A spill kit is vital in any Australian workplace that uses hazardous chemicals or hydrocarbons. When you work with these materials, there is a risk of spills occurring. These spills can then be harmful to workers, facilities and the environment. This is why a plan needs to be in place if a spill happens. This is where spill kits come in.
What’s a Spill Kit?
A spill kit is a kit that has been designed to deal with cleaning up dangerous substances. It helps you to clean the spill in the safest way possible. To facilitate cleaning different types of spills, these kits come in many different forms and can be used with different types of spills, such as Hazchem for chemical spills and marine for water spills.
Types of Spill Kits
General Spill Kit: These are kits that are designed to be used for lots of purposes, and this includes cleaning liquids such as sewage or floods, and chemical products, both hazardous and otherwise. These should still be customised to suit your workplace.
Chemical Spill Kits: Otherwise known as Hazchem spill kits, these are made to neutralise and clean spills from hazardous chemicals.
Oil and Fuel Kits: These are used for cleaning spills on water and protecting workers and the environment from possibly flammable materials. These kits are sometimes called hydrocarbon kits.
Where Do You Get Spill Kits?
Within Australia, many local distributors offer a variety of Spill Kits, but the top choice is Spill Station. They provide everything your workplace needs, from the Spill Kit itself all the way to auditing your workplace for risk assessments to see what safety solutions should be in place, and where.
Know The Risks
To make sure you have the right spill kit for your needs, there are factors that need to be considered. This includes knowing which chemicals are stored, moved, or used, how much is used and where they are stored. This can be a daunting task, so contacting experts for a risk assessment may be the least stressful option.
Where Should the Spill Kit Be Located?
To know where a spill kit should go, the risk assessment will provide some insight. But in addition to this, spill kits have legal requirements for their location and visibility.
A general rule of thumb is that the spill kit must be correctly signed, contain a laminated instruction card and be in a well-lit area that can be easily accessed, so not behind doors, or obstructed from general view. This is done so that in the event of a spill, an employee can easily access the spill kit and undertake the correct steps as outlined in the spill kit as quickly as possible.
Do Employees Need to Be Trained?
Spill kits are only useful if people understand their value and know how to use them. This means that a workplace needs to offer worker training in spill kits, and refresher courses must be undertaken as often as necessary. In addition, the spill kit must be maintained correctly, with whole spill kits replaced in their entirety when used. With this in mind, proper training for employees, and managers in both using and maintaining spill kits are essential.
