What is a Spill Kit used for?

Industries where Spill Kits are needed

The spill kit is generally used in line with a spill response procedure which is designed to ensure that the spill is cleaned up in the most efficient and effective way, whilst maintaining the safety of colleagues and patrons. In most jurisdictions around the nation spill kits are a legal requirement and form part of the safety and environmental procedures when handling dangerous liquids. It is possible that your business could be fined for not abiding by these legal requirements.

Spill kits can be found in many business and industries, you can expect to find spill kits in warehouses, transport, laboratories, production and manufacturing, restaurants, docks, marinas and other commercial industries. However, spill kits are designed as a spill response product. All hazardous substances should always be handled by a trained professional and with the utmost care in order to minimise the chance of a spill.

Spill Kits Main Benefits

There are many benefits to having a good quality spill kit on hand and using it in the
instance of a hazardous chemical spill.

  • AusSpill Quality Compliant

  • Laboratory Tested Capacity

  • Protect People and Assets

  • Environmentally Responsible

  • Fast ID Colour Coding

  • Australian Made

What is a Spill Kit?

The spill kit is generally used in line with a spill response procedure which is designed to ensure that the spill is cleaned up in the most efficient and effective way, whilst maintaining the safety of colleagues and patrons. In most jurisdictions around the nation spill kits are a legal requirement and form part of the safety and environmental procedures when handling dangerous liquids. It is possible that your business could be fined for not abiding by these legal requirements.

To ensure the safety of yourself and others in the case of a spill or when using a spill kit, your work area should permanently contain a safety shower and eyewash station compliant with AS4775:2007 as a minimum precaution. All staff should be trained on how to use these appropriately and how to assist a colleague who may need to use one in the case of any emergency.

There are many benefits to having a good quality spill kit on hand and using it in the instance of a hazardous chemical spill.

Spill kits can be customised to your needs and come in a variety of sizes and absorbency levels that will soak up and contain a leakage or spill. The varying types of sorbents can be used for oil spills in water as well as spills on general surfaces such as concrete.

Spill Kits Categories

Spill kits can be customised to your needs and come in a variety of sizes and absorbency levels that will soak up and contain a leakage or spill. The varying types of sorbents can be used for oil spills in water as well as spills on general surfaces such as concrete.

Having and utilising a spill kit is much like any other equipment your business may have and use. It is essential that the relevant staff familiarise themselves with the kit, how it work and the types of spills it is suitable for. Contact Spill Station Australia today for more information on our accredited spill response training.

Maintenance of emergency and safety equipment is mandated in the WHS regulations.This obligation can be met and coordinated through the Spill Station service team.

When properly used a spill kit it is an essential safety measure that can protect against harm to people, property and the environment.

Spill Station Certifications

Spill Station® Australia is an independently accredited ISO9001:2008 company and a Recognised Australian Defence Force Supplier.

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Concrete Batch Plant Solutions

Concrete batch Plant Solutions

Concrete Batch Plant Solutions.

All industries pose some type of risk to the environment and the concrete, cement and aggregates industry is no exception. One of the primary risk points on a concrete batch plant is chemicals and sediment laden water discharging through stormwater drains.

Though most sites manage these risks effectively, there is always the opportunity to improve practices. To assist in this continuous improvement, Spill Station have assembled a tailored range of products for concrete batching plants

Chemical management and handling, including waste chemicals is one identified environmental risk area. Spill Station Australia offer a range of spill trays for containers from 20L to 1000L IBC’s. Where a dedicated roofed structure is not available, we have covered bunded units for outdoor storage of chemicals.

Where containment of substances over a larger area is required, RoBund is an excellent solution. It is a modular polyurethane product that bolts to the ground to contain spills but allows vehicles to drive over. Because it is polyurethane it will not chip or crack and can be easily retrofitted to existing sites.

Sediment laden water entering the stormwater system is a constant issue on almost all batching plants. Drain Guards collect solids that wash into stormwater drains and significantly reduce the strain on triple interceptors. They are easily fitted under the drain grate and the installation process occurs above ground so no confined spaces protocols are required.

These Drain Guards are designed to never block even when full. Because they are made from polypropylene, they have the additional feature of removing 99.8% of hydrocarbons that may wash down into the stormwater during a rain event.

Safety shower and eyewash units are a critical piece of safety equipment on all batch plants but are often found in poor condition and therefore non-compliant. The most common problem is that the eyewash dust covers are not replaced or lost and the aerators become blocked. The other problem is the shower/eyewash is exposed to the sun and the water heats up above compliant temperatures.

To combat these common problems, Spill Station offer a self-draining safety shower with a covered eyewash. The eyewash valve is integrated into the lid. This means that in order to turn off the flow of water, the eyewash cover is closed therefore covering the aerators. When the safety shower is turned off all of the water in the shower is drained out of the system, preventing any water from becoming over heated.

