Where You Should Store a Spill Kit
Spill kits are a comprehensive set of materials to contain and quickly clean a spillage in your workplace. If you work with hazardous chemicals, spills can cause severe harm to people, equipment, and the environment. Correctly storing your spill kits in a secure and accessible location is vital to minimize the danger of spillages.
At Ecospill, we stock various spill kits and have vast experience in how to store them in your workplace. In this article, we provide steps to help you determine where you should store a spill kit in your workplace.
STEPS TO KNOW WHERE YOU SHOULD STORE A SPILL KIT
Below we outline three steps to help you identify where you should store a spill kit in your workplace for spill kits:
1. Perform a site assessment
Perform a site assessment to identify your spill risk areas that indicate the need for a spill kit to be near. Determine where the risk areas are, the types of risks and quantities of liquids in those areas. Walk around your site and remain observant for fuel, oil, chemical storage areas, loading and unloading areas and places with high vehicle movement.
You can also review the types of spills that have occurred in the past, as well as their locations. It can be a good idea to ask your employees for their opinion on the high-risk spill areas, as they may have experience with spills in the workplace. Mark these locations on a floor plan for a visual representation of the spill risk areas.
2. Review your types of spill kits
To understand where you should store a spill kit, it’s important to first review the type of spill kit first. Spill kits come in a variety of types to suit different spills. Chemical spill kits contain the necessary materials to manage hazardous chemical spills. If you use any hazardous chemicals in your workplace, these spill kits are essential and should be kept close to where the chemicals are used and stored. Fuel and Oil spill kits are specifically designed to manage the clean up of fuels, oils and hydrocarbons, which suit areas prone to oil spills, such as high vehicle traffic areas. You can use general-purpose spill kits for most other liquids and low-risk spillages.
Once you’ve assessed your workplace for your spill risk areas and types of spills, you can determine which spill kits you’ll need to store. If you use an abundance of chemicals in your workplace, you should stock up with multiple chemical spill kits. This will ensure you always have a spill kit available. Similarly, if you have lots of vehicle movements, extra fuel and oil spill kits may be necessary.
3. Select appropriate spill kit placement
The final step in identifying where you should store a spill kit is to align the correct spill kit type with the spill risk areas. Refer to your marked-up floor plan and allocate a respective spill kit to that area. You will then need to find a secure and accessible location near these locations to store the spill kits. They shouldn’t get in the way of accesses or work areas, but they must be convenient to access in times of an emergency. You can pair locations up, for example, if two risk locations are prone to the same liquid spillages and are close to each other, you can store the spill kits in an area that’s easy to access from both locations.
Placing them near existing structures in your workplace is an excellent idea, like near fire hydrants or first aid kits, if they’re close to the risk locations. Portable kits can be stored in vehicles and forklifts so operators who may first notice a spill have easy access to the spill kit. Storing them next to fuel pumps and outdoor storage tanks is also good practice, as these are areas of heavy liquid use.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Where you should store a spill kit will be unique to your workplace. Determining the best location for it involves assessing your site and the types of liquid spills you’re prone to encounter. Once you’ve stocked up on the correct spill kits, you can place them in suitable locations near the risk areas. This allows your staff access and speed when it comes to cleaning a dangerous spill. Ecospill stock various types of spill kits to keep your workplace protected. Get in touch to find out more.