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Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:19:38 -0400
Reply-To: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Subject: Re: Temperatures of Emergency Shower and Eyewash Water
In-Reply-To: <20061017162205.xabzqz9hr8kk0kw0**At_Symbol_Here**mail.ycp.edu>
Like any other piece of equipment, thermostatic mixing valves require
regular maintenance. Directions for that should be included in the
owner's manual, but you will no doubt want to make sure that copies
are in the hands of the personnel assigned to that task - and someone
should be assigned that specific duty, of course. Probaby want to
laminate them to ensure their longevity and readability, or maybe
even post them adjacent to the valve.
Standard maintenance/inspection tags are a big help here, too. One
could go as far as signing up on one of those free web sites that
sends you reminders about whatever you tell it to.
The required maintenance frequency really depends on the quality and
nature of the water in your specific areas. Some places might only
need to do routine maintenance/cleaning on the valve yearly, but
other places, as Barbara indicated below, will need to do it more
frequently. This is the same deal as any other piece of safety
equipment, of course. It's important to create a schedule and stick
to it, decreasing the time between inspections if you keep finding
the equipment in an unacceptable state.
Rob
>We have mixing valves on our most recently installed drench hoses
>and eyewashes; I have not checked the actual temp, but it feels
>pleasant.
>However, I have run into a problem with the mixing valves-on my
>monthly checks I found some with low flow rates which I reported to
>maintenance. The person who fixed that said the mixing valves are
>prone to clogging, partly from lack of use, and need to be checked
>weekly, allowing them to run for several minutes. Of course, that
>is still preferable to having an injured person refuse to rinse as
>long as necessary because of the ice cold water.
>
>I'm not sure about safety showers and will check ASAP.
>
>Barbara Mowery
>Laboratory Coordinator
>Department of Physical Sciences
>York College of PA
>Country Club Road
>York PA 17405
>717-815-6480
>
>
>Quoting "Greene, Ben" :
>
>>Colleagues - With previous discussions regarding "tepid" water temperatures
>>required by ANSI Z358.1-2004 in mind, I was curious what other facilities
>>have measured the temperatures of their delivered water and what the results
>>were. With the low end of "tepid" being 60 F (Appendix B), it might seem
>>cold for a dip but not for a, uh, soft drink. We recently measured the
>>temperatures of water from more than a dozen units (both eyewash and
>>emergency showers, indoor and outdoor), and found a mean temperature of 72 F
>>at an ambient outdoor temperature of 75 F; safely above the 60 F "limit".
>>Of course, we expect seasonal variation and plan to measure the temperatures
>>periodically in the future to determine if mixing units are required.
>>
>>We are in southern New Mexico which has a nominally mild climate (though it
>>does cool down in the winter) and I wondered what the delivered water
>>temperatures at facilities in other parts of the country are.
>>
>>Ben
>>
>>Ben Greene, Ph.D.
>>Jacobs
>>Las Cruces, NM
--
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