In the modern day, Safety showers and eyewash stations are crucial for the emergency response plan. These have been vastly installed in most of the industries and laboratories settings. Safety showers are also widely called Emergency Showers or Drench Showers.
Emergency showers are primarily designed for removing hazardous materials from the body when met with accidental exposure. Using an eye shower is an essential safety measure for protecting the workers along with minimizing the risk of injury.
Where are the eye showers placed in the industry and laboratory settings?
Normally, employees need to know the location of the Safety Showers in the industry for immediate access. These can be widely seen in laboratories and industries dealing with chemicals and hazardous gasses.
Shower and eyewash can be placed together in the location near the sink. Employees are only required to go some of the way through the doorway to get near to eyewash or shower. It is essential to alter the supervisors for making access to the safety shower.
Make sure that the materials or even materials do not block them. Employees working nearby chemicals need to make sure that they know the exact location of the eyewash and shower. Most hazardous chemicals would only take about 5 seconds to penetrate the outer membrane of the eye and reach the interiors. These could create severe damage to the eyes.
How do I use eyewash?
Every employee needs to know about using the eyewash properly to ensure that their eyes are properly effective. It is important to teach workers about following certain steps regarding eyewash.
- Access the eye wash station immediately.
- Turn it ON
- Push the handle or activate the water flow
- Eyewash should stay on until you turn it off
- Remove contact lenses whether you’re wearing them
- Contact lenses could trap contaminants in your eyes
- Hold eyes open
- Let the water indirectly
- Don’t rub the eyes, as rubbing your eyes could force contaminants deeper damaging the injured tissue.
- Flush your eyes with water for more than full 15 minutes
- See a doctor, as you may need additional medical attention to save your vision
Why are safety showers and eyewashes used?
Many Workplace accidents also involve hazardous materials and gasses. These could be severely causing injuries or damage to the eyes and skin when exposed.
The Safety showers and eyewashes can be used for diluting and washing hazardous chemicals or gasses. These can be irritants, corrosive, dangerous chemicals and many others.
Proper use of safety equipment with timely attention is the best option for reducing the tragedy and its effect. Safety showers and eye washes are suitable options for providing the first line of defense in the event of accidents. These devices could work by extensively drenching the body or even rinsing eyes with larger volumes of water.
Dilution and Flushing action play a major role in carrying away the contaminants. It also efficiently minimizes the length of exposure. When there is quicker action on washing, then it could create less damage.
Some of the hazardous materials which require emergency flushing are:
- Irritants – solvents, degreasers, and detergents
- Biological hazards – bodily fluids having the pathogens
- Toxins – chemical reagents, petroleum products and pesticides
How to use a safety shower?
Normally, the highly corrosive chemicals could create burns on the eyes and skin. So, it is essential to flush immediately to reduce the effect of the chemicals. It could reduce even fatal injuries on the skin or eyes. When your skin is exposed to hazardous chemicals, then it is essential to immediately access the safety eye shower.
- Turn ON the shower
- Undress and start with your shoes and socks
- Many people cause serious burns on their feet and ankles if shoes and socks have trapped hazardous chemicals.
- Remove and wash all the items of clothing below where the chemical
- Water the area until the chemical comes off
- If chemicals wash off from your skin Sooner, then it leads to less serious injury.
- Rubbing skin can also drive chemicals deeper and even damage the already injured tissue.
- Flush skin for at least 15 minutes
- You can also flush until emergency medical assistance arrives
How do safety showers work?
In the event of exposure to hazardous materials, Safety showers are specialized showers to provide a higher volume of water for rinsing the complete body. Safety Showers are typically installed near hazardous areas.
Safety showers could work by providing a continuous flow of water for removing hazardous materials from the body. These shower heads can be activated with pulling.
Water flow will be efficient for removing hazardous materials. Workers are required to get proper training on using the emergency showers when they are working with hazardous materials, chemicals, corrosives, radioactive materials and many others.
What types of safety showers are available?
A common type of safety shower available in the modern day is the Free-standing shower. These are used across varied industrial areas, laboratories, and many more.
Wall- or ceiling-mounted eye showers are also used across various places for getting quick accessibility. There are also special Types of Emergency showers that are used as barrier-free and handicapped-accessible executions.
What are the international standards applied for the safety showers?
Various types of international standards are applied for the safety showers, such as
- European standards EN 15154-1 (for laboratories)
- EN 15154-5 (for other sites than laboratories)
International standards guidelines involve proper Designing, Performance and Testing of the safety showers. ANSI.Z358.1 standard is internationally recognized and it defines the installation and performance of emergency eye showers and eyewashes.
