After having sodium sprayed into my eyes in a chemisty lab and using the eye wash station at my school, i installed one in the garage of my house. The people who bought the house from my mom asked why we had a small upside down shower in the garage by the work benches.

 

All,
It's hard to argue that an eyewash station isn't the smart way to go but:
1. It will take up space.
2. It will flood the shop.
3. It is an expense.
How about:
1. Always wear your eye protection.
2. Always be aware of safety in the garage or shop.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of hindsight.
Take care of yourself, your worth it.
I have been to see the eye doctor too many times in my youth.
I have had a half dozen types of Carb Cleaner in my eyes in my youth.
I have not had an incident like either, for the last ten years. An eye shower can't save you from yourself. Simply put, you can avoid these incidents with a little effort.
Consider it,
KingFisher

 

I'd rather get a eye full of carb cleaner than a eye full off winter road salt. The salt stings and the sand just does the rest.
Carb cleaner rinses out very easy.

Something that I do when on my back, I'll have the shades on (saftey glasses) then I'll put a towel over my head. I figure I can't see what I'm doing anyways with all the rust sand salt falling off that whats the point of trying to see. Besides once you put your hands up your view is obstucted anyways.

 

Very few if any of us are talking about a full on chem shower. 1 eyewash squeeze bottle is sufficient for most home shops, and takes up almost zero room and is cheap and requires no maintenance. I took a face full of bromine resin when a water purification system line failed a few years ago, and there's no doubt that a nearby eyewash station saved my eyesight.

True, there's no substitute for "being careful" but even that isn't enough sometimes. This is really cheap insurance if something bad does happen. How can anyone be against that?

Ron

 

Lab Safety Supply sells squeeze bottle 1 liter of buffered saline solution with built in eye cup. If bottle opened and used: discard rest of saline buffered solution as it becomes a breeding media for bacteria and fungus.

 

Eye wash stations are an excellent safety item. We needed one at work in an area that had no plumbing (approx. 20 yrs ago) and our safety dept. found a wall-mounted gravity flow unit that "activates" when you pull the rubber caps off of the "spray heads" (The strap and caps are all molded into one peice, one pull and... GUSH!) The reservoir is molded in such a way that underneath the spray heads is a "sink" with a drain hole---- a 5 gal. bucket could be placed underneath and left there if spills are worrisome. Airgas Direct Industrial has some "portable eyewash stations" in their catalog. Hope this helps!

 

Ron's 100% correct when he says: If I understand Ivan's incident (and btw, Ivan, I'm glad to hear you're okay!) he was working at the workbench at the time--who's gonna don their safety glasses to reach across the work bench? Don't get me wrong--I'll put on the glasses (and big, bad earmuffs) when a lot of guy's wouldn't bother, but as Ron is saying, there's no harm (and no significant cost, relatively speaking) for preparing for the unexpected. It's just that a lot of us (myself included, in the case of an eyewash station) don't actually bother to spend the time and money and do it.

I'm just saying what Ivan did could have happened to a housewife with a can of spray starch, bug spray, spray paint, etc..., on a shelf in a utility closet. Most people would not "put on the shades" to stand over a workbench to grab a tool, or to reach into a closet. (Maybe glasses should have been worn in Ivan's case, depending on the work being done, and surely I now see the importance of capping aerosol cans, but .)

But these guys are making a very coherent argument for the inclusion of an eyestation (or very inexpensive substitute), to assist for the few, unpreventable mishaps that occur almost daily, somewhere. That is definitely not to be discouraged--what good can come of it?

Combining the good practices with the eyestation is the very valid point of this thread, I believe.

 

One little bit of info that might help.I dont heat my garage/barn all winter either,but I dont like the idea of starting my compressor when it is zero degrees,plus I am not so fond of the noise,So I built the compressor its own little room,insulated it,installed a heat lamp,so now it stays warm all year long and is quiet.I also put any stuff that I dont want to freeze in there on some shelves.

 

I have a bottle of Contact solution in the garage that I was unable to use for my contacts. It's been used 2 times already for eye wash. Once for brake fluid, and once for oil I think. It worked great. I keep it in the garage all the time now.

 

I have a deep sink in my garage with a 2' length of hose hooke up to the faucet.. Helps filling buckets out of the sink & have used it more than once for an eye wash station.. Great idea about the squirt bottles, but I wouldn't want to have to play with getting them unwrapped, uncapped while my eyes were burning, plus you'd need a bunch to get the necessary 60 second rinse..

Russ

 

Here is another idea
While managing a junkyard,I got tired of guys burning cars to the ground by not watching what they were doing,and it was costing a fortune to keep refilling fire extinguishers,so I made what I call the po mans extinguisher,I take an empty 2L plastic bottle,drill an 1/8 hole in the cap,fill it with water and put the cap back on.I then mounted a tray on my torch cart and nobody was allowed to use them unless both bottles were kept full,they also make great eye washing bottles.

 

An eyewash station is a good idea if you have the space and a location where the water won't pose a hazard ie: laying around or forming ice on the floor.
We installed one at work a few years ago and as an added precaution we used an inline water filter. It turned out that the filter was not a good idea in the long run because the wash station had to be used a few months later and the guy ended up with an eye infection afterward.
It was found that the water sitting in the line and filter was a good breeding spot for bacteria.
The filter was removed and someone was given the responsibility of running the water for five minutes once a week.
The wash bottle is ok if it always has fresh water and it stays in the same location , try finding it with acid in your eyes.
Having 33 years in the business I have found that safety eyewear is the front line defence , there is no substitute more important.