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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Shower and Eyewash Temperatures Date: Friday, July 6, 2018 at 3:26:48 PM Author: mail**At_Symbol_Here**ECHELONENVIRONMENTAL.NET |
Next by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Shower and Eyewash Temperatures Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2018 16:40:18 -0400 Author: Jeffrey Lewin |
In our Chemistry labs, we flush both the eyewash units and the safety showers weekly. This eliminates the possibility of getting dirty, rusty water from the showers,
and protects all of us from dangerous microbial contamination of the eyewash water. Our chemical hygiene plan requires this level of attention.
Having a routine such as this makes sense not only from a cleanliness point of view, but also acts as a first line of defense for errors by contractors and campus
workers who might turn off a valve or do something else to compromise any of these units. It also alerts us to equipment malfunctions. All of our lab showers and eyewashes are fed by mixing valves that are set to produce tempered water, as required. We shoot
for 75-80 deg F in the settings, and we let Facilities know when the temps appear to be too hot or too cold, so that they can be checked and readjusted where needed.
Facilities is responsible for semi-annual testing of the showers to assure adequate volume of water delivered; but we also keep an eye out for obvious instances
of less than normal flow rates.
Neil Edwards
Laboratory Manager
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
LIU Post
Brookville, NY 11548
Email: nedwards**At_Symbol_Here**liu.edu
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
On Behalf Of Penny Manisco
Sent: Thursday, July 5, 2018 7:15 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Shower and Eyewash Temperatures
WARNING:
This email originated from outside of Long Island University. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
- LIU Information Technology
Hi All,
This is so weird because this exact thing happened in one of our newly renovated labs. A few weeks ago I was instructing students on flushing eyewash and safety shower and noticed the shower was scalding hot. The eyewash/shower had been
installed last summer and has been fine all year. I checked a second system in that lab only to find that the shower was not functioning at all. It turned out that someone (contractors remodeling a restroom perhaps?) had erroneously turned off the cold water
valve that feeds the emergency equipment. That caused scalding water at one end of the room, and no pressure at the other. The eyewash and shower are fed with water from a mixing valve.
This is why we check!
Best,
Penny Manisco
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Harvey Mudd College
On Thu, Jul 5, 2018 at 2:14 PM, Tyrell Towle <Tyrell**At_Symbol_Here**medpharmholdings.com> wrote:
Hello everyone,
This may seem like a basic question, but I am getting some pushback from our plumbing contractors on this.
We have a brand new facility and I went through to test all of the eyewash and emergency shower stations. At first everything seemed to be working fine, but then I noticed that the emergency eyewash water was getting warmer. I was horrified when the eyewash water became hot. I have never encountered hot eyewash water before. I had the contractors re-plumb the eyewash stations into cold tap water only. Now they are pushing back, wanting to hook the eyewash stations back into the hot water.
I also noticed that our emergency shower is releasing hot water.
Are there any regulations surrounding eyewash and emergency shower temperatures? My understanding has always been to have cold, potable tap water running into emergency showers and eyewashes so that chemical reactions are not accelerated upon exposure to heat. Regardless, with the temperatures that our eyewash stations were reaching, there was no way that anyone could keep their eyeballs open for 10 minutes in this water. Any information is appreciated, especially information that will put this debate to rest.
Thank you!
Tyrell R. Towle, Ph.D.
Senior Chemist
MedPharm Holdings, LLC
www.medpharmholdings.com
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--
Penny Manisco,
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Harvey Mudd College
(909)6074217
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