Toolbox Talk: Chemical Spill Response

Key points

1. Know what spilled. Check the label and section 6 of the safety data sheet before you touch anything.
2. Small or big? Clean up a small spill only if you know the product, are trained and have the right PPE and kit. If it is large, unknown, giving off fumes or spreading, leave the area and raise the alarm.
3. Protect yourself first. Put on gloves, eye protection and any other PPE the SDS calls for before you start.
4. Contain, then clean. Stop the source if it is safe, keep the spill away from drains, then absorb it with the kit.
5. Dispose and report. Bag and label the used absorbent as the SDS directs, restock the kit and report the spill to your supervisor.

Ask the crew

• Where is the nearest spill kit, and is it full?
• Which chemicals here should never be cleaned up by the crew?
• Where are the floor drains near our chemical storage?

Picture this

A drum of corrosive cleaner leaks in a storage room. A worker grabs a mop with bare hands and pushes the liquid toward a floor drain. He burns his hands, and the cleaner reaches the sewer. Gloves, the spill kit and a drain cover would have handled it in five minutes.