Eye Wash / Shower Stations
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| Eye Wash and Emergency Shower stations from Haws and FendAll have been staples for years. Plumbed eyewashes and showers can be seen in most industrial settings; with they’re green color signaling their location. Anywhere you find acids, in such diverse places as in a laboratory or forklift charging station; you should find an eyewash and/or emergency shower. The same goes for a whole host of industrial contaminants, and not just liquids, since many caustics are handled in powdered form, for instance. Before going on, it should be noted that when we speak of eyewash stations, we are not referring to the 16 and 32 oz. bottles of eyewash. These are commonly found hanging on the wall in labs and plants. ANSI and OSHA qualify these personal eyewashes as secondary or supplemental to a proper eyewash only. Since it is required to have the shower/eyewash station located within 10 seconds of the hazardous work area, they may be useful in the interim. A more recent addition has been the self contained Eyewash Station. These units allow a fully functioning eyewash, with the required 15 minutes of water flow, to be placed in many locations not easily accessible before. And since the first few seconds of a chemical splash injury are the most important, this is good news for workers. We have customers who place these units, such as the Haws 7501, on maintenance trucks and in remote warehouses that may have no regular water service. One thing that must be kept in mind when installing Self Contained Eyewash units is the need for regular changing of the water. The Haws 7500 and 7501 units come with a preservative concentrate that you add to regular tap water when filling to keep the water from turning funky. This lasts for 6 months, and then you must drain and refill with fresh water and Haws 9082 preservative. The Fendall 1000 is a little different in that it uses Eyesaline, which is a premixed eyewash fluid. The Eyesaline uses purified water and is pH balanced to be a little easier on the eyes. The packaging method allows the fluid to be left in the unit for 2 years. The Eyesaline 1050 refill unit is definitely more expensive than a combination of tap water and preservative, but some feel the labor savings of servicing every 2 years, combined with the superior fluid makes up the difference. Standard plumbed Emergency Eyewashes and Showers are supposed to be tested weekly to make sure that they are clean, working properly and have sufficient water flow. We have a test kit, the Haws 9010, that consists of a vinyl chute and holder that makes testing an indoor Emergency Shower painless. Adding a 5 gallon bucket keeps any mess to a minimum. It is good practice to have a Test Record Tag on each unit for keeping track of these tests. Additionally, have the person in charge of this task inspect the surrounding area to observe that the path to the unit is unobstructed. Once an injury occurs, seconds count. |
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