Corrosive substances are very harmful chemicals that pose a great risk to people, property and the environment. The most dangerous property of a corrosive substance is its ability to dissolve materials, such as metal, stone, wood and human flesh, through chemical action.
The Australian Dangerous Goods Code (ADG Code) classifies corrosive substances as Class 8 Corrosive Substances.
‘Class 8 substances (corrosive substances) are substances which, by chemical action, will cause severe damage when in contact with living tissue, or, in the case of leakage, will materially damage, or even destroy, other goods or the means of transport.’
As corrosive substances have the ability to cause harm in the workplace, it's vital that corrosive substances are stored in a safe and compliant manner.
Corrosive chemicals can damage the health of those handling these dangerous goods, as well as harm the environment and corrode tools, equipment, vehicles and other materials at your site.
The Australian Standard AS 3780 - The storage and handling of corrosive substances, outlines the requirements for the safe storage and handling of corrosive substances in the workplace. Section 4.6 of the Standard explains the specification for indoor storage of corrosive substances.
Corrosive cabinet requirements include information on the following topics:
We’ll discuss these requirements in the next section of our blog, so you can get a better understanding of how to store corrosives indoors in a safe manner.
When storing corrosive substances indoors, it's important that the cabinet used is designed in such a way that it poses minimum risk to people property and the environment. To achieve this the cabinet must be designed and manufactured with certain features.
These features include:
Corrosive storage cabinets must meet the requirements of the Australian Standard to be deemed compliant.
Cabinets used for the storage of corrosive substances must not be used to store other incompatible dangerous goods.
Incompatible dangerous goods may react dangerously and release toxic and corrosive gases and substances. Therefore, strict chemical segregation is required when storing corrosive substances.
Some classes of dangerous substances that are incompatible with Class 8 Corrosives include:
If you have multiple classes of dangerous goods at your worksite, you need to have multiple cabinets – constructed to meet the requirements of that particular DG class – to store each of these chemical classes safely.
Are you segregating your DG?
As corrosive substances can dissolve wood, stone, metal and human flesh, it’s important to limit the quantities that are stored indoors.
The maximum quantities of corrosive substances kept in a single cabinet shall not exceed 1000 kg or L.
Of that 1000 kg or L, no more than 250 kg or L shall be of packing group II and not more than 50 kg or L shall be of packing group I.
Note: Units of litres are applicable to liquids and units of kilograms are applicable to solids.
To ensure that corrosive substances pose the least amount of risk to people in the workplace, it’s important to position corrosive storage cabinets in a safe location. For the location of corrosive storage cabinets to be safe, they must follow the requirements outlined below:
Where there is more than one corrosive storage cabinet in a building or area; the aggregate quantity of corrosive substances stored in all cabinets shall not exceed 1000 L. Of this 1000 L, no more than 250 L shall be of Packing Group II and no more than 50 L shall be of Packing Group I.
The cabinets shall also be separated by at least 5m.
To ensure that everyone in the workplace, including workers and visitors, are warned of the potential hazards associated with corrosive substances, it's important to display the appropriate safety signage on all corrosive storage cabinets.
The signage requirements for corrosive storage cabinets will be outlined in the relevant regulations and codes of practices for your state or territory.
The specific design of dangerous goods placards must also comply with the requirements of AS 1216-2006 - Class labels for dangerous goods.
In states where there are no regulatory requirements, each corrosive storage cabinet shall be labeled with specific markings.
These markings include:
In all instances, the signage on your chemical storage cabinets must be visible when the doors of the cabinet are closed. Cabinet markings must also be regularly inspected and maintained, so it stays in good condition.
To ensure the safe storage of corrosive chemicals, you should follow the requirements of the Australian Standard. One important aspect of safe storage is ensuring that you segregate corrosive substances from other incompatible classes of dangerous goods, such as flammable liquids.
The compatibility of different classes of dangerous goods can be determined by using a dangerous goods segregation chart. Use our guide to improve corrosive substance safety in your organisation.