Chemical spill general procedures

Section 2.1.3 concluded with the general procedure for responding to chemical spills and releases ... 

CHEMICAL SPILLS CONTAINMENT AND CLEAN-UP General Procedures... 

Section 2.1.3 concluded with the general procedure for responding to chemical spills and releases. We repeat these steps here and remind you also that for any response to a spill (or any lab emergency) the top priority is your own safety and the safety of others. Do no put yourself at risk to accomplish these tasks. Evacuation and communication are important and can be done at little risk but the isolate and mitigate steps should be ignored if they put you or others at risk. 

Material safety data sheets and other chemical safety sheets are another means to address safety issues. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) provide the proper procedures for handling or working with specific chemicals. In addition, MSDS include physical data, toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill/leak procedures. As a general rule, an MSDS should be available for every on-site chemical. 

Spill, leak, and disposal procedures. This part of the MSDS gives general procedures, precautions and methods for cleaning up spills and disposing of the chemical. 

Chemicals that are spilled or accidentally released may cause damage to the environment, as well as injury to one s health and property. It is quite imperative, therefore, that certain procedures be taken in order to prevent the release from continuing, to prevent further damage to the environment, and to minimize exposure to the general public and emergency personnel. 

General laboratory rules and procedures Personal protection equipment requirements Spill and accident procedures Chemical storage rules and procedures Safety equipment requirements and inspection procedures Employee safety training requirements Exposure and medical evaluation processes Emergency evacuation plan... 

Precautions for safe handling and use Any generally applicable precautions for safe handling and use which are known to the chemical manufacturer, importer, or employer preparing the MSDS, including appropriate hygienic practices, protective measures during repair and maintenance of contaminated equipment, and procedures for cleanup of spills and leaks. 

Since 1981, we have been developing and testing in the laboratory, methods for the onsite disposal of small quantities of a variety of hazardous chemicals (Armour, 1996a). We have been able to apply many of the methods to disposing of the residues from the cleanup of spills of these chemicals. The application of several of the methods to spills of commonly used hazardous chemicals is described in subsequent paragraphs. The quantity of spilled material to which the disposal procedures are applicable varies with the hazard of the material spilled. In general, these procedures can be applied to the quantities of chemicals normally handled and transported in laboratories. As a guide, the disposal procedures are applicable to spills of up to about 4 L of liquid. 

Placards are placed on dangerous goods storages to provide information to emergency services, people at the workplace and the general public about the location and type of chemicals stored, and information on emergency procedures for spills or fire. Different requirements apply for ... 

As noted above, the key response steps are evaluate, communicate, isolate and mitigate. If you decide that you might be able to clean up a spill, you should first check with the proper protocols on your campus for the required procedures. You must know the hazards of the chemical that you are about to clean up and you should have practiced the proper protocols to be used for this chemical. Formal training is usually required in order to conduct any clean-up other than a very small spill. The following are general guidelines ... 

Chemical Toxicity. In chemistry courses students learn a lot about what a chemical can do for them, but they know woefully little about what a chemical can do to them This deficiency in their chemical education is a result of standard and currently recommended academic practices. (For example, almost all new laboratory manuals in general and organic chemistry have eliminated the use of benzene and dichromate because of their carcinogenic status.) For reasons of safety and economy teaching laboratories tend to make use of small amounts of reagents with minimum toxicity, and use low-risk procedures, such as microscale. Students have only a single or at most a few exposures to any one chemical, and learning about a chemical s toxicity is minimal. These procedures often continue into advanced courses, and even research projects. Spills and waste disposal are handled by the instructors. 

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