Effective spill containment and management is an important part of maintaining chemical compliance. While all precautions must be taken to ensure that chemical leaks or spill don’t occur, businesses must also be prepared to act quickly and decisively – if a spill does take place. In this blog, we’ll be listing the 6 essential steps you should take when selecting and maintaining a chemical spill kit for your DG handling or storage area. We’ll also be detailing how choosing the right spill kit can help your organisation improve safety and meet compliance obligations.
Step 1: Know Your Obligations
In Australia, workplaces that carry any type of dangerous goods are required to comply with WHS Regulations. The regulations state that containing and managing chemical spills is part of your legal obligation.
Section 357 of the regulations states that:
“where there is a risk from a spill or leak of a hazardous chemical in a solid or liquid form, provision is made in each part of the workplace where the hazardous chemical is used, handled, generated or stored for a spill containment system that contains within the workplace any part of the hazardous chemical that spills or leaks, and any resulting effluent.”
It goes on to further explain that the organisation:
“must ensure that the spill containment system provides for the clean-up and disposal of a hazardous chemical that spills or leaks, and any resulting effluent.”
While adhering to the regulations may seem like a simple task, it’s often made more complicated when you’re dealing with hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods. As each type of chemical poses a unique risk to people, property and the surrounding environment, it’s important to develop a complete spill management approach that suits the type of dangerous goods that you’re carrying.
This is where the Australian Standards come in. While not technically law, the Standards provides a comprehensive guide for businesses who are carrying any class of dangerous goods. Each class of chemicals has its own Australian Standard, which explains all the detailed requirements for that dangerous goods class.
In Australia, it’s your legal responsibility to ensure that chemical spills are properly contained and managed.
When determining your spill response requirements, it’s a good idea to refer to the relevant Australian Standard. If you choose not to refer to the Standard, and something goes wrong in your chemical handling or storage areas, you will have to prove in a court of law that the control measures you put in place were reasonable and suitable for the situation. However, as you can imagine, deviating from the Standard is not seen as best practice and can lead to chemical compliance complications.
Therefore, when you’re putting together a spill kit and chemical spill response, it’s a good idea to refer to the Australian Standards to ensure you’re creating a plan that is safe, legal and compliant.
Step 2: Consider The Chemical Classification
The second step in our guide to selecting and maintaining a spill kit is to consider the chemical class of the products that you’re carrying. Each chemical class will have a different set of risks, such as hazardous vapours, the potential for ignition or human harm. Therefore, you must identify the dangerous goods class of the chemicals that you’re using to find a suitable spill kit.
You must consider the type of chemical that you’re carrying in order to find a suitable chemical spill kit.
You must also make sure that your clean-up process does not create any additional hazards, such as spilled liquids reacting with or chemically attacking incompatible materials.
We recommend conducting an onsite risk assessment to determine the various dangerous goods classes of the chemicals that you’re carrying. Remember, within the class of chemicals there is also the chance that some substances may react with their own type, so the Safety Data Sheet of your products should be a key resource used in your assessment.
Once you have determined the type and class of the chemicals at your worksite, you can then consider the aggregate quantities that you’re carrying.
Step 3: What Quantities Are You Carrying?
What would happen if dangerous goods leaked or spilled into your workplace? Would it affect the immediate work area, equipment and vehicles? Or would the spill seep into offices, outdoor spaces and the natural environment?
When selecting a chemical spill kit for your work area, consider the quantity of dangerous goods that can leak or spill. You must also consider how hazardous substances could actually enter your workplace. For example, could staff spill chemicals when they’re pumping or decanting? Would staff be at risk when they’re filling up petrol or diesel tanks? Can a spill occur when chemicals are being transferred from your loading dock? Or could a chemical spill occur simply due to poor handling or storage procedures?
