Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
Issue link: https://digital.thesafetymag.com/i/358706
24 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com help, he reached the emergency eye- wash station, which was 180 metres away. The worker fl ushed his eyes for 30 minutes, but by the time he got medical treatment, he had a serious injury to one eye. Hazard alert bulletins describe other incidents that led to caustic sodium hydroxide in the eyes of a worker who was balancing pH levels for a hospital boiler; blood-containing saliva being spat in the eyes of a public service worker; and gasoline splashing into the eyes of an outdoor worker who was refuelling a tree sprayer. It takes mere seconds to damage an eye, yet in the hierarchy of safety equipment, emergency eyewash stations are not always given their due. Matt Nichols, a salesperson with Hazmasters in Toronto, says industrial establishments could be more vigilant in maintaining these units. "You buy them, everybody thinks they're compliant, but fi ve years go by and these things collect dust," he says. "They're sometimes forgotten," says Kelly Piotti, Smithfi eld, R.I.-based product manager for Honeywell's eyewash line. "When times are tough, we might wonder if we need eyewash stations, since they're not often used," she says, "but they are 100 per cent necessary. We only have one set of eyes." Anyone who is unsure of whether such a device is required needs to conduct a workplace risk assessment. Where a hazard exists, the appropriate safety equipment is required. "It's not optional," says Marc Cousineau, provincial hygienist with the Ontario Ministry of Labour in Toronto. Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act, Industrial Regulation 851, states that "Where a worker is exposed to a potential hazard of injury to the eye due to contact with a biological or chemical substance, an eyewash foun- tain shall be provided.'" Eyewash stations and emergency showers are available separately or as a combination unit. As a rule, the requirement applies to premises where there are paints, solvents, bat- tery charging stations, hazardous chemical storage, parts washers or chemical pumping and mixing areas. By Michelle Morra-Carlisle A t a British Columbia cement plant, a worker was carrying an 18-litre pail half full of Portland cement powder — a known corrosive — down a fl ight of stairs. The pail had no lid. When the worker accidentally dropped the pail, he was engulfed in a cloud of cement powder, which got under his loose-fi t- ting safety glasses. His eyes were caked in the powder, but with a co-worker's Type of unit, location and temperature are just some key considerations for emergency stations AN EYEWASH FOR AN EYE