Tap water at 140°F can cause a third-degree burn in about 5 seconds. Who else bakes this into staff training — are your child-accessible faucets holding near 100–120°F, and do you run monthly scald-response drills with a simple kitchen thermometer to verify?
We use point-of-use thermostatic mixing valves on child sinks set to 110–115°F and do a 60‑second Friday log with a cheap kitchen thermometer — thermometers don’t lie. Monthly drills help, but in older buildings the main heater can drift, so valves at the tap are safer than relying on the “120°F max” knob; CDC’s scald guidance is solid: https://www.cdc.gov/burns/scalds.html. Do you run a central mixer or per‑fixture valves?
Do you log the initial burst or just steady‑state, @valerie_k92? We add a ‘first draw’ check — after an hour idle we capture the first 5–10 seconds at child sinks (water’s sneakiest then), and we lock the ASSE 1070 mixing valves so a bumped handle can’t undo the setting.
Quick win: we stuck liquid‑crystal temp strips just under kid‑height taps so staff can see 100–120°F at a glance — my budget loves a $6 fix. We still verify with a cup-and-probe monthly since the strips drift, and we added a Monday‑open check after long idle periods. @valerie_k92, the farthest‑run fixture has been our best early‑warning spot.