Spill Response Kits are a basic piece of environmental/safety equipment found on almost all sites in Australia. The Spill Station Hazchem Spill Kits are a result of over 38 years of experience and are suitable to use common batch plant chemicals as well as oils, fuels, coolant and hydraulic fluids found in vehicles attending the site.

In addition to these products, Spill Station also offer spill kit and safety shower/eyewash compliance audits to ensure your equipment maintains compliance with Australian Standards and WHS regulation.

Contact Spill Station today on 1300 66 42 66 for more details on how we can help you.

Pollution Solutions

Pollution Solution: Stormwater Protection

A $15,000 fine issued to a western Sydney glass recycler has increased the awareness of how serious the EPA is about preventing solids from entering the storm water system.

EPA Director Regulatory Operations Cate Woods said, “The glass can break and enter the environment as wind blown particles or be washed into the storm water system.”

In an effort to make it clear that they are applying an equal focus to all players in the recycling industry, Cate Woods went on to say, “The EPA wants to ensure there is a level playing field for all resource recovery operators and that includes complying with the terms of their Environment Protection Licence and the law.

“This is a timely reminder for all licence holders that they must comply with all conditions of their licence”, Ms Woods said.

The Flat Drain Guard is an efficient and low cost solution to preventing solids and sediment from entering on site drains. Once installed, this passive filter sits out of traffic areas under the grate allowing for the normal operation of the area.

Installation and monitoring are easy as it all takes place above ground so no confined spaces protocols are required.

The Flat Drain Guard has the added benefit of acting as a hydrocarbon filter. Independent laboratory testing shows the Flat Drain Guard removes over 99% of oils and fuels. This makes it ideal for carparks and areas where oil contaminated wash down is entering the drains.

CLICK HERE for more information on the FLAT DRAIN GUARD

Compliant Oil Fuel Spill Kit

Spill Station Goes Lime Green

Australian Standard AS4123.7 designates a yellow bin and lid for use as a clinical waste container. Spill kit users are having to ask the question, “Is that a clinical waste bin or a spill kit?”

By June 1 2021, Spill Station will transition all of our spill kits to the unique lime green bins. Unlike yellow bins, the lime green colour is not in conflict with any Australian Standards.

This same Australian Standard designates red bins for radioactive waste and blue bins for office paper.

We believe that the AusSpill Quality Guidelines provide a significant improvement for all spill kit users and our community as a whole. As well as recommending the bright lime green colour body, it designates white, yellow and grey lids for oil kits, chemical kits and general kits. The guidelines also suggest kit describers with text a minimum of 50mm high on a contrasting background to ensure fast recognition and rapid spill response.

All of the spill kit bags will also be in lime green by June 1 to ensure a consistant appearance to all kits across the range.

These guidelines are not a legal requirement but we believe that having spill kits in a uniform unique colour we are providing a net benefit to the health and safety of Australians and our environment.

Contact Spill Station today to find out how we can help you to transition to AusSpill Quality Compliant spill kits on your site.

$500 rebate

SafeWork $500 Safety Equipment Rebate For Small Business

SafeWork $500 Safety Equipment Rebate For Small Business

In order to help small business to improve safety, SafeWork NSW has introduced a $500 rebate to small business owners and sole traders in NSW to buy and install equipment to make their workplace safer.

Eligible items include bunding, dangerous goods cabinets and spill containment systems.

To be able to claim the $500 rebate your company must have fewer than 50 employees and you are conducting a business producing goods or providing services in NSW. SafeWork has published the full terms and conditions on their website.

Claimants are required to watch a webcast such as Management of Hazardous Manual Tasks

A full list of eligible events can be found on the SafeWork website.

Contact Spill Station today for information on a range of eligilble items.

Ph: 1300 66 42 66

enquiries@spillstation.com.au

Polluter pays

“Polluter Pays” to be Formally Adopted into Law

Ammendments made to the Environment Protection Act 2017 will come into force on 1 July 2021. The principle of “Polluter Pays” is one of the 11 principles of the Act. This means that regardless of fault, if your activity causes pollution, you are responsible for the cost of returning the damage area to its original state.

Failure to do so can result a remedial notice being issued. Remedial notices are issued if it is found that on reasonable grounds a duty holder:

  • isn’t complying with the Environment Protection Act 2017 (the Act).
  • waste or contamination is present that requires treatment.

If the polluter does not comply with the remedial notice, criminal enforcement may apply. These same amendments will see maximum fines increase to $3.2 million.

A guiding principle that applies not only to this situation but to all environment, health and safety issues is “An ounce on prevention is worth a pound of cure”. By assessing your risks, deploying the correct equipment to offset the risks and training staff in how to respond, the problems associated with the cost of remediation can be removed.

