Hot or Cold? The Basics of Tempered Water
We hope emergency equipment systems are never used but must make certain they deliver the maximum volume needed, safely and adequately.
- By Casey Hayes
- May 01, 2010
People’s reaction to being hit with cold water has been used in comedy routines for many years. Providing it’s not you being doused, it can be really funny. But cold water is no joke when used in emergency showers and eye/face washes. While a cold shower might be invigorating, it can be downright dangerous to run un-tempered or cold flushing fluid through industrial emergency equipment.
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Emergency showers and eye/face washes minimize the effects of exposure to hazardous materials by drenching the affected areas of the body with signifi- cant amounts of water. This serves the dual purpose of removing any remaining hazardous material and minimizing further injury.
Through the years, the largest challenge faced by designers and specifying engineers has been providing ready access to emergency showers and eye/face washes. The basic design objective is to place emergency assets as close to potential accident sites as possible. This challenge becomes much more difficult in larger, more complex plants. More recent design configurations usually feature dispersed location of eye/ face washes and showers with centralized activation monitoring.
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Another, more recent design challenge focuses on the effects of exposure to the high volumes of water used in eye/face washes and drench showers. Safety protocols call for at least 15 minutes of immediate and constant eye/face wash or shower use in response to exposure to hazardous materials. Exposure to domestic water temperatures in many areas of the country, when combined with the increased cooling effects of moving water passing over the body, can easily lead to hypothermia. Concern for worker safety has driven many companies to upgrade their emergency equipment to include tempered water. The use of “tepid” water easily allows for the full 15 minutes of eye/face wash or shower exposure required without risking hypothermia.
Recently, the International Safety Equipment Association revised the Z358.1 standard to include a delivered water temperature range of 60 degrees to 100 degrees F. This range is to protect the victim from hypothermia on the lower end and eye tissue damage on the higher end. At this time, there has not been a study to determine the proper delivery temperature for specifi c hazards. Until this study is done, manufacturers and specifiers have chosen 80 degrees F as a base point for delivery temperature. As with all installations, a medical advisor should be consulted to determine the optimum delivery temperature.
This article originally appeared in the May 2010 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.
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