I learnt from this that the eye wash shower should be reachable in 10 seconds, to be located at same level of hazard area and dust covers should be provided to avoid contamination.
It is also stated that ANSI requires 30-90 psi pressure. It is my feeling that high pressure water should not be used as in the literature, hazards of high pressure water jets on eyes state damage to the eyes.
As per Indian Standard, the pressure to be maintained is 196 kpa i.e about 30 psi and 16 lpm flow rate for eye wash fountain and for emergency shower, it should be 110 lpm. As per this standard, it should be located within 15 m distance from chemical handling area.
The reason for minimum 15 minute cleaning is that even after this much cleaning, only about 95% chemical is washed off, which I read in internet written by an author from US about HF splash on the lab coat. I used to explain this to my audience in the training programmes about the necessity for washing atleast 15 minutes. Otherwise, human tendency is to wash till such irritation exists. However, the vapors from the chemical soaked cloth can continue to expose the persons and cause health effects later. And, HF will show delayed effects affecting lungs and exposed persons can die due to odema.
