There are Hazardous Substances in almost every workplace, including industrial plants and laboratories, agriculture, maintenance functions, and even offices. And many chemicals are inherently hazardous and can be deadly when they’re not used in a properly controlled manner or when spill accidents occur.
If you have a business dealing with chemical waste, you need to follow preventive guidelines with the help of professional chemical waste handlers. Safe and compliant plans ensure that you meet strict regulatory compliance standards about hazardous chemical waste, prevent threats to human health, and protect the environment.
Pure Vortex understands what threats liquid and chemical spills pose to the environment, especially New Zealand’s waterways and landfills. We are a reputable supplier of products and services for emergency spill responses throughout the Auckland and Waikato districts. To manage risk and liability, we offer a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week emergency cleanup response to assist with spill-related situations.
We have a professional technical team of responders with the expertise, tools, and equipment to ensure your business’s safety and limit potential liability.
Types of Spills
Spills are categorised into two:
Major chemical spill
Major chemical spills include any quantity of unidentified or highly toxic chemicals or chemicals in public areas or adjacent to drains. Many factors make it difficult to deal with major or large chemical spills. And most of the time, they require an emergency response due to their complex nature.
If you are dealing with major chemical spills, it’ll almost be impossible to identify what proper method to use to decontaminate or clean them.
Minor chemical spill
Minor chemical spills generally involve chemicals that are not highly toxic, do not present a significant fire or an inhalation hazard by being volatile, and are not in a public area. Unlike a major chemical spill, first responders can handle most minor chemical spills using a standard spill response kit.
Steps to Respond to a Spill
- Depopulate the spill area of all non-essential persons.
- Assess the situation to see if the source of the spill is still leaking.
- Wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Contain the spill by sealing off any drains in the area. You can also use brooms and other physical barriers to prevent the spill from spreading over the ground.
- Decontaminate the spill through spill kits or support from internal emergency response departments and external agencies.
Developing a Spill Response
Regardless of the level of hazard involved, the following form the basis of a spill response to prevent spill accidents from becoming disasters:
- Keep up to date with the properties and the hazards of the chemicals on site.
- Prepare risk assessments to identify the primary spill risks on a site.
- Organise proper training or conduct emergency spill response drills for your employees to prepare them for spill cleanup emergencies.
- Have on hand a copy of the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for each of the stored chemicals held onsite.
How We Can Help
Pure Vortex can effectively neutralise a wide range of toxic chemicals with the added capability to reduce hazards when your property becomes exposed to a chemical spill. Our trained handlers use decontamination methods to ensure the correct application for a chemical spill without fear of the chemical being released into the environment.
If you know how chemicals introduce hazards to your workplace, there’s no use waiting for a chemical spill before developing a plan to deal with spills. Protect your employees and the environment by working with Pure Vortex. To discuss custom solutions for liquid and chemical spills in your workplace, fill in our contact form or email us via info@purevortex.co.nz.
