Eye Wash Stations

Eye wash stations are essential part to any business strategy to maintain a safe workplace. In any environment where there is a risk of foreign bodies or chemicals getting into the eyes of staff, such as an industrial setting or factory, it is absolutely essential that the management of the facility do all that they can in order to maintain the highest levels of safety and protection for their employees. Although any staff who are in any way at risk of coming into contact with dangerous chemicals or loose grit and debris should wear appropriate safety goggles or safety glasses, accidents do happen, and having these in place to deal with any eventuality will enable your staff to be protected in the event of an accident. This will reduce your liability in the event of an accident, but more importantly, will do a great deal to minimize the chances of an employee suffering any long term damage to their eyes as a result of an accident.

An Eye Wash Station is a wall mounted facility where all the equipment necessary to rinse debris or spray from the eyes is kept. All staff should be aware of where in the building it is placed, and full training should be offered to an appropriate number of staff to ensure that in the event of someone needing to use them, there will be proper care available to them.

Regulations concerning the equipping of an industrial facility require that they should be available within 10 seconds of the working area, and contain sufficient materials and water to allow for 15 minutes of continuous washing of the eyes. If a strong caustic agent or acid is being used in the workplace, the eye wash station should be immediately at hand in order to be sure to minimize the possibility of long term damage in the event of an incidental spillage.

Protection the eyesight of a victim of an industrial accident is essential, and every care should be taken to offer the best quality of first aid treatment in the event of an accident. The first 15 seconds after the spill are the most important in terms of reducing swelling, and long term damage. By having them within 25 feet of any place where an accident is likely to occur, you can be sure that your staff are well protected.

You should choose an eye wash station that is highly visible in the workplace, and make sure that front line staff are comfortable in how it works, and even how to open it. Seconds really do count in the case of an eye injury, so make sure that everyone knows what to do in the event of an accident.

Keeping them completely stocked with the right eye wash solutions for your workplace is important. Usually regular eye wash that you would find in a supermarket is unsuitable for the job at hand, and you need to invest in a proper eye wash solution for an industrial environment, as this will be chemically designed to offer the best protection for any victims of a spill.

Check the levels in all of your workplace eye wash stations as regularly as possible – at least once a week, because there is nothing worse than a member of staff having an accident, and then vital seconds being lost because the closest station is empty of solution .

All in all, providing appropriate industrial safety equipment in the workplace is a vital role for any employer, and is also a legal requirement. One way of being certain that your facility meets the various regulations that apply, is to fully equip it with enough stations to protect the health of your staff in the event of an accident. Even if they are never needed, simply having them there will give employees a constant reminder of their own responsibility to work safely.