Until 28 February, Spill Station are offering a complimentary Spill Response Capability Audit & Report* to ensure you are ready to respond should a spill incident occur.

Spill Station - Hazchem Spill Response Kit

Spotlight Question

Are all green spill kits compliant?

The short answer is “no”.

In November 2018 the Australian Spill Control Industry Association, the AusSpill association, published voluntary product quality guidelines for industry participants. These guidelines set out appearance, labeling, packaging and performance parameters  for spill kits. Spill kits in this range, manufactured and sold by Spill Station Australia, comply with these guidelines.

The guidelines have been designed to be a first step in overcoming a range of significant shortfalls. One of those points of confusion is the lack of uniform appearance. Currently spill kits are sold in a range of colours including yellow. Australian Standard AS4123 identifies yellow bins for depositing clinical waste. To overcome this glaring conflict, AusSpill selected bright lime green bins as, unlike yellow bins, this colour is not in conflict with exisiting Australian Standards.

The other critical part of the quality guidelines is that for a spill kit to be compliant, the absobent claims must be confirmed by independent laboratory testing using the British Standard Test Method BS7959-1.

The AusSpill Quality Guidelines also has requirements for labelling, inspection tagging and maintenance.

A green bin is not enough. If your spill kit carries the AusSpill mark of compliance, you can be confident you have an AusSpill Quality Compliant Spill Kit.

Poor Sanitiser Storage

Poor Sanitiser Storage Could Cost

Poor Sanitiser Storage Could Cost $30,000

Although it has become a required substance in every Australian workplace, alcohol based hand sanitiser is still a dangerous good and has to be stored in a legal manner as per Work Health and Safety (WHS) regulations and Australian Standards. Failure to comply with WHS regulations could result in a $30,000 fine.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has specified that provided hand sanitiser formulations contain 80% ethanol or 70% isopropanol, they are exempt from TGA regulations. At these concentrations they are classified as flammable liquids and must be stored accordingly.

AS1940:2017 is the Australian Standard for storage and handling of flammable liquids. It recommends a compliant flammable liquid storage cabinet as a complaint method of storing flammable liquids in your workplace.

The current circumstances has also seen rise to the amount of aerosol disinfectant products such as Glen 20 increase significantly. This is classified as a Class 2.2 flammable gas and as such must be stored safely. An aerosol storage cage provides a safe, secure and ventilated storage area for all aerosols as required by the standard.

Both AS1940 and WHS regulations state that storage areas need to be provided with spill containment to capture and contain spills. Any spills should be cleaned up as soon as possible, using appropriate equipment and materials for dangerous goods. Spill Station spill kits provide a fast and simple method for containing and cleaning up any spills that may occur.

Contact Spill Station today on 1300 66 42 66 for advice about our compliant storage solutions.

Need of Spill Kit

Do I need a Spill Kit?

In Australia, there is legislation, regulations, Australian Standards and Codes of Practice that state the requirement that any business conducting an activity where the risk of a spill must have sufficient and appropriate spill control and response equipment in place.

Each state has its own environment protection legislation and regulators. The common thread through these various jurisdictions is the principal of duty of care. The Environmental Duty of Care states:

A person must not carry out any activity that causes, or is likely to cause, environmental harm unless the person takes all reasonable and practicable measures to prevent or minimise the harm’.

This means that every reasonable step to avoid the spill and prevent spill from harming the environment must be taken. If these reasonable steps are not taken it constitutes an offence against the Act.

Section 116 of the Protection of the Environment Operation Act states:

116 Leaks, spillages and other escapes

(1)If a person wilfully or negligently causes any substance to leak, spill or otherwise escape (whether or not from a container) in a manner that harms or is likely to harm the environment: (a)  the person, and (b)  if the person is not the owner of the substance, the owner are each guilty of an offence.

The various state environment protection agencies all agree that spill kits and acceptable mitigation tool and are a preferred method of containing and absorbing workplace spills.

Like environment protection legislation, the work health and safety regulations are administered by the states. These regulations have been harmonised across most states to make it easier for national companies to do business across the country.

Section 357(1) states:

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,

Section 357 (3) of the WHS regulation goes on to say:

The person 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.

Failure to adhere to this regulation can result in penalties of up to $6,000 for individuals and $30,000 imposed on companies.

Spill kits are an effective tool for containing and cleaning up workplace spills.

The need for spill kits is also reflected in Australian Standards.

The Australian Standard for Storage and Handling of Flammable and Combustible Liquids (AS1940:2017) was recently reviewed and now provides greater clarity on the requirements for spill kits.

Section 9.4.2 of AS1940-2017 states:

In order to deal with leaks and spills, a spill response kit shall be readily available where flammable or combustible liquids are stored, dispensed or in transit storage

The use of the word “shall” in this section indicates that a spill kit is a mandatory requirement.

Various codes of practice further reinforce the need for workplace spill kits.

