When you have flammable liquids stored in the workplace, it’s very important to keep them in a flammable storage cabinet to minimise the risks that they pose upon the people and property of your organisation. In some circumstances, it may seem inconvenient for you to store flammable liquids in a safety cabinet. This may be because the quantity of flammable liquids that you are storing is quite minimal and a flammable cabinet may not fit in the area where your flammable liquids are kept. You may also use your flammable liquids very frequently. Continually having to retrieve your flammable liquids from a safety cabinet may seem time-consuming for your busy work life.
These factors may be true, but they don't necessarily make you exempt from storing flammable liquids in a safe and compliant manner. The factors that determine whether you require a flammable storage cabinet are RISK and COMPLIANCE.
Compliance factors
When storing flammable liquids, it’s very important that you store them in full conformance to the Australian Standards. The Australian Standard that outlines the requirements for the safe storage of flammable liquids is AS 1940-2017 - The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids. Section 2 of this standard outlines the quantities of flammable liquids that are classed as minor storage. Quantities of flammable liquids that are classed as “minor storage” do not have to be stored in a compliant flammable storage cabinet.
For commercial buildings, AS1940 interprets that 10L of Packing Group I or II per 50 m2 of floor space is classed as minor storage. For Packing Group III, 25L per 50 m2 of floor space is classified as minor storage.
Therefore the maximum quantities of flammable liquids that you can store outside a flammable storage cabinet is 10L of Packing Group I or II per 50 m2 of floor space, or 25L of Packing Group III per 50 m2 of floor space. However there are other factors that must be considered. AS1940 was developed to help reduce the risks that flammable liquids have upon Australian workplaces. Therefore the real factors that determines your need for a flammable storage cabinet is the level of risk. We will now discuss some risk factors that may make your minor quantities of flammable liquids eligible for storage within a flammable storage cabinet.
Risk factors
It’s not necessarily the quantity of flammable liquids that determines your requirement for a flammable storage cabinet, but rather the risk that the flammable liquids pose upon your workplace. If your flammable liquids are stored next to ignition sources, incompatible chemicals or they are releasing dangerous quantities of flammable vapours, it can often make a flammable storage cabinet a necessity.
Ignition sources
When flammable liquids burn, it’s not the liquid that burns, but the flammable vapours that disperse from the liquid. All flammable liquids give off a lot of flammable vapours and in some cases only four percent of the air has to be contaminated with flammable vapours to make a mixture that will readily ignite in the presence of an ignition source. If you are storing minor quantities of flammable liquids and there are ignition sources in the area, it is important to separate the flammable liquids from the ignition source by at least three meters and store the flammable liquids in a flammable storage cabinet. Flammable storage cabinets are fully enclosed and they will stop the flammable vapours from dispersing into the workshop. If the concentration of the flammable liquids are extremely intense, the flammable storage cabinet can be vented to the outside atmosphere.
High concentrations of flammable vapours
Flammable liquids are made up of molecules that are held together by weak intermolecular forces. As the bonds between these molecules are relatively weak, they tend to be volatile and vapourise easily. These flammable vapours can have severe effects upon the people and property of your workplace. As discussed previously, a small percentage of the vapours can mix with air to make a flammable mixture that would readily ignite in the presence of an ignition source. When flammable vapours ignite, they increase the temperature of the flammable liquid causing more flammable vapours to disperse and ignite at a much faster rate.
Flammable liquids can also cause asphyxiation. If the flammable liquids in your workplace are stored in an enclosed area, the flammable vapours will continue to displace the air in the area. If someone walks into this area, they can become starved of oxygen. This can cause them to go into a coma. If this person is left unattended, it could result in death.
If your organisation is storing minor quantities of flammable liquids and they are giving off flammable vapours, it’s important to store these flammable liquids in a flammable storage cabinet to mitigate the risks they pose upon the people in your workplace. If the concentrations of the flammable liquids are above the workplace exposure standards, a ventilation system will need to be installed on the flammable storage cabinet to keep the concentration at a safe limit.
Incompatible Substances
Another situation that may pose significant risks upon the people and property of your organisation is when flammable liquids are stored next to other incompatible classes of dangerous goods. Of the nine classes of dangerous goods, there are a number of classes that are incompatible with flammable liquids and must be segregated at all times to avoid violent chemical reactions. If the minor quantities of flammable liquids in your workplace are kept next to other substances such as oxidising agents, organic peroxides, corrosives and toxic substances it is important to segregate your flammable liquids from these substances with a flammable storage cabinet. Flammable storage cabinets have insulated walls and self-closing doors that will allow you to isolate your flammable liquids from the other incompatible substances.
Next Steps
If your organisation is storing less than 25L of flammable liquids per 50 m2 of floor space, you cannot automatically assume that you won’t require a flammable storage cabinet. To determine your need for a flammable storage cabinet, you must carry out a dangerous goods risk assessment to determine the magnitude of the risk that the flammable liquids pose upon your workplace. For more information on how to reduce the risk of flammable liquids in the workplace, download our free eBook by clicking on the image below.
