TOO many design studios across Yorkshire are flaunting health and safety legislation when it comes to using solvent fumes - and risking huge fines.

That is the conclusion of a northern survey carried out by Chris Booth and Paul Hawkridge, both directors of Graphics Direct of Hay-A-Park, near Knaresborough.

While 82 per cent of the 100 northern studios with three or more employees interviewed admitted to using solvents, adhesives and fixatives in the preparation of artwork, only 50 per had installed a spray booth to take away the often-toxic fumes.

More worryingly, only six per cent of those not using a booth said they were considering acquiring one.

This is in spite of recently-tightened Control of Substances Hazardous to Health legislation.

Under the law it is now up to studio employers to ensure exposure to harmful substances is prevented. Where this is not practical, the exposure must be controlled and the ruling extends even to one-man studios where the self-employed designer is regarded as employer and employee.

And any employer not taking steps to ensure compliance is open to prosecution with heavy financial penalties.

Paul Hawridge, of Graphics Direct, which sells graphic and art materials via the Internet, mail order and over the telephone to a variety of trade and retail customers across the UK and beyond, said: "In an increasingly competitive commercial environment space is at a premium and ventilation is often the last consideration.

"The answer is a spray booth - that produces cleaner air and healthier working conditions. They are easily installed and come in a range of sizes and degrees of sophistication. Studio working conditions are now quite rightly taken very seriously by the health and safety executive and it is incumbent upon employers to provide a clean and safe working environment for their employees."

Updated: 10:01 Tuesday, May 27, 2003