• OSHA regulates eye-washing facilities in the workplace.eye image by Pali A from Fotolia.com
  
  OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, regulates the placement of eye-washing facilities in the work place. In addition, ANSI, the American National Standards Institute, places recommendations on how to define caustic or corrosive materials. Should you get a corrosive or hazardous substance in your eyes and need to flush them, you may be legally entitled to regulated eye-washing facilities.
  
  

Eye Wash Facilities

• OSHA requires that wherever a person's eyes or body may be exposed to corrosive or harmful materials, there must be a facility on-site that allows immediate and thorough drenching and flushing of the eyes and body. The ruling is established by OSHA under medical services and first aid requirements, article 29, CFR 1910.151(c). Therefore, by the regulation, any work places, whether public or private, where employees run the risk of exposure to caustic substances, must have both emergency showers and emergency eye-wash stations available.
  
  

Targeted Work Places

• OSHA's primary requirement, that there be emergency eye wash facilities in any location risking exposure to caustic materials, applies to any kind of work place. In addition, certain types of work places always require eye-wash equipment regardless of the assessed risks of exposure. Facilities where there are activities utilizing an open-surface tank must feature eye wash equipment. Likewise, any work places that store and/or handle anhydrous ammonia must provide eye washes. Any locations utilizing powered industrial trucks, pulp, paper or paperboard manufacturing, telecommunications or any kind of hazardous materials must all provide eye wash facilities.
  
  

ANSI Guidelines

• In addition to OSHA's requirements on eye washing facility locations, ANSI's standards flesh out the operating and installation requirements for emergency eye wash stations. While the ANSI guidelines are not as binding as OSHA's, they do apply to any scenario where an employee is exposed to a hazardous material, either caustic or any substance known to have adverse effects on humans. According to ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2009, facilities may either be plumbed eye wash stations or gravity-feed eye wash stations. In either case, there must be heads at 33 to 45 inches from the floor and 6 inches from the wall or the nearest obstruction. The heads must deliver water at .4 gallons per minute, continuously for 15 minutes, whether plumbed or gravity-fed. Plumbed units must provide flush at 30 psi. The valves of the eye wash units must activate in no more than one second and they must remain on automatically, without use of the hands. The units must be installed no further than 10 seconds' distance from work areas, in a well-lit and clearly marked location. The units must be tested weekly to ensure proper function.