Do You Need a Safety Shower System at Your Workplace?

In Australia, you’ll find that most facilities that work with dangerous materials will have safety showers on hand to help maintain workplace safety. But how do you know if you should have safety showers installed?

Let’s walk you through the overall process.

Know The Risks

A thorough risk assessment is the very first step in knowing which safety equipment your workplace needs to stay both safe and legally compliant. If your workplace carries chemicals or debris such as sand, welding slag, dust, or glass, it might be a good idea. You may also need an eyewash station in addition to the safety shower, depending on the assessment.

Know When It’s Used

Safety showers are commonly used to flush the skin of contaminants such as chemicals and reduce the effects of accidental contact and can also be used as emergency first aid burn treatment. Commonly, the area will be flushed for 15 minutes.

Eyewashes are used to flush the eyes in the event of irritation or exposure to toxic or corrosive chemicals or debris that has come through PPE or equipment issues. Again, the eyes should be flushed for at least 15 minutes after exposure.

Safety showers should not be used to store clothes, or for personal showers, and workers should be aware of their function as safety equipment first and foremost.

Know Where to Install

There are strict guidelines within the Australian Standard regarding the placement and signage of safety showers. These state that:

• The safety showers and eyewashes should be no more than 10 seconds from hazards.
• They should be on the same level as the hazards.
• There should be no obstructions between the hazard and the shower, such as stairs, doors, or furniture.
• The safety shower area should be identified with the correct signage.
• The shower should be identified by a green light.
• The surrounding area should be well-lit.
• All staff should know where the showers are operated and how to use them.
• The shower should be correctly maintained as per the Australian Standards.

Contact Spill Station

If you need help understanding your workplace’s safety needs, you’re not alone. It’s very hard to get workplace safety done in a compliant and manageable way and Spill Station Australia https://www.spillstation.com.au/ knows this. This is why they offer training, risk assessments, and workplace audits to help you keep your workers safe, in addition to having a wide range of compliant safety showers and eyewash stations.

Contact Spill Station today and get started on your workplace safety journey.