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Emergency eyewash and safety shower station

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Emergency eyewash and safety shower station

An emergency eyewash and safety shower station is essential equipment that every laboratory which uses chemicals and hazardous substances needs. Emergency eyewash and safety shower stations serve the purpose of reducing workplace injury and keeping workers away from various dangers.

Contents

Types

There are several types of emergency eyewash station and safety shower station systems, including safety showers, eyewash stations, drench hoses, combination units, and eyewash bottles.

Safety Shower

A safety shower is a unit designed to wash an individual's head and body which has come into contact with hazardous chemicals. Large volumes of water are used and a user may need to take off any clothing that has been contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Safety showers cannot be used for flushing the eyes, due to the high pressure of water from the shower, which can damage a user's eyes.

Eyewash Station

An eyewash station is a unit for washing chemicals or substances that might splash into an individual's eyes before he or she can seek further medical attention. The user needs to wash their eyes for at least 20 minutes.

Drench Hose

A drench hose is equipment that can spray water to a specific spot of the chemical exposure on individual's body. The benefit of a drench hose is that it can be applied to an individual who cannot reach a normal eyewash or shower station or where the eyewash and shower station is unavailable.

Combination Unit

A combination unit is where other units such as a shower station, eyewash station, and drench hose share the same water supply plumbing. This unit is useful in laboratory where hazardous chemicals with different properties are used.

Eyewash Bottle

Also known as a personal eyewash unit, it is a supplementary for eyewash stations. However, eyewash stations cannot be replaced by eyewash bottles since they do not meet safety standards. Eyewash bottles allow an individual to flush the injured area immediately, or until the individual can reach the fixed eyewash station. Early eyewashes were designed with a single rinsing stream, but recent advancements have made eyewashes capable of flushing both eyes simultaneously. A pH neutral solution for emergency eyewash may also be chosen to reduce the danger from contaminants if strong acid or alkali chemicals are present.

Specification and requirement

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), several regulation of emergency eyewash and shower station was developed and contained in 29 CFR 1910.151 stated that "Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency use." However, OSHA regulation is unclear on defining what facility is required. From this reason, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed a standard for emergency eyewash and shower station including the design.

Safety Shower

  • Water supply should be enough to provide at least 20 gallon per minute of water for 15 minute (Section 4.1.2, 4.5.5)
  • Hand free valve should be able to open within one second and remains open until it is manually close (Section 4.2, 4.1.5)
  • Water column should have height between 82" (208.3 cm) and 96" (243.8 cm)above the floor (Section 5.1.3, 4.5.4)
  • Center of the water column should have at least 16" (40.6 cm) away from any obstruction (Section 4.1.4, 4.5.4)
  • Actuator should be easily accessible and easily located. It should be no more than 69" (173.3 cm) above floor (Section 4.2)
  • At 60" (152.4 cm) above the floor, the water pattern should have at least 20" (50.8 cm) in diameter (Section 4.1.4)
  • If shower enclosure is provided. It should has a minimum of 34" in diameter (86.4 cm) (Section 4.3)
  • Water temperature of safety shower station should be temperate
  • Safety shower station should have visible sign showing the location of the units.

    • Eyewash Station

  • Water flow should be controlled and have low velocity to rinses both eyes and is not cause any injurious to user (Section 5.1.1)
  • Flow of water need to be sufficiently high to allow user to hold eyes open while rinsing (Section 5.1.7)
  • Spray heads need to be protected from any airborne contaminants by cover and need to be removed by water flow easily (Section 5.1.3)
  • Flow need to deliver at least 0.4 gallons (1.5 liters) of water per minute for at least 15 minutes (Section 5.1.6, 5.4.5)
  • Flow pattern need to have positioned between 33" (83.8 cm) and 53" (134.6 cm) from the floor and at least 6" (15.3 cm) away from the wall or nearest obstruction (Section 5.4.4)
  • Hands-free stay-open valve need to be open within one second (Section 5.1.4, 5.2)
  • Valve actuator need to be easily seen and accessible by user (Section 5.2)
  • Eyewash unit need to be able to wash both eyes simultaneously and water flow covers area on more than 8" above spray head (Section 5.1.8)
  • Water temperature of eyewash should be temperate
  • Eyewash should have visible sign showing the location of the units.

    • Location

    According to ANSI, the location of safety shower and eyewash station should be within 10 second walking distance from the place of hazard and must located on the same floor of the hazard so the victim does not have to go up or down the stair when accident occur. Moreover, the path way should be clear from any obstacle and as straight as possible.

    References

    Emergency eyewash and safety shower station Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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