Art Safety

Safety when using clay:

When working with clay, you must be careful with many factors.
1. Every time you use clay, the clay is giving off a some-what power named "silicon." If you aren't careful and breath in the substance you may find yourself with a problem named "silicosis" in which many people who used to work with clay on a regular basis found themselves with in the past before being completely aware of the issue that Silicon could potentially cause. This is extremely harmful to your health!

2. Air pockets when using clay: When you use clay and intend on putting it in the furnace, air pockets become a huge problem. The problem it causes is that, if you don't use slip so there isn't any air between the clay, it could cause a minor explosion within and essentially wreck everybody else's work along side your own.

3. Another issue when frequently using clay, you may get it on your clothing. The clay will not come off. At. All...

4. Bags of clay and glaze materials can be very heavy, and lifting can cause back problems.

5. Hypersensitivity pneumonia, asthma, or other respiratory problems may occur with exposure to moulds growing in wet clay that is being soured or aged in a damp place, in slips that stand for months, or with inhalation of dry aged clay.  Moulds can cause or exacerbate skin problems and change the workability of clay.

Safety when using an easel:

When moving the easel, it poses the issue of trapping your hand/fingers in the easel. Also you could potentially drop the easel causing great damage to yourself and possibly other's too.