Tepid water is defined as temperature-controlled water and is one of the requirements for safety equipment to adhere to international standards. For the water supplied by a safety shower to be compliant to ANSI standards this range must be between 16C to 38C (60F to 100F), and 15C to 37C (59F to 98F) for the European EN15154 standard.
The perfume industry continues to see significant growth, currently valued at £40.7 billion as of March 2022. France leads the global market share with 27% in total perfume exports followed by Spain and Germany. The manufacturing process for cologne and perfumes involves the delicate extraction and mixing of several compounds, some of which have high concentrations that can cause harm to workers if mishandled. Therefore, providing workers with the appropriate safety equipment in the event of an emergency is vital to prevent lasting harm.
It is estimated that the average UK family spends a staggering 22% of their weekly budget on leisure activities, placing huge demand on the industry. In such a rapidly growing sector there are a plethora of arduous hygiene processes used to maintain facilities and protect the public. During recreational breaks, swimming pools and golf courses are often considered family favourites, but how strenuous is maintenance?
All industries face their own limitations which can make implementing safety equipment a challenging task. Over the years, Hughes have developed a product range to provide safety showers and eye baths that provide relief in any environment. However, often our customers bring us new challenges which require a bespoke service. At Hughes, we pride ourselves on working directly with our customers to understand their requirements and engineer the most appropriate solutions, whatever the demands.
Asia is home to the largest producers of pulp and paper in the world. China singlehandedly produces over 99 million tons worth of material each year, followed by Japan which produces an additional 26 million tons. A combination of hundreds of different chemicals will be used throughout the laborious process by different manufacturers worldwide.
Safety showers and eye washes are designed to be simple to activate in the event of an emergency, going from off to on within a second. Once they have been installed in the correct position, within 10 seconds reach of the hazard with no obstructions as per EN and ANSI standard stipulations, employees must be made aware of their location and how to use them effectively.
Industries worldwide rely on the steady supply of minerals and metals harvested by the mining industry such as coal, iron ore, bauxite, and potash. Though the final products of mining may not be hazardous, there are many chemical risks that mine workers are exposed to daily.
A laboratory incident at UC Berkeley in 2009 caused severe chemical burns to a student. A few drops of the corrosive chemical oleylamine fell onto a researcher’s uncovered forearm. When he realized what happened, he went to the restroom and washed his arm with soap and water for about a minute. Unfortunately, oleylamine is corrosive and hard to wash off the skin.
EU and International standards, EN15154 and ANSI Z358.1-2014, stipulate weekly testing and inspection of safety showers and eye washes, as well as annual servicing to remain compliant. If a shower fails to function correctly or further injures an employee, significant fines and/or imprisonment could be enforced.
Over recent years, the hospitality sector has been recovering from the substantial financial losses caused by the pandemic. Alongside these losses came a change in customer priorities, with 55% of UK consumers stating cleanliness being of greater importance since the pandemic.
Cleaning products are the most common hazardous substances used in the hospitality sector. Now, with increased sanitising expected and required, these chemical cleaners are used more frequently and are purchased and stored in higher volumes to keep up with demand.
With winter on the way, are you sure that your safety showers can survive the cold? It’s important to consider how a fall in ambient temperature could affect this life-saving equipment, especially if the units are placed outdoors.
Working with hazardous chemicals is a huge health and safety challenge, in part mitigated by the provision of essential emergency shower and eye wash equipment. However, add in the issue of high ambient temperatures and supplying suitable decontamination solutions becomes more complicated.
