Page 33 - OHS, February/March 2025

E M E R G E N C Y S H O W E R S & E Y E W A S H
The Rush to Flush
The Rush to Flush
Emergency shower and eyewash equipment is vital for employees facing chemical hazards.
Emergency shower and eyewash equipment is vital for employees facing chemical hazards.
BY CAM MACKEY
BY CAM MACKEY
main under the radar. Either way,
Some make headlines. Others re-
employee exposure to hazardous
chemicals and other substances
is on the rise, making emergency eyewash
and shower equipment at the work site more
important than ever. According to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2022 saw
approximately 23,900 cases of work-related
injuries and illnesses that resulted from ex-
posure to harmful substances aff ecting work-
ers’ skin, eyes, or other exposed tissues — up
from the 21,800 cases reported in 2021.
While 2022 numbers are still being
analyzed, 20,950 of the 2021 cases involved
chemical exposures to the eyes or skin. Ac-
cording to government data, from 2021 to
2022, American workers reported more
than 48,600 eye injuries, and nearly one
quarter were a result of chemical exposure.
While total recordable nonfatal inju-
ries and illnesses involving days away from
work (DAFW) dipped 20.1% in 2023 com-
pared to 2022, there’s more to the story.
Most notably, the increase in employee
exposures to hazardous chemicals and
other substances is particularly concern-
ing. No safety professional wants to see any
type of injury on the rise.
Moreover, employers focused on bot-
tom-line numbers have to be concerned
not only with DAFW but also with so-
called DART cases — those involving
DAFW, job restriction, or transfer. Some of
their key worries include:
■ How might these aff ect their insur-
ance costs?
■ How much will their risk of lawsuits
and the associated costs of defense and po-
tential settlements increase?
■ How will operations be aff ected?
■ Skilled employees never grew on
trees but can be even harder to fi nd and re-
cruit today, especially on a tight schedule to
replace an injured worker.
But there’s much more to the story than
stats and money. Th e human side of these
exposures can be devastating for individual
victims and their families.
“Chemical exposures can lead to incur-
able and life-altering conditions, so it’s vital
that employers take immediate steps to rec-
ognize and mitigate life-threatening hazards
like those found in this investigation,” Oc-
cupational Safety & Health Administration
(OSHA) Atlanta-West Area Offi ce Director
Jeff ery Stawowy said in a statement aft er the
agency cited and fi ned an Atlanta chemical
manufacturer in 2024 for 67 serious viola-
tions — one of which included failing to
provide suitable facilities for quick drench-
ing or fl ushing of the eyes and body.
Historical Perspective
We’d be remiss in overlooking a tragic
40-year anniversary that arguably should
inform our thinking about the risks and
consequences of chemical exposures: the
horrifi c December 1984 leak of methyl iso-
cyanate in Bhopal, India.
A Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked
approximately 40 tons of the toxic chemical
overnight. Th e gas killed some 3,000 people
that night — including plant workers as
well as residents of nearby communities —
and led to an estimated 500,000+ exposures
plus more than 22,000 deaths eventually at-
tributed to that exposure.
Many things had to go wrong to make
that disaster possible. And clearly safety
protocols were not what we would expect
at a modern plant today. But we have only
to remember the February 2023 train de-
railment — and resulting chemical spill
and fi re — in East Palestine, Ohio, to be
reminded that Murphy’s Law remains an
ever-present threat.
Th at’s why the safety equipment industry
has a long history of prioritizing and provid-
ing solutions for chemical exposures.
Th e National Institutes of Health re-
port1 that “a 1920 Clear Glass 8-Panel Eye
Wash Cup glass appears to be the old-
est form of eyewash.” So-called “vintage”
chitsanupong/stock.adobe.com
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