Are your safety showers ready for winter?

With some sites closed due to regional and national lockdown, it’s more crucial than ever that you inspect and maintain your emergency safety showers to ensure they are ready for winter.

1. Are the feed pipes lagged and traced?

An immersion heated or trace-tape heated and insulated safety shower protects the standpipe of the shower from freezing.
However, if the piping leading to the shower is exposed there is the possibility of the water freezing before it reaches the shower. Not only can this cause damage to the shower but will also render it unusable in the event of an emergency.

Ensure any and all feed pipes are insulated and trace heated so your safety shower works if needed.

2. Are you activating your showers weekly?

International and European standards recommend that emergency safety showers must be visually inspected and activated every week to guarantee reliable and effective operation.

Weekly flushing also helps to prevent any sediment build up in the standpipes. Performing this weekly activation offers peace of mind that your emergency equipment is in full working order, and ensures you remain compliant.

Watch our weekly activation video for tips and to download the checklist now.

3. Have you booked in a regular service?

If your safety showers are not in full working order, your workforce could be at risk. Regular servicing is paramount to keep your safety showers and eye baths up to scratch.

We recommend your safety showers and eye/face wash equipment is serviced at least once a year to maintain this essential life-saving equipment, so it operates perfectly when needed. Failure to keep your safety showers in good working order could result in significant fines and/or imprisonment.

If your safety showers have been left unused, untested and uninspected due to lockdown, we recommend you book a service when your site is back up and running to ensure your safety showers are in full working order.

Hughes are also now able to offer the option of on-site legionella testing of your safety showers and eye wash units as part of your regular service. Accurate, reliable results can be provided in just 25 minutes allowing for a speedy response plan if necessary.

4. Have you got the correct safety shower?

Our freeze-protected range of safety showers are the ideal solution for use outdoors where there is a possibility of the water inside the shower freezing. Choose from trace-tape heated and insulated or heated models, with wall-mounted or floor standing options.

Designed to remain on standby to deliver warm water for over 15 minutes, conforming to European and ANSI standards, the
temperature-controlled model is intended for use in low ambient temperatures. The STD-TC-100KS/45G has a 300-litre tank and 3kW heater with a thermostatically controlled mixing valve to ensure the delivery of tepid water. This unit can also be used to feed heated water to other showers in the vicinity.

For more remote sites or those without a reliable potable water supply our emergency tank showers with immersion heaters are the perfect option. Choose from 350L, 1500L or 2000L heated models, alternatively for extreme cold climates the polar tank showers incorporate a double-skinned fibreglass insulated cubicle to protect the user from the elements.

Safety showers available to hire
Click here to view our hire range, perfect if you need a temporary solution.

Download the PDF version of this article

www.hughes-safety.com