What protects the maker

Handling concentrates is a different exposure from using the finished product, and this is the craft in this estate with the most immediate chemical hazard.

Eyes first

Chemical splash goggles, not safety glasses, whenever concentrates are handled.

Alkali in the eye is the injury this craft produces, and it damages faster than pain reports it.

An eyewash station within reach, tested and in date. Fifteen minutes of irrigation is the recommended response and a tap across the room does not deliver it.

Skin

Gloves rated for the chemical, not general disposable nitrile for everything. A solvent that permeates a thin glove is worse than no glove, because it holds the chemical against the skin.

Long sleeves, closed shoes, an apron.

Alkaline burns are the ones to understand: they are painless at first and continue to damage tissue, which is why the response is prolonged irrigation rather than waiting to see.

Breathing

Ventilation as the primary control.

A respirator with the right cartridge for solvent vapor, if you work with solvents regularly. A dust mask does nothing against vapor.

And never work in a small closed room with anything that fumes.

The one rule that matters most

Never mix products to see what happens.

Bleach with any acid releases chlorine gas. Bleach with ammonia releases chloramines. Both happen in seconds, in the room you are standing in, and both have killed people doing exactly this.

Add one thing at a time, in a recorded order, knowing what each is.

Keep the safety data sheets accessible, not filed. They are what an emergency responder needs and what tells you the specific hazards of the specific material.

References