Ozone
Treatment

Procedure

1. 1

   **Pre-treatment check.** Walk-around the vehicle: confirm cabin, footwells, boot, glove box, parcel shelf are empty. No people, animals, unattended belongings. Pre-clean any obvious organic matter (food, vomit, etc.) — ozone treats odours, not gross debris.

   Hazards

   • ⚠Treating a vehicle with a person, pet or animal still inside
   • •Treating without removing organic source — ozone won't fix it

   Controls

   • ✓Walk-around check by the operator personally — do NOT delegate this
   • ✓Glove box, parcel shelf, child seats checked specifically — common miss-points
   • •Pre-clean organic source first; ozone is for residual odour, not visible mess
2. 2

   **Vehicle setup.** Vehicle parked outside or in open-bay area with airflow. Close all doors and windows. Set HVAC: per machine manufacturer (typically OFF or RECIRCULATE). Check vehicle interior for rubber/latex/soft plastic items that might degrade — remove or note for owner.

   Hazards

   • •Treating in a sealed indoor workshop — ozone leakage to adjacent areas
   • •Soft rubber / silicone / latex degradation from ozone exposure

   Controls

   • ✓Outdoor or open-bay area only — never a sealed indoor space
   • •Note any rubber-trim items potentially affected; advise owner of risk
   • •Confirm windows fully up; check for window-up pinch points (wires, ear-buds left in door)
3. 3

   **Place machine, set timer.** Place ozone generator inside vehicle (typically front passenger floor or driver seat) per machine manufacturer instructions. Plug in extension lead from outside vehicle through a window gap if needed (carefully, vehicle still essentially sealed). Set timer for required duration (30–60 min based on odour severity).

   Hazards

   • ⚠Operator inside vehicle when machine starts
   • •Power cord pinched at door — fire / electrical fault
   • •Wrong timer setting — under-treatment or massive over-treatment

   Controls

   • ✓Operator OUTSIDE vehicle when machine activates — set timer, exit, close door, wait for start
   • •Cord routed through a partly-down window with foam padding to avoid pinch
   • •Confirm timer setting by reading aloud before exit
   • •Affix DO NOT ENTER warning sign to driver door window with treatment start time
4. 4

   **Treatment running — operator stays outside.** No re-entry, no opening doors, no checking on the vehicle from inside. If anything goes wrong, operator stops the machine remotely (timer / phone-controlled / extension cord switch).

   Hazards

   • ⚠Operator opens vehicle to "check" — concentrated ozone exposure
   • ⚠Customer / colleague approaches and opens vehicle
   • •Machine fault or power interruption — no visible warning until timer ends

   Controls

   • ✓"If something looks wrong, KILL THE POWER from outside, never open the door first"
   • ✓Door warning sign visible from all approach angles
   • ✓Operator stays within sight/sound of the vehicle for the duration
   • •Power kill at the wall socket if anything looks abnormal — no need to open the door
5. 5

   **End of treatment — start ventilation.** When timer ends and machine stops, open ALL doors and windows from the outside. Operator stays outside vehicle. Power off and unplug machine via the wall socket. Start the 2-hour ventilation clock.

   Hazards

   • ⚠Operator climbs in to retrieve machine immediately after stop — high concentration cabin
   • •Power tool sitting in vehicle while ozone-saturated cabin off-gases through it

   Controls

   • ✓Open doors from OUTSIDE — use the door handle, do not lean in
   • ✓Unplug machine at the WALL SOCKET first, then approach the cord (not the unit)
   • ✓The 2-hour clock starts when machine stops — not when machine is retrieved
   • •If machine is hot (corona discharge), let it cool before handling
6. 6

   **Retrieve machine after 30+ min.** Wait at least 30 minutes from machine stop before retrieving the unit. With nitrile gloves on, lift machine out from outside the vehicle (don't climb in). Place machine in safe location to fully cool.

   Hazards

   • •Residual ozone in cabin during retrieval
   • •Hot machine surface

   Controls

   • •Reach in from outside, retrieve in one motion, step back
   • •Gloves on, eye protection on for the retrieval
   • •Machine kept upright; switches off; cord coiled loosely
7. 7

   **Continue ventilating — total 2+ h from machine stop.** Vehicle stays open with all doors / windows open for the full 2-hour minimum. Operator should NOT enter cabin during this time.

   Hazards

   • ⚠Premature re-entry — ozone smells like "fresh" and is below smell-threshold for harmful concentrations

   Controls

   • ✓2-hour minimum ventilation from machine stop — no exceptions
   • ✓"Smells clean" is not safe — ozone exposure threshold is below smell threshold
   • •If a fan can be used to assist ventilation (placed outside, blowing in), use it
8. 8

   **Pre-handover sniff-check.** After 2+ hours: from outside the cabin, sniff-check for any residual ozone smell (sharp, chlorine-like, "after a thunderstorm"). If smell persists, extend ventilation. Only when no smell remains, remove the door warning sign.

   Hazards

   • ⚠Handing over a vehicle with residual ozone — customer exposure

   Controls

   • ✓Sniff-check from OUTSIDE the cabin — head not inside
   • ✓Any persistent ozone smell = extend ventilation. No penalty for over-ventilating.
   • •Document treatment completion in job notes including total ventilation time
9. 9

   **Re-entry required before 2 h** — exception path only. If unavoidable (e.g. machine fault, retrieving keys from cabin): don half-face respirator with OV/P2 cartridges, gloves, eye protection. Open doors from outside, ventilate 5 min, enter for shortest possible time. Document the exception.

   Hazards

   • ⚠Exception becoming routine — establishes a culture of bypass

   Controls

   • ✓Exception only. Default plan: wait the 2 h.
   • ✓If happening repeatedly, redesign the workflow (e.g. remove keys before treatment)
   • •Document each exception with reason — review monthly to address root cause