There is always a danger lurking
around in work places that involve handling of chemical or hazardous
substances. As soon as these substances
come in contact with the human eye, one needs to immediately rush to wash out
the substance from the eye lest there is a loss of vision or damage done to the
eye by the hazardous substance.
Therefore, the initial ten to fifteen seconds becomes extremely critical
and any delay in the treatment will result in serious injury and perhaps loss
of vision too in some cases depending on the substance. Emergency
eyewash stations are therefore considered as life saviors or rather
vision saviors for they are capable of providing the decontamination on the
spot.
Even though the employer takes
very good control and safety precautions there may be a chance for accidental
chemical exposures to occur. So, one
needs to just look beyond the regular protective equipment like face shields,
goggles and using different types of personal protective equipment. Emergency eyewash stations provide the entire
backup and help in minimizing the effects that may be brought about by the
exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Where should the OSHA
eyewash stations be located in the facility? For the solution to be highly effective, it
has to be located in such a place that it is easily accessible to one and
all. OSHA recommends that the person is
in a position to reach the equipment within ten seconds of the occurrence of the
incident. When there is a potential risk
of chemical, one can ensure that the emergency eyewash stations are installed
within ten to twenty feet from the hazard.
Each of the eyewash station has to be marked with a high visible sign
and it should be in such a form that workers can identify it easily even
without having any language skills. In
addition to that, the locations where the OSHA eyewash stations are kept need
to be adequately well lit.
The emergency eyewash stations
should not be separated by any kind of partition from the potentially hazardous
area. The employer should also ensure
that the station provides the users with tepid water as long flushing time with
cold water may cause some other eye problem.
So, any kind of a chemical splash has to be rinsed from a minimum of 15
minutes to a maximum of 60 minutes.
There may be different types of work areas that will require the OSHA
eyewash stations and they are laboratories, dipping operations, high dust
areas, spraying operations, dangerous substances dispensing areas and battery
charging areas.
Therefore, a correct analysis of
the hazard in the work place will definitely help in selecting the right kind
of an eye station and installing the same in the right place. Based upon the number of workers that are there
in the hazardous substance area will give you an idea as to how many stations
you need to install. And in cases of
isolated workers and the dangers they may meet, you can have the visual alarm
alert installed so that other workers can know about what has happened in the
facility. The eyewash stations are most
important as they help in mitigating the danger caused to the eyes.