Eyewash station becomes an eye hazard

Mech, Fall, 2004 by Brian Clark

Survey team members often have to "step away" from the checklist and gauge a command's safety environment, using methods that often uncover some pretty unsettling things. One method is to simply ask a few safety-related questions of the more junior folks in the shop. These questions serve two purposes: lets us gauge the training people have received, and often provides the opportunity to do some ad-hoc training.

One of my favorite methods is to ask young Sailors or Marines to lead me to the nearest eyewash station. They often will lead me directly to it, demonstrating they've been trained. If not, I hold an impromptu training session with the workcenter to make sure everyone knows the location. I always add a little sight-conservation training, as well.

On one such occasion, I asked a young maintainer if he could show me the nearest eyewash station. He responded, "Yes, senior, it's right outside!" And he took me to the site. His enthusiasm quickly withered when he and I both saw the station--a portable unit that was covered in bird guano. His next words were, "Uh, senior chief, I wouldn't use this if I were you." He could read my thoughts!

After pondering how it got in such condition, I asked when it last was inspected. OPNAVINST 5100.23F, Chapter 19, says quarterly, and I don't doubt it had been done properly. The birds in the hangar were a bit more active with their contributions, making it necessary to inspect on a more frequent basis. The shop supervisor admitted he didn't perform the inspections--the squadron safety team inspects and cleans the units. The squadron safety POs or NCOs should have discovered this problem during their daily walkarounds.

I recommended two things: Relocate the station away from the birds, or the workcenter should clean the station more often. Either way, I'm sure the unit would stay cleaner between quarterly maintenance and servicing.

Master Chief Clark was a maintenance analyst at the Naval Safety Center. He recently transferred to AIMD, Patuxent River, Md.