ANSI Z358.1 Compliance Checklist 660 North Union Street (312) 733-2626 P Chicago, Illinois 60610 (312) 733-4684 FIntroductionThe selection of emergency eye wash and shower equip-ment is often a complicated process. In addition to address-ing design and engineering issues, specifiers must be aware of regulatory requirements and compliance standards. A common reference point when specifying emergency equip-ment is ANSI Z358.1, “Emergency Eye Wash and Shower Equipment.” This standard is a widely accepted guideline for the proper selection, installation and maintenance of emergency equipment.To assist specifiers in understanding the provisions of this standard, Guardian Equipment has prepared this ANSI Compliance Checklist. In this Checklist, we have sum-marized and graphically presented the provisions of the standard. This Checklist can serve as a starting point for designing emergency eye wash and shower systems.Legal RequirementsThe Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was enacted to assure that workers are provided with “safe and healthful working conditions.” Under this law, the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) was created and autho-rized to adopt safety standards and regulations to fulfill the mandate of improving worker safety.OSHA has adopted several regulations that refer to the use of emergency eye wash and shower equipment. The primary regulation is contained in 29 CFR 1910.151, which requires that...“...where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency use.”ANSI Z358.1The OSHA regulation regarding emergency equipment is quite vague, in that it does not define what constitutes “suitable facilities” for drenching the eyes or body. In order to provide additional guidance to employers, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has promulgated a voluntary standard covering emergency eye wash and shower equip-ment. This standard—ANSI Z358.1—is intended to serve as a guideline for the proper design, performance, installation, use and maintenance of emergency equipment.ANSI Z358.1 was originally adopted in 1981. It was rewritten in 1990, 1998 and again in 2004. This Compliance Checklist summarizes and graphically presents the provisions of the 2004 version of the standard.General ConsiderationsANSI Z358.1-2004 contains provisions regarding the design, performance, installation, use and maintenance of various types of emergency equipment (showers, eye washes, drench hoses, etc.). In addition to these provisions, there are some general considerations that apply to all emergency equipment. These considerations may not necessarily be part of the standard, but we believe that they should be addressed when considering emergency equipment. These include the foll...