Section 4.8 of Code of Practice for the Storage and Handling of Dangerous Goods states:

4.8 Spill control and clean-up

Keep equipment and materials for clean up at the premises to deal with spills or leaks, including absorbent material, neutralising or decontaminating material.

Any spills or leaks should be cleaned up immediately.

The short answer to the question of “Do I Need a Spill Kit” is yes.

Spill Station Australia designed and sold the world’s first mobile bin spill kit in 1987 and continue to be the leader in the field of spill response and control equipment. Contact a Spill Station consultant to ensure you have the correct spill kit for your application.

About the author:

Nathan Cartwright is the CEO of Spill Station Australia. He has been in the spill control industry for over 20 years and consults with Defence, Government and Industry in Australia and South East Asia regarding all facets of terrestrial spill response and control.

He sat on the ME17 committee in the most recent review of AS1940-2017 and had a leading role in the writing of the current AusSpill product quality guidelines Spill Response Kits.

Nathan is currently the deputy chair of AusSpill, the peak spill control industry association.

AusSpill Association

AusSpill logo 2019

9001:2008 Certified

Global Group and UKAS Management Systems
Department of Defence Australia Recognised Supplier Badge

Spill Station® Australia is an independently accredited ISO9001:2008 company and a Recognised Australian Defence Force Supplier.

National Safety Council of Australia Gold Member Badge
Chemical Spill Kit

How Do You Contain a Chemical Spill?

There are many instances where you may need to know how to contain a chemical spill or leakage. Not only are there hazardous chemicals and materials in our workplace but some dangerous chemicals are also found in our homes.

In the workplace you should have access to a spill kit and a spill procedure that everyone working in the area is trained on and knows the location of.

If you ever come across a large spill or leakage of a substance that is hazardous or you believe may be hazardous or dangerous there are some steps that you should follow to ensure yourself, others around and the environment remain safe.

As with all workplace activities, the number one priority is personal safety. As any first responder will tell you, if you put yourself in danger the action may result in just adding another person to the casualty list. As a precaution, the safest first step is to evacuate the area.

Evacuating the area ensures that no person can be injured from the spill or anyone who may have already been affected will not sustain further injury. Damage and injury can occur from breathing in the fumes of a spill or having the material come into direct contact with your skin.

If any member of staff has come in contact with the hazardous chemical, remove them to a safety shower and flush the affected area for a minimum of 15 minutes.

The second step is to immediately alert a supervisor or senior person of your workplace and other people in your area. Alerting the relevant people is important to ensure that the correct action is taken. There is no benefit to keeping a spill a secret as this may have later detrimental effects.

The third step is to assess the spill or leakage to determine what you think the substance may be and the overall size of the spill. This is called the spill assessment and will determine your course of action.

This initial assessment will determine whether the spill can be dealt with using onsite resources or if emergency services need to be notified.

AS1940:2017 sets out factors to consider when determining the course of action. Clause 9.4.3 states:

9.4.3 Actions for dealing with leaks and spills

At every occurrence of a leak or spill, the emergency plan should be implemented and consideration should be given to notifying the emergency services.

Emergency services should be notified when :

  1. the liquids have spread, or have the potential to spread, beyond the boundary of the installation;
  2. it is beyond the resources of the occupiers to clean up the spill or leak effectively and safely;
  3. the protective equipment is inadequate for dealing with the situation;
  4. staff are not experienced in dealing with the situation; or
  5. staff and the public are, or could potentially be, placed at risk.

If it is determined that the spill can be managed with onsite resources the process can continue as follows.

The first step to responding to a managable spill is to don protective clothing such a gloves, goggles, gowns and boots as stated in the safety data sheet (SDS) of the spilled liquid. The SDS should be found in the chemical register.

Next deactivate or turn off any gas appliances or other ignition sources that may spark the spill.

If the spill is indoors, open windows and external doors to ventilate the space as much as possible, if fume hoods are available deploy these as well.

Using the absorbents within your spill kit, deploy the booms to contain the spill. If you do not have a readily available spill kit, sand or vermiculite may be able to be used as an alternative. Start from the outer edges of the spill of leakage and move inward. Try to avoid any splashing or spreading of the hazardous material.

Once you have stopped the spill from spreading, use absorbent to turn the liquid hazard into a manageable solid.

Once the spill is absorbed and no free liquids are visible, sweep up or collect the contaminated absorbent and put into a leak proof container or suitable contaminated waste bag.

Carefully remove overalls, then gloves, goggles and finally respirator then deposit info a suitable waste container. Wash hands and ensure there is no residual contamination.

Make sure that the waste containers are clearly marked with the name of the spilled substance. Then contact your waste service provider to ensure the waste is deposited into the correct waste stream.

All of the above steps are very important to ensure that each and every spill is adequately contained and cleaned up in the safest and most efficient way.