You Have Safety Questions? We Have
Safety Answers!
««« By the STAO Safety Committee
The STAO Safety Committee welcomes enquiries, with respect to safety
issues, from STAO members. Please send your questions to the Safety
Committee Chair (ralph_chou@stao.org). Your questions and the STAO
Safety Committee responses may be published in Crucible, particularly
if the information is deemed of general interest to other STAO members.
Anonymity will be guaranteed.
QUESTION# 33: During an Occupational Health, Safety
and Environment (OHS&E)
Audit the following was raised by the auditor:
“The permanently installed eyewash stations are connected
to the cold water lines. The water dispensed by these devices should
be lukewarm
to ensure that any injured person can spend the appropriate time flushing
the eyes. “
I have found nothing in Ontario Safety Regulations or Legislation
that addresses this issue, but have found that the Canadian Centre
for Occupational
Health and Safety (CCOHS) recommends that the ANSI standard Emergency
Eyewash and Shower Equipment (ANSI Z358.1¬2004) be followed. This
standard recommends for flushing eyes at an eyewash station, that the
water temperature be in the range of 27°C¬35°C. What action
should I take now that this information has been brought to my attention?
RESPONSE: The rationale for using water in the temperature
range 27 to 35°C is that the injured person may feel more comfortable
during the 15 minutes of the drenching eyewash than if exposed to cold
water
which would be at 10°C or so. There is also some opinion (without
confirmation by published study) that cold water may cause further problems
for the injured eye due to the hypothermal effect of very cold water
bathing the injured tissue. On the other hand, most safety authorities
agree that any water rinse is better than none when there is a chemical
splash injury. The only caution is that a hot water tank is a good breeding
environment for bacteria – however, if the hot water is being used
constantly, there is little time for it to sit stagnant for extended periods
of time, so the bacterial content in the hot water supply line should
be no worse than what is already present in the cold water supply.
It would seem that the fact that the auditor has raised this issue means
that ultimately you will be given an order to provide the warm water
source for the eyewash stations. Although past practice has involved
the use of cold water, the path of least resistance would be to install
temperature control valves on the eyewash stations to provide the water
as demanded by the auditor and recommended by ANSI.
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