Eyewash Station Standards

As the standard states an eyewash and or safety shower would be required where an employee s eyes or body could be exposed to injurious corrosive materials.

Eyewash station standards.

An annual inspection should be conducted to ensure compliance with the standards for operation. As a result the american national standards institute ansi standard z358 1 2014 emergency eyewash and shower equipment is generally used as a guide. Who determines when a facility needs an emergency eyewash station. Since there is no canadian standard for emergency showers and eyewash stations the u s.

This standard ansi z358 1 is intended to serve as a guideline for the proper design certification performance installation use and maintenance of emergency equipment. Personal eye wash units can support plumbed or gravity fed eye wash units but cannot be a substitute. Eye wash station inspection requirements employee safety is an important responsibility that extends beyond simply having the right equipment somewhere in the building. Fortunately we have the american national standards institute ansi and their consensus standard z358 1 last updated in 2014.

National standards institute ansi has established a standard covering emergency eyewash and shower equipment. This ansi standard is very detailed in terms of defining what is appropriate for safety showers and eyewash stations. The occupational safety and health association osha is the regulatory agency that specifies where and when this emergency equipment is needed and osha depends on the american national standards institute ansi to develop standards to specify the use and performance requirements. The eyewash unit should be activated weekly to make sure it functions properly and is able to supply water.

Ansi standard z358 1 2014 was used in preparing this document. If none of the materials used in this work area is an injurious corrosive chemical as indicated by the material safety data sheet msds for each product then an emergency eyewash or. When an accident happens safety equipment needs to be accessible and operating properly in order to provide the type of emergency treatment capable of avoiding serious injury.