There are many ways in which chemicals can be spilled in a workplace. These may include:
- Human error (ie. dropping a chemical drum)
- Insufficient maintenance of bunded shelving or storage (ie. staff have failed to clean-out a spill containment bund, which then overflows)
- Issues with machinery (ie. a leaking petrol tank)
- Faulty packaging (ie. chemical packaging damaged during delivery or loading)
- Split containers (ie. damaged chemical containers)
- Ill-fitting decanting and pumping equipment (ie. equipment that’s not fit-for-purpose)
Once your business has determined the locations where a spill could occur, you can then determine the chemical capacity of the spill kits that you’ll require. You’ll have to look at the type of chemical that you’re looking to contain and clean-up (ie. is it a highly viscous liquid?), the way the chemical will react during the spill (ie. could it evaporate or solidify?), and the actual volume of chemicals that you’re holding (ie. what is the total capacity of spilled liquids?).
Step 4: Selecting The Spill Kit
Now that you understand your spill management obligations — and you’re aware of the class and chemical quantities that you’re carrying — you can move forward and select the appropriate spill kit for each area of your operations.
Spill kits come in a range of types and capacities to suit all types of businesses and industries.
Chemical spill kits can include options for:
- Fuel and oil spill kits – these hydrocarbon spill kits are specifically made for flammable liquids such as fuel and oil
- Chemical spill kits – Hazchem spills require spill control kits which can clean-up a range of substances from paints to pesticides
- Universal spill kits – this type of spill kit is for non-aggressive chemical spills and other general clean-up applications
- Marine spill kit – chemical spills can happen anywhere – including on marine vessels. This type of kit is designed for petrol spills on the water
REMEMBER: The type of chemical spill kit that you choose must be suitable for the chemical product that you’re carrying. Therefore, a general purpose spill kit will not be recommended for highly volatile substances such as petrol or oil.
Each type of chemical spill kit will have a specific capacity. If the largest kit capacity exceeds your spill clean-up requirements, you will need to invest in multiple kits to tackle any workplace chemical spills.
There are many types of spill kits on the market, so it’s important that you select the kit that suits your specific needs.
Step 5: Write Procedures and Train Staff
Now that you have the spill kits onsite, it’s time to educate your staff about the chemical containment and clean-up process. You should create a clear, easy-to-understand and succinct spill kit procedure which is able to be attached to your spill kit. This brief procedure should provide your staff with sufficient guidance on how to manage the chemical spill and use the kit.
However, all staff who may encounter any type of dangerous goods in your organisation should also be trained in how to deal with a hazardous chemical spill. Training should include an overview of the hazards associated with spills, as well as specific instructions on how to attend to the chemical spill.
As a minimum, you should cover the following points in your training:
- Chemical hazards associated with each potential spill
- Who to notify in the event of a chemical spill
- What staff are assigned to particular tasks during clean-up
- How to choose, put on and take off the PPE correctly
- How to use each item in the spill kit
- Step-by-step clean-up procedures
- Chemical waste disposal procedure
- Reporting of the incident
IMPORTANT: If your business is carrying large volumes of hazardous liquids, you may require a Chemical Spill Response Plan to handle a major spill. This plan may form a part of your onsite Emergency Plan.
Step 6: Monitor and Maintain Your Spill Kit
Your spill kit can’t be an effective chemical clean-up tool if it’s incomplete or damaged. Just like any dangerous goods control measure, your spill kit must be regularly inspected and maintained to achieve chemical compliance.
Make sure that your kit is in good working order and that all missing items are immediately replaced. In the event of a fast-flowing chemical spill, you definitely don’t want your staff panicking or procrastinating due to an incomplete chemical spill kit.
By monitoring and maintaining your spill kit, you’re meeting your WHS obligations and ensuring a safer working environment.
Cleaning Up A Chemical Spill
While you may have the correct risk control measures in place, such as bunded storage cabinets and chemical stores, you must still ensure that your business is prepared to handle a leak or spill. Your spill kits are essential tools which can help your staff protect your business and community from the many serious risks associated with hazardous chemical spills.
If you’d like to learn more about reducing chemical risk, we have an eBook that can help. How To Manage The Risk Of Hazardous Chemicals In The Workplace offers expert advice on how to control chemical spills and other hazards associated with dangerous goods handling and storage. Get your copy for free today.
