Canadian Occupational Safety

18 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com A t Kawasaki Rail Car, eye injuries are among the fi ve most common types of injuries incurred on the job. In 2008, the company decided to bring in portable, self-contained eyewash stations to improve the way it pro- vided emergency eye injury care. The work of the company, based in Yonkers, N.Y., requires workers to perform tasks that create eye haz- ards, such as metal cutting, grinding, sandblasting and painting. Until 2008, it used plumbed stations and saline eyewash bottles. By replacing these with self-contained units, the company, which extends across three buildings, was able to put stations closer to hazardous work areas and move them around according to the needs of new contracts. It was also able to place them in many different locations, including the warehouse's forklift-charging areas, the manufacturing section's grinding and acid-etching areas and paint booths. After the installation of the new self-contained fi xtures, both the severity of eye injuries and the number of injuries requiring visits to the emergency room declined, according to Joe Infantolino, the company's safety and health administrator. Wherever potential hazards for eye injuries exist, employers need to provide emergency eyewash. But in many work areas, installing plumbed eyewash sta- tions can be diffi cult. Where there's a lack of space or running water, shifting work areas or a hazard that is far from existing plumbing, employers often rely only on eyewash bottles, which allow fl ushing for only a few minutes. A better alternative is often a portable, self-contained station. These stations are particularly useful where work involves materials that can damage the eyes, such as caustic or hazardous chemicals, fl ammable liquids, dirt and dusts, and where physical conditions make plumbed stations diffi cult or impossible. Portable stations are well suited to laboratories, manufacturing and warehouse facilities, construc- tion sites, utilities and industries that have remote fi eld locations. They can also be placed in, or just outside, confi ned spaces. The basic portable, gravity-fed station is a tank con- taining 7 to 20 gallons (26.5 to 76 litres) of potable water, an amount of liquid that provides a continuous fl ow for 15 minutes. A preservative must be added to reduce bacteria. Some units have a sealed eyewash cartridge containing about 6 gallons of purifi ed water or sterile solution, instead of tap water. It is important to note that, while portable, self- contained stations or bottles are sometimes called "secondary," they are referred to as "primary" in the ANSI Z358.1-2014 Emergency Eyewash and Shower Equipment standard — the standard generally fol- lowed in Canada. Personal eyewash bottles are deemed "supplementary." Generally, the units are secured to a structure, such as a cot, transport cart, rack or wall to prevent tipping during use. They should be positioned so the fl ush- ing fl uid stream is between 84 and 135 centimetres from the surface on which the user stands. A sign should be affi xed over the unit to clearly identify the eyewash station and any obstructions to the unit must be removed. A user automatically activates the unit and starts the fl ow of fl uid by pulling down a lever or latch. The gravity-fed system causes the fl uid to spray up into both eyes at the same rate for 15 minutes. While the water continues to spray, a tank below captures the contaminated water, preventing it from spilling onto the fl oor. After use, the worker should go for emergency care. In contrast with eyewash bottles, self-contained eyewash stations meet the requirements of the ANSI standard, says John Vincent, technology leader for specialty products at Smithfi eld, R.I.-based Hon- eywell Industrial Safety. Most importantly, they provide 15 to 20 minutes' fl ushing; they can be acti- vated with one hand and in a single action; and they work hands-free, so workers can use their fi ngers to hold both eyes open. Moreover, because they're portable and typically smaller than plumbed stations, they can fi t almost any- where and be located closer to hazardous work areas. "That's really the number 1 advantage of a porta- ble station: They are easily accessible," says Vincent. "The time between an injury and the time you get some fl ushing going is critical. The ANSI standard requires a station be within a 10-second range of an area where a potential eye injury could occur." An added benefi t of stations containing sealed cartridges is that the fl uid inside is sterile and buff- ered, he says. A buffered solution is pH balanced to match the composition of human tears (about 7 pH). This makes it easier on the eyes than tap water, which can further irritate an injury, especially one caused by caustic chemicals. Emergency eyewash stations are essential on construction sites, where eye injuries can be caused by chemicals, metal and plastic shavings, particles and splinters thrown up from rotating machines, smoke and dusts. However, with shifting work areas and lack of running water, setting up plumbed stations can be diffi cult. Instead, many managers use, in combina- tion with eyewash bottles, the large 15-minute tanks because of their portability, says Mike Jones, execu- tive-director of the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba in Winnipeg. "The smaller bottles are for immediate use, the fi rst-aid measure before they get to one of the longer- lasting, 15-minute, portable eyewash stations," he says. Although used extensively on construction sites, he adds, the portable stations present challenges. One is weather. Low outdoor temperatures can make it diffi cult to keep the water between 15.5 C and 38 C, which the ANSI standard requires. "In Winnipeg here, we have a little bit of an issue with the cold during the winter. For six months of the year, we could be in weather where the eyewash station would need to be in a warm area," Jones says, adding that on a longer-term site, the eyewash sta- tion could be placed in a construction trailer, where it is kept warm and available for use. One technical advance that is helping to Portable eyewash stations useful in construction, remote areas, ever-changing work spaces By Linda Johnson SEE SEE PHOTO: BRADLEY CORPORATION Now you them now you don't

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