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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.

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.

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.