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Preventing Bacteria Growth
Self-contained safety showers and eye/face washes provide a viable solution for sites lacking a reliable potable water supply or with poor water pressure. If unattended or unused for extended periods of time, there is the risk of the water within these units becoming stagnant and susceptible to bacteria growth.
Certain bacteria are identified as a potential source of infection in safety showers and eye washes, including:
- Acanthamoeba, which may cause eye infections
- Pseudomonas, which may cause eye, skin, muscle, lung and other tissue infections
- Legionella, which may cause serious lung infections
Not everyone is vulnerable to these bacteria, but for those that are the resulting infections can be severe.
EN and ANSI standards stipulate the provision of tepid water to safety showers and eye washes, this is specified as 16C to 38C by ANSI. However, with bacteria thriving in temperatures between 20C to 45C, steps must be put in place to minimise the risk of bacteria growth within this safety equipment.
Practical Steps to Limiting Bacteria Growth
1. Weekly Activation
Standards require that safety showers and eyewash stations are visually inspected and activated weekly. This clears any sediment build-up that could prevent water from being delivered to the shower or eye/face wash and displaces stagnant water in the pipework.
Not only will performing this test give you peace of mind that your emergency equipment is in full working order, it will also ensure you remain compliant. If a shower fails to function correctly or further injures an employee, you could face significant fines and/or imprisonment.
Head to our weekly activation page where you can watch our video on how to perform a weekly check and download the checklist.
2. Servicing
To ensure your safety equipment operates effectively throughout its lifetime and to remain compliant, European and International standards recommend an annual service.
A regular service should include comprehensive checks to identify and rectify any faults to prevent serious failure, cleaning and disinfecting of all components such as nozzles, shower heads and ‘Y’ strainers, and in the case of emergency tank shower a full disinfection of the water storage tank.. .
View our service and maintenance page for more information or to book a service engineer visit.
3. Managing Legionella growth
It is possible for Legionella to grow in any water system. There are certain traits associated with safety showers and eye wash units that increase the risk factor:
- Legionella bacteria multiply if the water temperature is between 20C and 45C
- Sediment, sludge, or nutrients support microbial growth
- Biofilms support the potential for Legionella survival and growth
- Areas of stagnation in the water system increase the risk of microbial growth
To help with controlling the risks of exposure to Legionella bacteria, it is recommended that you develop a risk assessment profile for all man-made water systems, including safety showers and eye/face wash equipment.
What can I do to reduce the risk of Legionella bacteria within my safety shower and eye wash equipment?
Monthly: Inspect water storage tanks.
At least quarterly: Clean and disinfect shower heads, nozzles, roses, ‘Y’ strainers, and water storage tanks.
At least every six months: Flush through and purge to drain ensuring three to five times the volume of water in the stagnant zone is drawn off.
Protecting self-contained units from bacteria growth
* Please note that the water preservative is not available for sale within the EU.
** For a full step-by-step guide on how to add the water preservative to the STD-40K/45G mobile safety shower read our installation and operation manual.
It is important to note that the risk of bacteria from an emergency safety shower and eye wash should be kept in perspective. It is a secondary consideration and must not diminish the function of the primary objective of the unit, to protect an individual in the event of an accidental exposure to hazardous chemicals.
