ANSI/IIAR 2-2014 Eyewash and Safety Shower Requirements

In this week’s blog post we will summarize the eyewash and safety shower requirements for a facility with an ammonia refrigeration system. We posted on this topic in January 2015, but IIAR provided helpful clarification on the topic in the recently published ANSI/IIAR 2-2014. Here is a summary of the requirements:

ANSI/IIAR 2-2014 §6.7.1 General.

Each machinery room shall have access to a minimum of two eyewash/safety shower units, one located inside the machinery room and one located outside of the machinery room, each meeting the requirements in Section 6.7.3. Additional eyewash/safety shower units shall be installed such that the path of travel in the machinery room is no more than 55 ft to an eyewash/safety shower unit.

ANSI/IIAR 2-2014 §6.7.2 Path of Travel.

The path of travel within the machinery room to at least one eyewash/safety shower unit shall be unobstructed and shall not include intervening doors.

ANSI/IIAR 2-2014 §6.7.3 Installation Standard.

Emergency eyewash/safety shower unit installations shall comply with ANSI/ISEA Z358.1.

The requirement for two (2) eyewash/safety shower units (inside and outside) represents a change compared to ANSI/IIAR 2-2008 Addendum B §13.1.6.1 which required that “an eyewash and body shower unit shall be located external to the machinery room and readily accessible via an exit. Note: It is recommended that additional such units be located accessibly inside or outside the machinery room such that no unit is further than 10 seconds or 55 feet [16.8 m] from a hazard. Refer to ANSI/ISEA Z358.1-2009 for eyewash equipment guidelines.”

Per the request of IIAR, OSHA has also provided helpful clarification regarding the location of eyewash and safety showers throughout the facility. You can read of summary of OSHA’s response here.