Engineered Solutions Articles

For over 103 years, Haws has been committed to bringing the highest quality emergency equipment products to a wide variety of markets.

Why Tempered Water?

Moving water has the ability to transfer heat, either increasing the temperatures of the objects it contacts or decreasing them. Heat transfer, via moving water, made 20th-century man more productive and more comfortable. It sped up transportation and made a wealth of innovative products possible. But, while the physical properties of heat transfer via water movement can certainly be beneficial, there are many instances when temperatures must be controlled within a high and low range to avoid injury. For many years, industrial emergency equipment was not one of those instances. The water that flowed through emergency equipment was subject to climatic, source affected and other ambient variables that could raise it to high temperatures or lower it to downright cold temperatures. You pulled the handle, pushed the flag or rotated the foot treadle on your emergency shower or eyewash and you got what you got! And, you got it for a full fifteen minute use cycle – if you could stand it!

Remember: Municipally supplied water, when running for a sustained period, tends to cool down or even heat up, eventually approaching its source point temperature. And, by the same token, water subjected to hot or cold ambient temperatures in manufacturing plants or elsewhere can become dangerously hot or cold.

Presently, OSHA – 29CFR 1910.151 – requires the availability of suitable first aid treatment facilities. Specific direction is given indicating that “suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided…” While the definition of “suitable” was mostly left up to the specifier in the past, ANSI Z358.1-2004 provides greater clarity. In the opinion of many safety professionals the wiggle room of the past is what often led to “pull the handle and get what you get” installations! The thought of an injured worker short-cutting the required emergency equipment use cycle because the water is too cold or hot has led to the notion of the “Comfort zone”- an outlet water temperature range that assures comfortable, non-injurious use for the full 15-minute use cycle.

It is also appropriate to consider a plant’s emergency equipment needs from the employee’s perspective. Having adequate emergency first aid facilities available also means that the employee needs to know where they are located, how to get to them, how to use them and has no hesitation about jumping into or using them! Hesitation can lead to more serious injury than necessary and calls into question whether the facilities are in fact “suitable.” Would you jump into a shower you believed was freezing cold or scalding hot … without hesitation?

It was acceptable in days gone by to have severe injuries and fatalities factored into the plans of major projects like bridges, high-rise buildings and dams. The combination of concern for worker safety and mandated safety standards has changed that mentality. Likewise, the same standard development process is steadily increasing the clarity of the definition of specific requirements in virtually all areas of worker safety, including the most effective use of first-aid measures such as emergency showers and eyewashes. The need for a fifteen minute use cycle - at 20 gpm for emergency showers, 3 gpm for eye/face washes and .4 gpm for eyewashes - has long been the acknowledged standard. The water temperatures encountered during those 15-minute use cycles, however, have been rather ambiguously guided… until recently. So, now many plants are scrambling to comply.

So, how do we go about developing a comfort zone for a specific facility? For the sake of this discussion, we will assume that the plant has sufficient emergency equipment in the appropriate locations and that the comfort zone approach is being added to the existing emergency equipment assets.

The desirable and generally accepted comfort zone temperature range is between 60°F and 100°F (38°C), based on ANSI Z358.1-2004 - Appendix B6 – which states “Providing flushing fluid at temperatures conducive to use for the recommended irrigation period is considered an integral part of providing suitable facilities. Medical recommendations suggest a flushing fluid at tepid temperatures be delivered to affected chemically-injured tissue. Temperatures in excess of 38°C (100°F) have proven harmful to the eyes and can enhance chemical interaction with the eyes and skin. While cold flushing fluid temperatures provide immediate cooling after chemical contact, prolonged exposure to cold fluids affect the ability to maintain adequate body temperature and can result in cessation of first aid treatment. Recent information indicates that a temperature of 15°C (60°F) is suitable for the lower parameter for tepid flushing fluid without causing hypothermia to the equipment user.”

Complete Line of Standard & Custom Models

Haws manufactures a complete line of standard and custom tempered water models for use in indoor and outdoor systems...whatever the project requires.