What Should Be In A Chemical Spill Kit?

• What should be in a chemical spill kit?
• How to use a chemical spill kit
• What to do when a spill happens
• Get in touch

Chemical spills can have devastating consequences for your business like endangering your staff, damaging its premises and the environment, and affecting its reputation.

You must have a chemical spill kit on site to ensure you can quickly and appropriately handle small spills. For large, complex spills of hazardous chemicals, you will need to bring in chemical spill clean up professionals.

At ICE Cleaning, we offer emergency response chemical spill cleaning services. Our technicians are fully qualified to handle and dispose of chemicals, and can deal with any spill, no matter the size or severity. They are available nationwide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Keep reading to find out what chemical spill kits should contain and learn about the chemical spill kit procedure.

What should be in a chemical spill kit?

There are lots of different types of spill kits for different substances, all of which contain the appropriate equipment to clean up and dispose of the waste.

There are also many types of chemical spill kit available, from small ones that can be hung up on walls to large kits in wheelie bins. Chemical spill kit contents usually include:

• A bin: this will contain all the equipment required for cleaning up and disposing of the waste. It is normally a wheelie bin to make transporting the kit easy. 
• Absorbent materials like absorbent socks, cushions, and pads: this equipment is used to contain and clean up the chemical. Absorbent socks, for example, are placed around the perimeter of a spill to stop it spreading whereas absorbent pads are used to soak up excess liquid.
• Disposable bags: all the absorbent material used to clean the chemical must be put in labelled disposable bags. Your spill kit should contain a sufficient number of bags and ties for all the material. Labels will be included to indicate what the bags contain, as well.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE): to keep the person cleaning up the spill safe, spill kits will contain the appropriate PPE such as goggles, gloves, and face masks.
• Caution tape: this can seal off the affected area to prevent employees going near it.

You must make sure that your chemical spill kit holds enough equipment to clean up the size of spills you might have to deal with.

How to use a chemical spill kit

When a small spill occurs, locate the spill kit for chemicals and – if you are trained to use it – put on the PPE it contains. Next, make sure you have sufficient equipment to handle the spill and put up caution tape to warn people not to enter the area.

Then, use the absorbent socks to create a barrier to contain the spilled material. If the kit contains them, use plugs to stop the chemical being washed down the drain.

You then need to stop the chemical leaking so the spill does not get any worse, such as closing the open valve or putting the tipped over container upright.

Use the other absorbent materials, like pads and cushions, to soak up the spill. Then, wipe down the affected surfaces and decontaminate the site.

Finally, put the waste in the disposal bags, tie them securely so the substance can’t leak out, and label them clearly. You should dispose of the waste according to local regulations.

After using it, you must refill the spill kit so you are prepared for another incident. You can find out more about how to use a spill kit in this blog.

What to do when a spill happens

First, alert employees that a spill has occurred. Depending on how serious the spill is, you may need to evacuate the building. You should also let nearby businesses know and contact the authorities.

Next, stop the spill getting worse by making sure the chemical is no longer leaking. You need to ensure there are no ignition sources or heat sources nearby that could cause a fire, too. If safe to do so, ventilate the room to get rid of any harmful fumes.

Then, have employees that are trained to a use a chemical spill kit clear it up. If a large or complex spill occurs, or there is no one on site that is trained to use a spill kit, bring in professional chemical spill cleaners.

They can clean up the chemical safely and thoroughly, decontaminate your workplace, and correctly dispose of the waste. You can learn more about how to deal with a chemical spill in this blog.

Get in touch

Whether the chemical spilled is an acid or alkali, our fully trained technicians can clean it up. Our chemical spill experts are accredited by a range of organisations including BICSc, IPAF, and SafeContractor. If it’s an emergency, they can be on site within several hours.

Call our team on 0208 066 0360 or send them an email at enquiries@icecleaning.co.uk to find out more about our chemical spill clean up services.