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Emergency Eye Wash Safety Solutions
Work Safety Online provides several brands of Emergency Eye Wash Stations and Emergency Showers made of high quality stainless steel and durable plastic materials. We have a wide range of safety deluge showers, eyewashes, eye/face washes, portable, hand held and combination units. Provide your employees with the best in initial first aid treatment for chemical burns and injuries.
Why?
The first 10 to 15 seconds after exposure to a hazardous substance, especially a corrosive substance, are critical. Delaying treatment, even for a few seconds, may cause serious injury. Emergency showers and eyewash stations provide on-the-spot decontamination. They allow workers to flush away hazardous substances that can cause injury. Accidental chemical exposures can still occur even with good engineering controls and safety precautions. As a result, it is essential to look beyond the use of goggles, face shields, and procedures for using personal protective equipment. Emergency showers and eyewash stations are a necessary backup to minimize the effects of accident exposure to chemicals. Emergency showers can also be used effectively in extinguishing clothing fires or for flushing contaminants off clothing.
What do I require?
The need for emergency showers or eyewash stations is based on the properties of the chemicals that workers use and the tasks that they do in the workplace. You should consult Worksafe or Safework for more information about the requirements in your workplace.
A job hazard analysis can provide an evaluation of the potential hazards of the job and the work areas. The selection of protection -- emergency shower, eyewash or both -- should match the hazard. In some jobs or work areas, the effect of a hazard may be limited to the worker's face and eyes. Therefore, an eyewash station may be the appropriate device for worker protection. In other situations the worker may risk part or full body contact with a chemical. In these areas, an emergency shower may be more appropriate. A combination unit has the ability to flush any part of the body or all of the body.
Emergency showers are designed to flush the user's head and body. They should not be used to flush the user's eyes because the high rate or pressure of water flow could damage the eyes in some instances.
Eyewash stations are designed to flush the eye and face area only.
Combination units are available that contain both features: a shower and an eyewash.
How long should I flush the eye?
ANSI Z358.1-2014 does not specify how long the affected body part should be rinsed. It does specify that the equipment installed according to the standard be capable of providing flushing liquid for a minimum of 15 minutes.
However, other references recommend a minimum 20-minute flushing period if the nature of the contaminant is not known. The flushing or rinsing time can be modified if the identity and properties of the chemical are known. For example:
5-minutes for non-irritants or mild irritants
15-20 minutes for moderate to severe irritants and chemicals that cause acute toxicity if absorbed through the skin
30 minutes for most corrosives
60 minutes for strong alkalis (e.g., sodium, potassium or calcium hydroxide).
In all cases, if irritation persists, repeat the flushing procedure. It is important to get medical attention as soon as possible after first aid has been given. A physician familiar with procedures for treating chemical contamination of the eyes and body should be consulted.
Where should emergency eye wash equipment be located?
To be effective, the equipment has to be accessible and located as close to the hazrad as possible. ANSI recommends that a person be able to reach the equipment in no more than 10 seconds. In practical terms, consider that the person who needs the equipment will be injured, and may not have use of their vision. ANSI notes that the average person can walk 16 to 17 metres (55 feet) in 10 seconds, but this does not account for the physical and emotional state of the person in an emergency.
As such, the "10 second" rule may be modified depending on the potential effect of the chemical. Where a highly corrosive chemical is used, an emergency shower and eyewash station may be required to be closer to the workstation. Check with a professional with knowledge in this area. These units should be installed in such a way that they do not become contaminated from corrosive chemicals used nearby.
The location of each emergency shower or eyewash station should be identified with a highly visible sign. The sign should be in the form of a symbol that does not require workers to have language skills to understand it. The location should be well lit.