When you’re working with flammable liquids, the containment and management of chemical leaks and spills is a key consideration. Under Australian WHS legislation, businesses that use, handle or store Class 3 Flammable Liquids are legally obligated to prevent chemical leaks and spills. Plus, they must have systems in place to provide adequate spill containment and effluent disposal. In this blog, we’ll be highlighting the hazards that emerge from chemical spills, how they happen and your responsibilities.
FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS COMPLIANCE: Why not use this blog as the basis of your next risk assessment? We’ll take you step-by-step through all the hazards that are associated with flammable chemical spills — which you can easily apply to your own place of business or remote worksite.
What Are The Hazards Associated With Chemical Spills?
Hazards, as defined by Safe Work Australia, are situations or things that have the potential to harm a person. And when you’re dealing with Class 3 Flammable Liquids, it’s vital that you’re fully aware of just how dangerous even minor chemical leaks and spills can be.
To correctly identify and assess the hazards associated with flammable liquids spills in your own workplace, you must first conduct a chemical spill risk assessment.
A chemical spill risk assessment must be conducted in order to identify any potential hazards in the workplace.
When you’re carrying out the chemical spill risk assessment, make sure that you’ve thoroughly read the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for each of the chemicals onsite. This will then allow you to proceed and correctly identify all the potential chemical hazards in your work areas.
The following are the key hazards associated with Class 3 Flammable Liquids in the work environment:
- Fire - spilled flammable liquids can soak into rags, uniforms, cardboard cartons, wooden shelving, doors, pallets, soil and concrete. Even if the chemicals don’t ignite immediately, there is a risk of fire until a proper clean-up can be carried out.
- Explosion - just 1 litre of spilled flammable liquids can produce up to 5,000 litres of explosive vapour. Increases in temperature (or pressure) can also make flammable vapours more volatile.
- Reaction - if spilled chemicals come into contact with incompatible substances, dangerous reactions can occur. Sudden releases of heat, pressure and toxic gas are all possible.
- Asphyxiation - vapours from flammable liquids are heavier than air and can accumulate in low lying areas (trenches, pits) or fill a small room. Unprotected workers entering the area can be asphyxiated and die.
- Chemical burns - spilled fuels and other flammable liquids are often released at pressure and in large quantities. Workers sprayed with the chemicals (even if they don’t ignite) can suffer chemicals burns to the skin and eyes.
- Poisoning - workers in the immediate area of a chemical spill can be overcome by toxic fumes or absorb chemical toxins through their skin. Spilled chemicals released at pressure can also be ingested or accidentally swallowed.
- Environmental damage - spilled flammable liquids can easily penetrate soil, and enter drains, and waterways. Some chemicals (eg, some forms of benzene) are highly toxic to groundwater and even small quantities can contaminate human drinking water. Spilled liquids can also be toxic to wildlife, vegetation and aquatic organisms.
Damage to people, property and the environment can occur when there are chemical hazards present in the workplace.
How Do Chemical Spills Occur?
When you picture a chemical spill, you may think about an oil slick in the ocean or a tanker that’s overturned on the highway. However, in the workplace, a chemical spill can cause extreme damage — even if the volume of chemicals spilt is a minor quantity.
A chemical spill can be as simple as a staff member dropping a container or knocking over a drum with a forklift. Chemical spills can happen if the flammable liquids are being used, transferred, decanted or stored.
Therefore, spill containment and management controls must be in place in all areas of the workplace where flammable liquids are present.
A chemical spill can happen at anytime and can be as simple as staff dropping a chemical container.
To assist you in your chemical risk assessment, we’ve listed some real examples of chemical spills that have occurred in workplaces. Unfortunately, in many of these cases, workers were seriously injured or killed. This was due to the range of risks that resulted from the flammable liquids chemical spill including fire, explosion and human harm.
Real-life examples of chemical spills in the workplace are as follows:
- Transfer hose comes loose - fuel hose detaches and sprays large quantities of fuel onto workers, vehicles and the ground. Fuel ignites.
- Machinery malfunctions - a seal on a filter connection malfunctions on a hydraulic powered machine. Flammable liquids spray out and ignites
- Decanting spillage - trying to pour fuel oil from an open bucket into a large drum, oil runs down the side of the drum and spills onto the ground. Fuel ignites.
