Lavatories for Chemical Plants and Refineries

Workers in chemical plants and refineries must wash all sorts of contaminants off their hands and arms several times a day.  Lavatories for chemical plants and refineries should be manufactured from chemical resistant materials that will avoid staining or marring the surface.  Bowl interiors should also offer sufficient depth for users to wash their hands and their arms all the way up to the elbows.  This, in turn, requires these commercial restroom sinks to be made with some type of water spillage control design.  Otherwise, a new safety hazard could possibly appear in the form of a soaked restroom floor that represents a trip and fall hazard for worker entering the facility.

XPB Locker recommends three specific lavatories for chemical plants and refineries.  One of these, the hand wash fountain, is not technically what we think of as a sink.  We will look in a moment at the specific advantages these larger handwashing systems offer.  First, however, we want to take a look at two new lines of commercial sinks that are ideally suited to industrial facilities that work with various chemical agents.

The first of these lavatories for chemical plants and refineries is the Bradley Advocate system.  The Advocate offers two immediate advantages over standard sink designs.  First, it combines a sink, a centrally mounted automatic hand dryer, a batteryless, touch-free faucet powered by room light, and a soap dispenser, all built into one space efficient unit.  Additionally, it features overfill protection that keeps water off the floor and countertops.  Paper towel wastes is also eliminated, along with the expense, by means of the hand dryer that also functions as a small shelf with a 150 pound weight capacity.  The Advocate comes in one, two, and three user configurations.  It is made from recycled Terreon, a stain and chemical resistant, solid surface material that is GREENGUARD Certified.

Another line of lavatories for chemical plants and refineries is the Bradley Frequency line.  The Frequency features a dual-level design.  One bowl, which is specifically designed for ADA compliance, is lower to the ground than the other bowl.  (Systems can also have two standard height bowls for higher traffic environments).  The primary benefit of the Frequency design is an exceptional level of knee clearance that far surpasses other ADA compliant and TAS compliant sink designs.  In some industrial environments, where workers, management, strategic partners, and vendors all frequent the same restroom, having an exceptional level of accessibility, as well as a very contemporary design, helps create a commercial restroom with an exceptional level of comfort and amenity for all possible user groups.  Like the Advocate, the Frequency is also made from either TerreonRE or standard Terreon.

Some chemical plants and refineries, however, need more than standard lavatories to accommodate the hand washing requirements of their workers.  Most of these facilities will use a standard commercial sink or two to accommodate disabled users, but they accommodate the bulk of the work force with heavy duty, deep bowl wash fountains that service between 4-8 users at once, depending on design.  These systems let larger groups of workers coming off of work shifts wash their hands up to the elbow and are typically more able to effectively remove contaminants than our typical commercial sinks. 

In places where hazardous chemicals are very common, we recommend that facilities strongly consider both hand washing options, as well as custom built commercial showers, to adequately address the safety concerns regarding industrial contaminants.