The company was founded in July 1950 by John D. Hughes M.B.E. a qualified mechanical engineer and father of the present Managing Director. Activities included the fabrication of pipe work and pressure vessels along with t......The company was founded in July 1950 by John D. Hughes M.B.E. a qualified mechanical engineer and father of the present Managing Director. Activities included the fabrication of pipe work and pressure vessels along with the erection of pipelines and structural steelwork for the chemical and petrochemical industries. Whilst working on various sites where chemicals were being manufactured, the companys employees became aware of an absence of effective Emergency Shower and Eyebath facilities. This deficiency was painfully highlighted on several occasions when chemical or other burns were suffered. Such was the case when a Hughes employee, Charlie Gamble, accidentally stepped into a tank containing a sulphurous mixture, causing burns to his foot and leg. The only decontamination facility on the site was a domestic cast iron bath half full of stagnant, contaminated water! From these observations the Company began designing and developing a range of Emergency Safety Showers and Eyebaths long before any of the current HSE/COSHH requirements or recommendations. Initially, these Emergency Showers and Eyebaths were rather crude and basic, but with feedback and constructive criticism from users, designs were improved and refinements such as frost protection were included in unit design. With the steady increase in demand for such equipment, J D Hughes Fabrications Limited was incorporated in September 1968 specifically to manufacture Emergency Shower and Eyebath Equipment. The company soon became the market leader and for the past forty years has been the largest specialist manufacturer of this type of equipment throughout Europe. Since taking control of the company in the late seventies, Tony D Hughes, son of the founder, and also a qualified mechanical engineer, has brought his own personal touch and engineering expertise to the company and its products. Under his direction all products have been the subject of continual design and development from both functional and aesthetic aspects.