How should flammable liquids be stored? It’s a question that we get asked often by our customers — and the answer is crucial to maintaining chemical compliance and safety. While flammable liquids are one of the most commonly used classes of dangerous goods, they are also one of the most volatile. If your business is one of the many that carries Class 3 Flammable Liquids, you have a legal obligation to ensure that these chemicals don’t cause harm to the people, property and environment of your organisation. By understanding the requirements of safe chemical storage, you can effectively reduce your risk of fire, explosion and human harm.
Before we explain exactly how and what flammable liquids should be stored in, we’ll have to refer to the storage requirements that are set out in the Australian Standards.
The requirements for the safe storage of flammable liquids is outlined in the Australian Standard AS 1940:2017 - The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids.
Australian Standards are comprehensive documents that set out specifications, guidelines and procedures to ensure that products, services and systems are consistent, reliable and safe.
AS1940-2017 outlines a range of different facilities that can be used to store flammable and combustible liquids in a compliant manner.
Even though the design specifications of each of these storage facilities differ, they all provide adequate protection against the risk associated with flammable liquids.
When storing flammable liquids, the Standard explains that there are a variety of options. These flammable liquid storage facilities include:
Although the standard details a range of compliant flammable and combustible liquid storage facilities, there are two types that businesses usually opt for due to their safety and practicality.
These two types of flammable liquids store include:
We’ll now have a look at the design requirements for these two types of Class 3 Flammable Liquid storage facilities.
For indoor flammable liquids storage cabinets to reduce the risks posed by flammable liquids, the cabinet must feature a safe and sturdy construction.
One of the most effective options for the safe storage of flammable liquids is a compliant indoor flammable liquids storage cabinet.
One of the most effective options for the safe storage of flammable liquids is a compliant indoor flammable liquids storage cabinet. Section 4.9.2 of AS 1940:2017 sets out the flammable storage cabinet construction requirements.
These mandatory requirements include:
For flammable cabinets with a storage capacity that exceeds 250L, extra features must be added to the construction of the cabinet. When workplaces store flammable liquids in a larger capacity flammable liquids storage cabinet, the extra features provide sufficient protection against the risk of storing greater chemical quantities.
Additional requirements for flammable storage cabinets over 250L includes:
For flammable cabinets over 250L in capacity, additional construction requirements do apply.
Storing flammable liquids indoors poses great risks upon the people and property of your organisation. So, to mitigate this risk, Standards Australia limited the capacity of indoor storage cabinets to 850L. This limitation ensures that Australian businesses store larger quantities of flammable liquids outdoors.
Outdoor relocatable detached stores are flammable liquid storage facilities that are used to store flammable liquids outdoors. Outdoor relocatable detached stores, otherwise known as Class 3 Flammable Liquid storage containers, can range from 80L to 10,000L in capacity.
Just like the indoor flammable storage cabinet, these outdoor containers are subject to a range of requirements regarding their design and construction, spillage containment capacity and ventilation.
These approved containers feature the necessary controls to reduce the risks associated with the outdoor storage of flammable and combustible liquids.
The design requirement for outdoor relocatable detached stores according to AS 1940:2017 include:
Other than fire-rated structures, all outdoor flammable liquid storage facilities shall be constructed from masonry, concrete, or a structure sheeted with non-combustible material. Any skylights that might be necessary are not required to be constructed from non-combustible material.
Outdoor relocatable storage facilities are specifically designed and constructed to protect larger quantities of flammable liquids in an outdoor environment.
Floors on flammable liquid storage facilities that make up part of the spillage catchment system shall be impervious and not liable to degradation or incendive sparking.
It is a requirement of WHS Regulations and the Australian Standards that all outdoor flammable liquid storage facilities have the provision to contain chemical leaks and spills.
The spill containment system must be designed to prevent any flammable liquids from contaminating the soil in the surrounding area. The system shall also prevent flammable liquids from entering any drainage system or water course.
All spillage containment systems installed on outdoor flammable liquids storage facilities shall comply with the following requirements.
Each outdoor flammable liquid storage facility must be provided with adequate natural or mechanical ventilation to suit the type of Class 3 Flammable Liquids that are being stored.
The ventilation system shall be sufficient to ensure that all vapours and fumes generated within the store are diluted and removed by air passing through the store.
Due to the risk of ignition with flammable vapours, the ventilation of the cabinet or store is an important safety consideration. However, we suggest conducting a risk assessment at your site to see if your flammable cabinet requires mechanical ventilation.
If you’re storing your Class 3 flammable and combustible liquids in an outdoor relocatable store, you won’t have to supply mechanical ventilation. This is due to the requirements for natural ventilation systems as stated in the Australian Standard.
Outdoor flammable liquids stores are designed with natural ventilation systems, such as fixed louvres on two opposing sides of the flammable container. This allows the natural dispersion of flammable vapours — and decreases the risk of ignition.
IMPORTANT: All flammable storage cabinets and relocatable flammable outdoor stores must feature the appropriate dangerous goods signage and hazard signage. This includes signage to prohibit ignition sources within 3 metres of the flammable cabinet or outdoor flammable storage container. Ignition sources are things which produce enough energy to spark flammable vapours, and include hot surfaces, tools that produce sparks, electrical equipment and static electricity.
The workplace exposure standards, as published by Work Safe Australia, also apply when the type of flammable liquids being stored are listed in that standard.
A compliant natural ventilation system for an outdoor flammable liquids storage facility shall be one of the following configurations outlined below:
In all cases, vents should be located along the longest sides of the building and should be positioned to limit areas where there is no effective ventilation.
With large stores, consideration must also be given to providing additional vents on adjacent walls and/or providing vents larger than 0.1m2 or 0.15m2.
As we’ve highlighted in this blog, flammable liquids and combustible liquids are volatile substances, they have the potential to easily ignite and cause harm to your staff, your business, the environment and your community. You should store flammable liquids in compliant cabinet or outdoor chemical storage container to protect your organisation from the risks that these chemicals pose. If your business is carrying any quantity of Class 3 liquids, it’s vital that you follow the requirements for safe chemical storage as set out in AS 1940:2017.
Would you like to learn more about how to store flammable liquids? We have an eBook that can help. How To Reduce The Risk Of Flammable Liquids In The Workplace details our 4-STEP risk control methodology and offers practical and easy-to-follow tips for chemical compliance. Simply click on the image below to access your free copy today.