How Emergency Showers Save Lives
In workplaces where employees handle hazardous chemicals or corrosive substances, an accidental splash or spill can become a serious medical emergency in seconds. Emergency safety showers provide an immediate way to flush hazardous materials from the body, helping limit exposure while additional medical assistance is obtained. From laboratories and manufacturing plants to chemical-processing and maintenance facilities, having properly located and maintained emergency showers can be a critical part of workplace emergency preparedness.
Immediate Decontamination Can Reduce Injury
When a hazardous chemical contacts the skin or clothing, the length of exposure can influence the severity of the injury. An emergency shower allows a worker to begin flushing the affected area immediately rather than wasting valuable time looking for another source of water. The large volume of flushing fluid helps dilute and remove hazardous substances from the body, reducing the amount of time the chemical remains in contact with the skin.
Emergency Showers Provide Full-Body Coverage
An eyewash station is intended primarily for flushing the eyes and face, while an emergency shower is designed for incidents involving larger areas of the body. If a chemical is spilled across an employee's clothing, arms, torso, or legs, a safety shower can provide the broad coverage needed for immediate flushing. Workplaces where both eye and full-body exposure are possible may use combination eyewash and shower stations to provide both capabilities in one location.
Quick Access Is Essential
An emergency shower isn't effective if employees can't reach it quickly. Stations should be positioned where workers exposed to applicable hazards can access them without unnecessary obstacles. The pathway to the shower should remain clearly marked, well lit, and free from boxes, equipment, carts, or other obstructions. Employees shouldn't have to search for emergency equipment after an exposure occurs.
Training Helps Employees React Quickly
During a chemical emergency, workers may be frightened, disoriented, or in pain. That's why employees should know where emergency showers are located and understand how to activate them before an accident happens. Training should cover when emergency flushing equipment should be used, how it operates, and the company's procedures for obtaining additional medical assistance. Clear safety signage can also make emergency showers and eyewash stations easier to recognize throughout a facility.
Regular Inspections Keep Showers Ready
Simply installing an emergency shower isn't enough. Equipment should be routinely inspected and maintained according to applicable requirements and the manufacturer's instructions. Facilities should check that the shower remains accessible, operational, clean, and capable of delivering the required flushing fluid. Problems should be corrected promptly so the equipment is ready if an emergency occurs.
Part of a Larger Chemical-Safety Program
Emergency showers provide an important last line of protection, but they shouldn't be used as a substitute for preventing chemical exposure in the first place. Proper PPE, safe chemical handling and storage, employee training, hazard communication, spill-control procedures, and appropriate engineering controls all play important roles in reducing risk. Emergency showers provide protection when those preventative measures aren't enough and an accidental exposure still occurs.
Be Prepared Before Exposure Happens
In a chemical emergency, there may be little time to decide what to do. A properly selected, accessible, and maintained emergency shower gives workers the ability to begin decontamination immediately, potentially reducing the severity of a chemical exposure while additional assistance is obtained. Combined with eyewash equipment, PPE, employee training, and established emergency procedures, safety showers can be an essential part of protecting employees who work around hazardous substances.