- Tank tips over - a bulk tank of chemicals (sitting on a truck trailer) unbalances and 7,000 litres of fuel begins to spill out. Workers are immersed and burned.
- Overfilling a tank - using one hand to pour fuel into a petrol-powered engine. Fuel spills everywhere and ignites.
- Handling error - delivery crews drop a carton of insecticide, 8 bottles of chemical break and spill on the ground. Warehouse is shut down and quarantined until spill can be cleared.
- Ruptured pipework - a crew digging a trench discover an unmarked pipe, uncertain of the contents they continue digging and rupture the pipe. The liquid inside the pipe ignites.
As you can see from the above examples, chemical spills can occur in a range of circumstances. Whether a staff member has not had sufficient training in flammable liquids safety or there is a malfunction with machinery, there are a multitude of hazards that can be present in the average worksite.
Your Chemical Risk Assessment
To acutely assess your chemical risks, you must carefully consider every aspect of chemical usage and storage in your workplace.
We suggest that your next chemical risk assessment consider the following important points:
- What are the hazards associated with the chemicals?
- How are the flammable liquids being used?
- How are the chemicals received onsite?
- How are the chemicals transferred and put away?
- What is the procedure for decanting flammable liquids?
- What facilities are being used for the storage of these chemicals?
- Are the chemicals being disposed of correctly?
There are many considerations that you should take into account during your chemical risk assessment. These include how chemicals are used, received, transferred and stored.
What Are My Duties Under Australian WHS Legislation?
If there is any risk of chemical leaks and spills at your workplace (meaning, if your business carries any type of Dangerous Goods in a liquid form), you have an obligation to contain and manage the spill under WHS Regulations.
Failure to effectively contain and manage chemical spills could result in serious incidences such as workplace fires, explosions or human harm. You may also face penalties for non-compliance — with the maximum penalty imposed being $6,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a body corporate.
The WHS Regulations details the following key requirements for spill containment and management.
Workplaces in Australia are legally obliged to:
- Have a spill containment system in place wherever a hazardous chemical is used, handled, generated or stored. Eg, you could place chemical drums on bunded pallets to contain spills. You could also store flammable liquids inside a flammable cabinet that’s constructed with a liquid-tight spill compound.
- Ensure the spill containment system doesn’t create a compatibility hazard by bringing together different types of incompatible chemicals. Eg, you must correctly segregate incompatible chemicals in your workplace. You should also not allow the incompatible substances to share the same bund or spill sump — as this will cause a chemical reaction.
- Have spill response equipment and procedures in place (that includes the safe disposal of any chemical waste or resulting effluent). Eg, if you have a flammable liquids decanting station onsite, you should make sure that you have a compatible spill kit available in the event of a chemical spill.
- Protect stored chemicals from damage. Eg, in order to protect flammable liquids from impact table, you could relocate the chemical containers from unstable stacks to a flammable liquid's cabinet. This will provide instant impact protection from falling items, flying debris and vehicles in your workplace.
You can minimise the risk of stored chemicals suffering impact damage if they are correctly stacked and loaded in a compliant flammable liquids cabinet or store.
How Can Your Business Help Prevent Flammable Liquid Leaks and Spills?
The prevention of leaks and spills is a key consideration of flammable liquids compliance. To reduce risks in your workplace and avoid WHS penalties for non-compliance, you must provide a spill containment system in any area of your workplace where flammable liquids are handled or stored. One of the best ways to protect your people, property and the environment is by choosing to store Class 3 Flammable Liquids in a dedicated flammable cabinet or outdoor flammable store.
Keeping your flammable liquids in a compliant safety cabinet that’s been manufactured to meet the requirements of AS 1940:2017 – The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids is an essential step in chemical spill management. Would you like to find out more about meeting your chemical compliance obligations under WHS Regulations and Australian Standards? Our eBook, Essential Considerations When Storing Flammable Liquids Indoors, is an easy-to-understand guide that will take you through your obligations. It also explains how a flammable liquids storage cabinet can help you achieve chemical safety and compliance. Access your free copy of our eBook today by clicking on the image below.
