Accidents Happen and Safety Showers Need to be Found
Emergency shower signs help employees to find this important equipment in emergency situations when they are exposed to chemicals or harmful substances. Emergency showers are a type of emergency first aid that is meant to limit the effects of accidental exposure to substances by rinsing them away from the skin as fast as possible. Time is of the essence when a person needs to use an emergency shower, and injuries could be severe.
Immediately Locating Safety Equipment
Because of our involvement with writing the ISO standards for safety signs, we understand how safety equipment location sign systems are meant to be designed and installed.
Picture the risk situation you’re trying to address. The need to find an emergency shower can occur anywhere toxic or corrosive liquids or substances are used in your facility. The optimum situation is that the emergency shower is situated where everyone in every corner of those areas can see the shower, or see the sign mounted above it. But obstacles, partitions, posts, and corners in rooms exist. So the best safety practice is as follows:
- Post an emergency shower sign above the actual equipment.
- Then, install directional versions of the same sign (which point towards the direction of the equipment) wherever people cannot actually see the emergency shower or the “above-the-equipment” sign.
We carry all the variations you need for each of these types of signs. We utilize a design based on the ISO 7010 graphical symbol E012 for our emergency shower signs, depicting a human figure under running water coming out of a showerhead, accompanied by a first aid cross.
OSHA Rules on Emergency Showers
The OSHA regulation for emergency shower signs reads as follows:
1910.151 C Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency use.
Other areas like location and installation requirements are not covered explicitly by OSHA, but OSHA refers to ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2014 standards for all other areas regarding emergency shower stations. The ANSI standard requires the following for emergency shower installation, more information can be found within the standard itself:
- A flow rate of at least 20 US gallons of potable water per minute for at least 15 minutes.
- The station must be located within 10 seconds of where an emergency incident can occur, clearly visible, and well lit.
- The control valve must be able to be operated from off to on in under one second.
- The temperature range of the emergency shower should be between 60-100 ˚F.
