Barns

E .

• Equipment
  

F .

• Front doors and closet doors
  

K .

• Kitchen cabinets

M.

• Metal roofs
  

T.

• Tile
  

W.

• Walls and ceilings
  

As you can see, painters are responsible for painting all kinds of objects. To cover the wide range of things that need to be painted, contractors will often specialize in specific areas.

Types of Construction Painting Contractors

There is not just one type of painting contractor finding employment across American industries. The BLS highlights three different categories of painters finding work in the U.S. In addition, OSHA’s Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) lists 1721 different classifications of painting and paper hanging, highlighting where painters may find employment.

Commercial Painter Contractors

These painters focus on painting offices, businesses, and other commercial spaces. Over 4,900 commercial painter contractor companies operate in construction in the U.S.

Industrial Painters

This group paints large machinery and equipment.As of 2019, there are more than 1,500 companies that paint aircraft, bridges, pavement markings, and ships.

Residential Painters

These painters paint the inside and outside walls and ceilings of residential homes. Roughly 15,600 residential painting companies operate in construction.

Wallcovering Contractors -

This group is responsible for hanging wall coverings, and stripping and removing wallpaper. Approximately 1,200 wallcovering contractor companies are operating in construction.

These painting contractors may all specialize in different areas ; however, they share more similarities than one might think. As we’ve mentioned above, one thing that all share is the need to wear PPE. According to O*NET OnLine, painters all spend time standing, and 89% of painters surveyed agreed with that fact. In addition, painters are always using their hands to feel objects and control tools. Let's look at some of the activities and tools these painters are likely to use, as they play an essential role in worker safety.

Activities and Paint Services

What does a painting contractor do? Painters perform the physically challenging work that includes bending, reaching, and climbing required to paint particular objects. Here are some of the work activities you may find painters performing:

Painter Supplies and Painting Tools

Painting a house or commercial building is no small undertaking. Every professional painting contractor requires a wide range of painting supplies and tools to complete their projects.

While some painters might prefer Norton abrasive tools, others must have Hyde tools to complete their painting project. Regardless of preference, tools are a part of the trade, and choosing the right ones saves time. But with tools come potential dangers. We highlight some common painting tools that can also pose hazards to the user.

Here are some common tools used by painters:

What is a common theme found in the pictures above? Painters wear gloves to keep their hands protected! You're not going to want to pass on protecting this tool, as hands are what help you pay the bills!

Safety

Technically speaking, safety hazards are everywhere on a construction site, which means painters must always be aware of their surroundings. Once paints and coatings start being applied to objects, the threats are ramped up a notch.

The good news is that painting ranks towards the bottom of the construction industry for injuries, coming in at #15 out of 21 construction sub-industries. There are only 2.2 injuries for every 100 employees, compared to 4.9 for roofing contractors. With that said, don't let the numbers allow you to let your guard down. All it takes is one time forgetting to wear your air-purifying respirator, and you could have a life-long injury.

Here are some areas and applications where painters must be on guard:

There are many ways to apply paint depending on the object's surface and the paint's characteristics. And there are numerous ways painters can be injured, as we note in our hazard section. Painting can cause severe harm to a person; however, the risks can be mitigated. Before we move on to the necessary PPE for painting, here are some other helpful online resources regarding painter safety:

With all the safety information and hazard information we've equipped you with, you're now ready to start considering PPE options available to painters.

House Painting Supplies - PPE

If they want to be safe and avoid injuries and potential death, painters should use the appropriate safety supplies, including PPE. In addition to keeping you safe from physical injury, PPE, like DuPont™ Tyvek® coveralls, helps keep paint and dust off your body. Here is a broad list of various PPE MCR Safety offers to help painters stay protected:

• Aprons and sleeves

• DuPont™ Tyvek® coveralls

• Equipment

• Goggles

• Thin latex disposable gloves

• Safety glasses

• Shoe covers

• Work gloves for painting

• Steel toe boots

You might be wondering, why do painters wear white? It started 400 years ago when sailors began using old, worn, useless white canvas sails and turning them into pants. They found the material durable and lightweight, and a white fashion statement began. This practice was then solidified in the 20th century when unions began making white the official standard for painters’ clothing. You'll find white cotton and nylon dipped gloves, white Tyvek® coveralls, and even white steel toe boots from MCR Safety.

We've highlighted a lot of information and thrown a bunch of industry stats at you. This page's remaining part showcases common painting hazards and different PPE options painters should consider wearing while performing their work.

If you prefer going back to the main Construction home page, click the image below. From the home page, you'll be able to access any of the numerous construction industries we cover. If you would prefer to check out some of painting’s specific hazards, please continue reading below.

MCR Safety's dedicated Construction Industry resource page.