Page 58 - OHS, July/August 2020

EMERGENCY SHOWERS & EYEWASH
Are you Properly Selecting and Maintaining Your Emergency Equipment Selection?
Guidelines for staying in compliance with eyewashes,
eye/face wash coTmbos and drench showers.
BY JUSTIN DUNN here’s no doubt that when it comes to ANSI Z358.1 requirements, it can be overwhelming to stay on top of weekly and annual testing. However, the importance of properly work- ing equipment cannot be overlooked. Thousands of accidents occur each year, involving pipes bursting and chemicals like corrosives (acids and bases), oxi- dizers and solvents. In many environments, the first
line of defense is PPE, such as gloves and goggles. The second line is emergency response equipment that you can rely on. ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 guidelines call for ready access to emergency equipment, includ- ing eyewashes, eye/face wash combos or drench show- ers. These important pieces of equipment are tasked with diluting and/or removing hazardous materials from contact with victims’ bodies. However, because of the virtually unlimited combination of hazardous materials, applications that use them and other com- plicating factors like facility size and layout, selection of equipment type and specific features is left up to the specifier. This rather nebulous circumstance often leaves facility teams wondering which is the “right”
choice for their application.
Many people feel there is little difference between
the various types of eyewashes, eye/face washes and drench showers. However, proper selection is a func- tion of knowing your risks, the characteristics of the materials you work with and logical consideration of the variety of available products and design configura- tions for usage and testing.
The ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2004 standard provides a guide to aid manufacturers, specifiers and the gen- eral public relative to emergency eyewash and shower equipment. It also advises those concerned with com- pliance to obtain local medical input regarding risks and countermeasures. This review is not meant to be an interpretation of the standard, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a competent medical profession- al. Instead, the following information is aimed at de- veloping a logical thought process that comprehends your specific circumstances and considers the various alternative product features and designs.
Know Your Risks
You should start with a clear understanding of your risks. Consider the materials your employees handle, the degree of hazard those materials represent and the likelihood of spill or splash accidents involving em- ployees or others:
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■ How harmful are the materials and how likely is an accident?
■ Is personal protective equipment provided, such as aprons, gloves and goggles?
■ Is emergency equipment available within ten seconds or 55 feet of potential accident sites, with unobstructed access and are they located on the same level as the potential accident site?
■ Do your employees have a strong understand- ing of safeguards, first aid and countermeasures?
■ Are showers, eyewashes and eye/face washes properly maintained and regularly tested?
■ If you are working with a new installation or a renovation, do you have adequate emergency equip- ment locations? Remember to consider the possibility of multiple injuries from a single accident. Is emergen- cy equipment properly located? Properly signed and visible? Are they readily accessible to injured workers?
■ Do you need drench showers, eyewashes, eye/ face washes or combination units?
This last one can be reasonably challenging: con- sider the hazardous materials in use. If large portions of the body could possibly be exposed to hazardous materials, a shower is indicated. In smaller scale inci- dents, a single drop of caustic material, for example, might splash on a countertop and bounce up into an employee’s eye. This would probably require an eye- wash. Likewise, many airborne contaminants might irritate the eyes only, again with an eyewash being the answer. It is always a good idea to also reference your safety data sheet to fully understand what types of ma- terials and their consequences of exposure.
Consider Your Options
Drench Showers. Drench showers, either as stand- alone product or combined with either eyewashes or eye/face washes, should provide a sustained flow benchmark of 20 GPM with a diffused spray pattern that maintains a 20-inch width at a height of 60 inch- es above the ground. Per ANSI/ISEA Z358.1, older style showers with columnar flow patterns should be replaced and non-compliant alternative products should be avoided.
Eyewashes and Eye/Face Washes. There are a wide variety of eyewash and eye/face wash products avail- able, depending on specific needs and budgets. The following will contrast popular features and benefits.
Proper flow characteristics are 0.4 GPM for an eyewash or 3 GPM for an eye/face wash. Per ANSI/