Small Spill Kits Prevent Large Disasters

Small Spill Kits Prevent Large Disasters
Too few business and organisations provide the right equipment to dispose of substances properly or how to handle spills. As a result, even small spills plague businesses, schools, hospitals and other institutions.
By Isaac Rudik

An Ontario laboratory, known for poor storage and handling of caustic and acidic substances, was fined numerous times by Ministry of Labour for not cleaning up its act. Even after several such actions, a worker was using “aqua regia” – a toxic mix of concentrated hydrochloric and nitric acid which forms a powerful oxidizing medium for cleaning tubes – and failed to follow standard safety procedures for cleaning up. When he finished, he simply poured about 60ml of residue in a waste bottle. The worker capped it securely and placed the bottle in a flammable storage cabinet.
Not surprisingly, what could go wrong did go wrong.

The bottle burst roughly an hour after it was placed in the cabinet, breaking an adjacent bottle of pyridine, which leaked onto the floor. Fortunately, nothing caught fire or exploded but the spill dissolved tiles while creating a lingering foul odour that lasted for days.

When questioned by his supervisors and ministry investigators the morning after the incident, the man shrugged his shoulders and said he’d never been given the proper equipment needed to store the chemical after he finished using it, or what to do if it spilled. He thought he’d done the right thing: He poured it into a safety bottle, tightened the cap and put it in a cabinet he thought was safe.

The fact is that while nearly every worker is carefully shown how to use toxic and hazardous materials, not nearly enough effort is put into providing the right equipment to dispose of substances properly or how to handle a spill. As a result, toxic spills – occasionally large but most often small – plague businesses, universities, schools, hospitals and other institutions.

Pre-Plan Possibilities

To reduce dramatically the risk of an accidental spill, pre-planning is essential. The fact is that most spills are preventable, and workers can access the right equipment quickly and safely. Besides keeping spill kits in needed areas, here are six tips to prevent or minimise the magnitude of a spill:
• When using chemical containers, place them under a fume hood or on a lab bench to reduce the possibility of accidentally knocking over a container.
• Keep all unused reagents in their appropriate secure flammable/combustible, acid/corrosive storage cabinets.
• Workers must learn to plan their movements utilizing safety mirrors before just swinging around corners or reaching blindly for something to avoid causing a careless spill.
• Avoid moving chemicals from a store room or warehouse during periods of high traffic in hallways or passages without the use of a mobile spill control platform truck.
• Always move chemical containers in deep ledge carts or chemical transport carts.
• Where spills are likely to happen, place absorbent, plastic-backed liners on bench tops or in fume hoods. Use spill-proof trays when liquid volumes are larger than what can be absorbed by liners.

The Big Whoops

Employees must know how to handle spills and cleanups; employers must ensure that adequate spill control kits are readily available wherever hazardous or toxic materials are being used. And everyone in an organisation must know certain basics:
• Acids should be stored in their own cabinet marked accordingly “CAUTION CORROSIVES” and have FM certification.
• Small or dilute concentrations can be cleaned up using a spill kit, which can be labelled and placed in an accumulation area for pickup and proper disposal.
• Never pour acid into a sink or sewer drain, instead use containers appropriately marked for storing dangerous corrosive material waste.

A safety-savvy organisation keeps general chemical spill kits handy that labs and places where such materials are stored can use quickly.

One of the most-common and easily used spill kits will safely absorb and neutralize small amounts of acids. Pads absorb roughly 1.5-litre of concentrated acid or neutralized liquid. Hazkleen ACD powder safely neutralizes numerous acids including sulphuric, phosphoric, nitric, hydrochloric, and battery acids. The kit also has safety gloves, goggles, a scoop and brush, and disposable bags.

Inadequate preparation is no excuse for an “Oh-oh!” when a spill occurs. Institutions of all sizes, whether a school or university, a company, a government lab or a hospital, must be ready for the unplanned, the unexpected and the unwanted.



Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. (www.compliancesolutionscanada.com), Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.

E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.