Hughes Safety Showers & Eye Wash Stations are King
The Swiss didn’t think Seiko’s digital watch would succeed since it didn’t have gears. IBM saw little use for the personal computer. Delivery experts didn’t believe users would pay FedEx a premium for speed and reliability. Football powerhouses saw the spread offense as a short-lived novelty act. These examples all point to folks who wanted to keep doing things the same way cause that’s the way it had always been done.
The same can be said of emergency showers and eyewash stations. As you walk through most industrial plants in the United States you will see emergency showers and eyewash stations. Some are insulated and some are not. In either case, they include a pipe with an elbow and a large shower head on the end. There is some sort of valve with a chain, etc to operate the shower. The eyewash is usually a bowl with two nozzles and sometimes the nozzles have caps on them for protection. Some are bit more money than others but they all look about the same. It can be difficult to distinguish one manufacturer from another.
Hughes North America isn’t doing things the same way “cause that’s the way it’s always been done”.
Why does the shower head have to be a plate with holes drilled in it? Could a different design produce better coverage to the person in danger? Yes, Hughes shower nozzle was designed by a group who specializes in spray nozzles for a wide variety of systems. I have had customers purchase the nozzle only to improve their existing shower.
Can you get an eyewash that isn’t inviting to birds, cigarettes and other plant waste? Yes you can. Hughes STD-45G can be a stand-alone eyewash or fitted to any of the Hughes shower combinations. I have heard of some folks who keep the eyewash nozzle covers in stores since they are lost so frequently. Hughes’ design doesn’t need have nozzle covers since the entire eyewash is covered with an integral lid. The water starts flowing as soon as you open the cover.
You will need a ball valve to turn on the shower. The ball valve will have some sort of extension to allow the person in danger to pull on it and start the shower’s flow. If you go the normal route, you’ll get a ball valve like any other you’d see in a plant water line or your Home Depot plumbing area. When the injured person wants the shower on, they will not just pull on the handle. They will yank it as time if of the essence. Does anybody offer a ball valve designed specifically for the beating they take in emergency showers? Yes. Hughes’ valve is all 316SS investment cast with an oversized stem, packing area and stop to absorb the inherent abuse.
Hughes offers other unique tepid water solutions for all sorts of circumstances such as tank showers.
The other manufacturers’ showers do look very similar cause that’s the way they’ve always done it. Hughes’ stand out like Seiko watches with FedEx reliability. Give Hughes a try and you might find that your safety scorecard is hard to beat.
