Have you just purchased and installed a new indoor flammable liquids cabinet? Now is the right time to put into place the correct stacking and loading practices. As Dangerous Goods Specialists, our team often see customers purchasing flammable liquids cabinets — only to render them non-compliant with careless loading and housekeeping practices. Your flammable cabinet is a high-tech safety device that has proven chemical control measures to help keep your organisation safe. So, it’s vital that you and your staff know how to stack and load a Class 3 Flammable Liquids cabinet correctly, so you can maintain a safe, compliant workplace.
In this blog, we’ll explain the 5 things you should do to make sure that your new flammable cabinet is installed and operating in the correct manner. It’s a good idea to use this blog as the basis of your next staff training session or safety forum — so everyone in your workplace can be on the same page when it comes to chemical compliance. Now, let’s get started.
1. Installation
It’s critically important to correctly install your indoor flammable liquids cabinet as soon as it arrives at your worksite. So, the first thing you should do is select a location for your new safety cabinet that meets the compliance requirements.
To maintain the flammable cabinet’s ability to provide liquid tight spill containment, you must choose a level surface for it to be installed on.
Flammable liquid cabinets are specifically engineered to direct leaking or spilled chemicals into the lower compound (which acts as a liquid tight spill sump). Therefore, your new safety cabinet must be placed on a solid base that’s completely level — and at least 3 metres away from any ignition sources or heat.
Install your new flammable cabinet on a solid, level base to assist with effective spill containment
If your cabinet is not level it may be rendered non-compliant because:
- Shelving angles will be altered, and this affects the drainage system.
- Mechanisms in the self-closing doors may jam or not activate properly.
- Cabinet may become unstable and at risk of falling over.
Once you have determined the correct location for your cabinet, you must make sure that it’s not moved from that position. If the cabinet must be relocated, it should be done so with permission from an authorised staff member such as a HSE Manager or Safety Committee member.
IMPORTANT: Why not familiarise yourself with the compliant cabinet installation and loading practices? You can find them in Section 4 of Australian Standard AS1940:2017 – The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids.
2. Loading Practices
Now that your new safety cabinet is correctly installed, it’s time to train your workers and their supervisors in the correct methods to loading a flammable cabinet.
Staff training should focus on these essential practices:
- Only placing Class 3 Flammable Liquids inside the cabinet.
- Never keeping ignition sources (eg, matches, candles, electrical appliances, electronics) inside the cabinet.
- Removing excess packaging materials and other combustibles before putting chemical containers inside the cabinet.
- Stacking containers neatly on shelves, and ensuring that tins, drums and containers don’t protrude or block the door closing mechanisms.
- Only placing closed containers (or containers fitted with a tap) inside the cabinet.
- Never placing more than 2 x drums (60 litres or more) in a stack.
- Ensuring only one drum (60 litres or more) is stored in the decanting (horizontal) position.
- Never allowing anyone to climb in the cabinet for any reason.
- Never placing (or storing) items in the lower spill compound.
REMEMBER: Flammable liquids cabinets are not designed for other chemical hazard classes, so don’t put corrosives, toxic substances, gas cylinders, oxidisers, explosives, or organic peroxides into the cabinet.
3. Self-Closing Doors
To ensure that the safety cabinet is properly sealed, flammable liquids cabinets must have self-closing doors that are close fitting.
These cabinets are specifically designed to:
- Create a barrier that protects the chemicals from external heat or fire.
- Prevent flammable vapours from escaping.
- Provide liquid tight spill containment.
Your compliant cabinet features self-closing doors that provide multiple risk control measures.
Never allow your staff to prop open doors with sticks or wire — as this can render the cabinet non-compliant.
Do you need to install latches to hold the doors open? Then make sure that the latches fail and release the door if temperatures rise above 80°C.
IMPORTANT: Please contact our Dangerous Goods specialists here at STOREMASTA if you have any concerns about the self-closing doors or need assistance reviewing your cabinet loading practices.
4. Maximum Load Capacity
When it comes to determining the cabinet capacity, all staff should be made aware of the capacity requirements. The maximum load capacity of an indoor flammable liquids cabinet is clearly marked on the front of the cabinet, so there should be no confusion.
It’s important that your workplace training and operational procedures include the cabinet’s maximum load capacity. If your cabinet is loaded past its capacity, it will be rendered unsafe and non-compliant.
Overloading your cabinets will render them non-compliant and pose serious risks and hazards for your workplace.
An overloaded safety cabinet may no longer be able to:
- Keep chemical leaks or spills completely inside the cabinet.
- Properly contain flammable vapours and fumes.
- Activate the automatic closing mechanisms on the doors.
IMPORTANT: The capacity of the spill containment sump is based on the largest container that can be stored in the cabinet, so make sure your workers know the size of the maximum allowable container.
5. Cabinet Exterior
Your new flammable liquids cabinet will arrive with mandatory safety signs and warning placards in place. These must always remain clearly visible, including when the cabinet doors are closed.
You should also be aware that the exterior of the cabinet should not become shelving for other items. We often see the top of flammable cabinets loaded with decanting activities, files and paperwork, or potential ignition sources.
To keep your flammable liquids safe and compliant, please ensure that you train your workers and contractors to:
- Put chemical containers away promptly and not left lying around near the cabinet.
- Only put containers that have their lids or seals in place into the cabinet.
- Keep the area surrounding the cabinet clear, and don’t place anything in front of the cabinet that may block the markings and signs.
- Never bring ignition sources (or carry out hot work) within 3 metres of the cabinet.
- Ensure that the area has sufficient lighting so that workers can clearly see the warning signs and correctly identify the chemicals they are using.
Keeping Your Class 3 Flammable Liquids Cabinet Compliant
Class 3 Flammable Liquids cabinets that have been manufactured according to the specifications of Australian Standard AS1940:2017 are reliable risk control measures — provided they are stacked and loaded correctly. If you’d like to learn more about storing flammables in a compliant manner, why not access our easy-to-read eBook? Essential Considerations When Storing Flammable Liquids Indoors explains how you can use and store flammable liquids safely indoors at your workplace. Our guide is also a handy tool that can assist with your next safety training session or workplace risk assessment.
Download and read our FREE eBook today by simply clicking on the image below.
