Hi, and welcome to my blog! My name is Michael Hartnett, and I have been a painter and member of the IUPAT (http://www.iupat.org/) since 1998. During the time I have spent in the trades I have found safety to be the most important issue we face. Every morning workers kiss their families good bye expecting to see them at the end of the day, and sometimes they never return. Some of them could have lived if they had only thought to follow simple safety procedures.