Why Eyewash Station Inspections Are Essential

In any facility that uses hazardous chemicals, seconds matter when an exposure occurs. That’s why OSHA requires accessible, working eyewash stations in areas where workers handle corrosive substances.

An eyewash station is a critical piece of emergency equipment but only if it’s functional and easy to access. Stuck valves, dirty water, or blocked paths can cause workers to suffer unnecessarily serious injuries. That’s why using an eyewash station inspection form is so important. It helps you ensure that:

• The station delivers clean, temperate water
• It activates quickly and flows for the required duration
• It’s accessible, visible, and unobstructed
• It meets OSHA and ANSI standards

How Often Should You Inspect Eyewash Stations?

ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 requires weekly inspections to verify the equipment’s functionality. It also recommends a full annual inspection to ensure compliance with all performance and installation requirements. Your inspection frequency may increase depending on the type of chemicals used or site-specific hazards.

A good eyewash station inspection form should be short, specific, and repeatable. Here’s what to include:

• Date and location of the inspection
• Name of person completing the inspection
• Criteria for passing inspection
• Results (pass or fail)

You may also consider having space for the inspector to write notes about corrective actions. The best practice is to use your action tracking software system to log action items, so it may not be necessary to add them to the inspection form. The main thing is that you keep a detailed record of your inspections in case there are any incidents or near misses related to the eyewash station.

Best Practices for Eyewash Station Inspections

Using a standard form for all your inspections is an easy way to ensure consistency of your documentation. This is especially true if you have several eyewash stations around your facility. Using the same criteria to inspect all of them is essential for meeting your site’s safety standards.

Anyone who completes these inspections should go through training, so they know what to look for. Make sure they know the importance of addressing issues immediately and not simply writing them down. Download our eyewash station inspection form to get started with this documentation and follow-up process.