Safety showers, sometimes called emergency showers, are a common safety product used to wash away contaminants and hazardous materials from the body of an injured worker. They are designed to drench the whole body and so are also used for extinguishing clothing fires and for treating any burns immediately.
If your workplace needs a safety shower, and you don’t know how to get started, this guide is for you.
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Begin With Risk Assessment
Any safety equipment, including emergency showers, should always be selected in accordance with your risk management strategy. Make certain that hazardous chemicals and other materials that necessitate emergency decontamination facilities are appropriately identified, evaluated, controlled, and monitored.
Emergency showers and other decontamination equipment do not have risk management measures; they will not reduce risk to your employees or eliminate a hazard. They are merely first aid supplies that should be used in conjunction with other engineering, administrative, and PPE controls.
For safety showers in Australia, no one beats Spill Station. They offer risk assessment services to help workplaces get started on their safety journeys and can then supply all the safety needs at affordable prices.
Different Types of Safety Showers
Safety showers come in two different varieties, they are either plumbed and connected to a water supply or self-contained, with their own water supply. Only the plumbed showers are adhering to Australian law, but a self-contained shower is a great option if you can’t get to a plumbed shower immediately.
Here are all the options available.
Self-Contained Emergency Showers: these are useful outdoor settings with limited water access and at remote job sites. However, careful monitoring is required to guarantee that they are always operational and that the tanks are full.
Wall Mounted Emergency Shower: This small emergency shower only has a shower head and a pull-down activation chord. The fact that these showers can be installed at any height makes them the best option. If you have employees who use wheelchairs or if an injured patient might have trouble standing, this is helpful.
Floor-Mounted Emergency Shower: A free-standing floor-mounted emergency shower is ideal for outdoor installation but can be easily installed anywhere there is a permanent water source. These emergency showers can be found in chemical decanting stations, warehouses, and labs.
Combination Shower/Eyewash System: Because they include both shower heads and eye wash nozzles, emergency shower/eyewash combination units are extremely popular. The free-standing combination unit is frequently utilised outdoors on job sites. It is very important not to get your eyes wet from the shower head’s high-pressure water.
Other Wash Equipment
Anything used to support your existing emergency decontamination products is known as a supplementary wash system. These cannot be used in place of emergency showers and are not compliant with Australian law.
Accessories: When you install a safety shower, certain additional materials such as signage, extra lighting and spill containment pallets are available as and when you need them, from stores like Spill Station.
Drench Hoses: These are held in hand and deliver water or fluids to areas of the body. This can be useful if the injured person is unconscious or cannot stand.
Hand-Held Spray Units: These are similar to drench hoses but have less pressure for washing the eyes or face. If the injured person is unable to get to an eyewash station, these are helpful.