There's More to It Than Meets the Eye: Emergency Eyewash Station Use

by Kim Caserta, Consulting Safety Officer, Safety Partners, Inc.
Denise Aronson, President, Safety Partners, Inc.

Emergency eyewash stations... we've seen them, know where the nearest one is located in the lab, and are trained on how to use it. But, have you actually needed to use one? Hopefully not! The staff at Safety Partners recently used one to prepare for a safety training video. It was an eye-opening experience.

We shot the video to reinforce the instruction we give to our customers. Interestingly, we learned a few new things while producing the video. We share them here, along with other tips on emergency eyewash station use.

We recorded the video at a facility with easily accessible single-plumbed eyewash stations and safety showers throughout the labs. The area around each station is clearly marked with green and white tape and is free of obstructions. Inspection tags confirm that they are routinely inspected and activated. Since there are no drains in the area, a five-gallon bucket is available to collect used eyewash water. Also nearby are spill pillows to help clean any eyewash spills.

Our video is an enactment of an accidental chemical splash into the eyes and its correct response. Of course, we state in the video that it is the type of incident that can be easily avoided by wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). However, even with good engineering controls and proper PPE, accidents may still happen and we need to be prepared to handle them.

What did we learn new? What tips does the video reinforce? Some are listed below:

• Using an eyewash station can be a little tricky, uncomfortable, awkward, and messy. The video's "accident victim" found the water temperature comfortably tepid, but found it uncomfortable to have water splashing in her face. She also found it tiring to spend 15 minutes bent over the eyewash station while holding her eyes open in the eyewash. At first, she found it hard to figure out how to breathe while water splashed in her face. She also found it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open. To help, a team member stood by her, offered a chair, and reminded her to keep her eyes open and to use her fingers to help keep her eyes open. When 15 minutes passed, the team member offered a towel for drying up, as well as some dry scrubs to wear.
• The proper use of an eyewash station requires the mobilization of a team. For the video, we used a team of five people who responded to the mock incident. Their individual tasks were to: lead the splash victim to the eyewash station, stand by and keep the victim comfortable, call the occupational health physician, a team member who went to get the material safety data sheet, and help with the water collection. The video reinforces the importance of training every team member and remaining calm throughout the procedure.
• Know where to locate your firm's emergency telephone list. The video emphasizes the importance of making sure that telephone numbers easily accessible. We recommend that our clients post in every common area an emergency telephone list with the necessary phone numbers. This is the list that team members referred to in the video to contact the occupational health physician.
• Training involves knowing what to do after an incident. Our video ends with a cab being called and a work buddy riding with the victim to her visit with occupational health. In some cases, however, an ambulance would be necessary to transport the victim to a hospital. The video's victim was also asked if there was anyone from her family that should be called, if arrangements need to be made to pick a child up from day care, and if there are any keys or a pocketbook she would need to bring with her.

Knowing how to quickly and smoothly respond to eye-splash incidents and taking the time to practice your facility's procedures can prevent serious injury. Practice is always an eye-opening experience on how ready your facility really is to handle an incident.

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Safety Partners efficiently and cost-effectively implements hands-on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) programs at emerging life sciences companies. Safety Partners tailors its programs to each client's unique science, processes, procedures, and facilities, while reducing program implementation burdens. Its expertise is unmatched, clocking over 85,000 hours at over 120 New England life sciences firms.