Australia's Science Forum

Hi all
Our eye wash stations do not have the drainage plumbed in so every time I test them I have to try and catch the water in a bucket, mop up any splashes and leave the bucket under the station to catch drips, as they drip for a while after.
I talked to our WH&S committee about this and apparently it would cost a fortune to get the drainage put in so they have suggested putting non-slip mat under the eyewash station. I don’t think this would work as I feel it would be harder to clean up any spillages and the water would pool. They say it would be better to pool on a non-slip mat than on shiny floor. Thoughts? I don’t have any non-slip matting here but I assume they mean the sort of stuff people have by their sinks. Where does this come from?

I have some on my main floor in prep room, with large holes in. So yes they would hold the water, but yes they have to be lifted up to clean under.

nickykinz wrote:I don’t have any non-slip matting here but I assume they mean the sort of stuff people have by their sinks. Where does this come from?

You want a large black rubber mat, preferably with holes to let the water wash through. Look for "Kitchen Mats" or "Shower Mats" at a hardware store, Crazy Clarks, or such

It won't stop water from pooling on the floor, but at least will lift feet out of any chemicals washed off.

Try Seton.

yes
Seton have the antifatigue mats. They are non slip, and honeycomed and quite thick. They would suit well for that purpose (emergency only). But are quite pricey

I would love my prep area to be wall to wall antifatigue mats.
Actually. I use a large one at my washing up sink. If there are any drips or spills, you dont even notice and no slip danger.
has also saved me many a broken glassware item, as if they slip out of your hands while youre rinsing.. they just bounce on the mat, and survive the fall

At best the mats are a stop gap measure. It does not get away from the fact that the eyewash stations, like any basin with taps, should have a drain pipe. Try asking any council to put this in a building and see if they would approve it. Naah. Come to think of it, how do they get away with it in a school. Thank goodness, ours are properly plumbed.

For me a mat doesn't really help my problem. When I test them I put a bucket under and manage to catch most of it and then mop up what I miss. Having a mat there doesn't allow me to just turn the eye wash on and test it, then walk away. I will still have to clean up afterwards. The mat would only help for the few seconds until I mop up. Looks like I just have to carry on what I'm doing.

Our's have a drain in the floor near the shower.

Not surprisingly though, whomever designed/installed the flooring/plumbing didn't put the drain at a low point in the floor, so any water actually flows away from the drain.

At one location, water drains to the right an directly under the chemical bunker door and into my chemical storage area!!! - at another location it flows across my storeroom, under a set of wooden shelves, along the wall behind the shelves and into a laboratory/classroom where the low point seems to be the middle of the room.

I don't know what your construction laws in Qld are like, but if your flooring is timber, chipboard etc., you can actually cut a drain into the floor without hooking up pipe work. In NSW Transportable homes can have a drain in the Laundry floor (by itself or can be hooked up to a pipe which extends to the exterior wall but not actually running into the sewer. Hense the Laundry floor, would only be in the case of washing machine flooding etc.,

Hope that helps

Like David there is actually a drain hole in the floor not too far away but as he says the water doesn't flow towards it and pools in other areas. When I mop up I push it towards the hole to help get rid of it but again without me doing this it wouldn't help at all. In a major chemical spill, if we had to use the hand-held showers or eyewash for a long time it would stop us having a major flood but doesn't help get rid of it all.

We have a safety shower that doubles as eye washer and it is plumbed. We did have lots of problems, because I was told there is no legislation to say yay or nay. If you have a bad acid spill and you are washing (hosing) a person down, you will not end up standing in a pool of acid, but poor old fisshies down the beach will be acid pickled. So bad for enviroment but good for your feet.
Anybody else have a safety shower draining to sewer?
Lada

Don't you have a grease trap that the drain goes into before it hits the sewage system. I think it is the law that labs and kitchens have this. We do as well ,as the canteen, food tech rooms and art rooms and it is checked and pumped out by Thiess I think. If that is the case and you do have a serious acid spill couldn't it be neutralised in the grease trap?? and then no fishies would have to die!!

No, we dont have a grease trap, so acid cannot be neutralised there.
I try very hard to prevent any spills, give students 50ml dropper bottles etc, so touch wood, did not have any disasters here.
We dont have bottles big enough to cause a large spill, but even 500mls og conc acid on the floor will make a good size puddle.
Lada

would be interesting to drill a hole in my floor. Firstly its a concrete slab. and being ont eh top floor, there would be some interesting reactions from those in the downstairs classrooms!

such as the time when one of the undersink pipes burst in my lab- all weekend long,
and they were met with a sodden classroom. Serves them right for being "downstairs".
At least my 'upstairs' drained freely

Isn't it called "water torture"?
Lada