Page 10 - Occupational Health & Safety, January 2018

EMERGENCY SHOWERS & EYEWASH
Safety Showers in Extreme and Challenging Environments
Here’s an in-depth look at determining the right product for your application.
BY RYAN PFUND
Frigid environments? Corrosive chemicals? Fluctuating work site requirements? When selecting appropriate and reliable safety showers for use within some harsh work site
conditions, it can be a real jungle out there. Extreme environments and conditions such as sub-zero tem- peratures, high heat, absence of plumbed water, and particularly challenging configurations all require specialized approaches for suitable emergency eye- washes and drench showers. In many of these cases, delivering emergency shower safety is not a one-size- fits-all solution.
The good news is there are plenty of specially en- gineered solutions that take into account the harshest worksite settings while ensuring compliance with the ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2014 American National Standard for Emergency Eyewash and Shower Equipment.1 The following considerations will help determine ideal equipment needs for these unique situations.
What Constitutes an Extreme Environment?
In general, extreme environments are driven by either temperature or site hazards. This includes:
■ Extreme air temperatures in the range of -25° F (-32° C) to 120° F (49° C)
■ Water temperatures between 32° F (0° C) and 110° F (43° C)
■ High winds
■ Heavy precipitation
■ Corrosive materials ■ Chemicals
■ Explosive or ignitable gases, and vapors
Explosive or ignitable dust
Moreover, there are work environments requiring
challenging and unique applications, such as:
■ Salt-laden environments (installations near or
on the ocean)
■ Enclosures that require fire ratings
■ Equipment that must be constructed according
to seismic ratings
■ Mobile operations (such as construction)
■ Hot environments
Specifically, there are a number of challenging
work settings that require specially engineered safety shower solutions—mining, oil refineries, petrochemi- cal, bio-diesel and ethanol facilities, to name a few.
Extreme environments can lead to many con- cerns when it comes to safety showers. Sub-zero tem- peratures can cause pipes to break or burst and cause systemic damage affecting the usability of the safety equipment. In fact, ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 Section 6.4.5 states that in geographic areas where an emergency fixture may freeze, safety personnel should consider purchasing a freeze-protected fixture or additional ac- cessories to prevent the pipes from freezing.
There are a number of highly specialized safety showers engineered to withstand these elements while providing technology to ensure ANSI compliance.
8 Occupational Health & Safety | JANUARY 2018
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