Eyewash ?
We recently had a city water main break, the eyewashes are not allowed to be disrupted under normal conditions, this was an unforeseen disruption.
Are eyewashes/showers supposed to be available at all times even if the entire plant is without water?
We communicated a plantwide message to stop all chemical handling and other tasks that could result in an exposure that would need an eyewash/shower. We also provided portable bottle eyewashes and have a number of non-plumbed eyewashes that were still available. First time encountering this issue...
Comments (2)
Technically, yes, even if the plant is without water, it's still required to have emergency eyewash stations/showers available IF you're actively handling injurious corrosive chemicals. Even though it's an unforseen disruption out of your control, you're still required to provide adequate emergency eyewash stations/showers if you're still handling or otherwise exposed to injurious corrosive chemicals.
With that being said, you did the right thing of stopping all chemical handling that would require the use of an emergency eyewash station/shower, so great job there! If there's no risk of exposure (by you stopping all chemical handling for the time being), then there's no legal requirement to have an operational/functioning emergency eyewash station/shower since there's no longer a hazard at that time.
The portable bottles of saline (often mounted on walls or in first aid cabinets/kits) are good for a quick drench or flush, but wouldn't necessarily meet the requirement of an emergency eyewash station/shower if you're required to have one. Nonetheless, they're good to have, but you still need one that's capable of flowing water for at least the specified time (e.g., 15 minutes) at the specified flow rate (e.g., 0.4 GPM)