spill control in laboratory for university

for reference

1. SPILL CONTROL TRAINING
By
Faculty of Engineering, Safety Unit

2. 2
Content
1. Aim
2. Introduction
3. Legal Requirement
4. Spill Preparation
5. Spill Response
6. After the spill
7. Video
8. General Overview of PPE
9. Demonstrations
10. Quiz
11. Q & A

3. 3
AIM
•To highlight general chemical spill control;
•To help laboratory personnel design an effective spill
control plan for their laboratory; and
•To educate laboratory personnel with step-by-step
instructions for spill cleanup

4. 4
INTRODUCTION
•Chemical spills are classified as one of the chemical
hazards.
•Despite safe practice in laboratory, incident resulting in
the release of chemicals will still occur.
•Precaution must be taken against physical injury, ill
health, diseases, death or even property damage.

5. 5
INTRODUCTION (Continued)
Causes of chemical spills are as follows:
•Inappropriate handling techniques;
•Inappropriate storage containers;
•Damaged storage containers;
•Uncontrolled access to chemical storage;
•Lack of chemical-related training; and
•Lack of supervision.

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INTRODUCTION (Continued)
Why chemicals are dangerous?
•Chemicals can cause:
- Burns
- Adverse health effects
- Permanent disabilities
- Death
•Sometimes problems occur immediately (Acute effect)
•Others may happen after years of exposure (Chronic
effect).

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INTRODUCTION (Continued)
Routes of Entry
There are 4 ways that chemicals can enter your body.
•Absorption (skin & eye contact)
•Inhalation
•Ingestion (swallowing)
•Injection

8. 8
Legal Requirement
•Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous
Substances) Regulations – National Environment Agency
Rg (22)
- “…any person authorised to transport or store hazardous
substances shall establish and keep up-to-date an
adequate emergency action plan to deal with any spillage,
leakage, release, accident or emergency which may arise
from the transport or storage of the hazardous substance.”
•Guidelines on prevention and control of chemical
hazards – Ministry of Manpower
Pg (97)
- “…Emergency procedures should be established so that the
source of release could be promptly rectified, the area of
contamination could be contained and properly
decontaminated.”

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Spill Preparation
•An emergency plan should covers:
•Course of actions during emergency
(e.g. evacuation plans, instructions for cleaning and
disposal)
•Emergency contact;
•Training;
•Personal Protective Equipment (PPE);
•Clean up equipment (e.g. types, locations,
quantities, inventory…);
•Clean up materials (e.g. types, locations, quantities,
inventory…);
•First Aid supplies
•Source of information (e.g. MSDS)
•To be in place before a spill happens

10. 10
Spill Response
•Don’t panic.
•If you are the person who
discovered the chemical spill, you’re
in charge until help arrives.
•Do not neglect your own safety!!

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Spill Response (Continued)
For general chemical spills:
1.Identify what you saw (e.g. container, fire, foaming,
colour,etc)
2.Get help (e.g. inform PI / Lab Personnel / Faculty
Safety Personnel / campus security @ 6874 1616)
3.Seal off the area to prevent re-entry and alert others

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For general chemical spills:
4.Look for injuries (e.g. injured worker. Do not try to
retrieve a person from the spill area unless you are
protected)
5.Identify the hazards (e.g. MSDS, signs and labels)
6.Prepare a plan of action (e.g. waiting for help, attend
to injured, shutting off the valve, turn off ignition
sources in presence of flammables if safe to do so)
Spill Response (Continued)

13. 13
For general chemical spills:
7.Increase ventilation in laboratory (e.g. turn on fume
hood and open sash fully) via emergency buttons.
Spill Response (Continued)
Note: Call ext 1515 to
reset the ventilation.

14. 14
Spill Response (Continued)
8.Close sash if spill is in hood
9.Clean up the spill if you are trained to do so and you
have the appropriate equipment available (Do not
touch, smell, taste. *Always assess wind direction)

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Spill Response (Continued)
10. Get proper equipment and materials (e.g. PPE,
sorbent materials)
- if you don’t know what you’re dealing with,
wear the maximum protection for gases,
liquids, solids, etc…
- if you know the material and its properties,
select protection for handling spills (e.g.
based on MSDS)

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Spill Response (Continued)
11. Contain the spill (Stopping the source and
stopping the spread)
- stopping the source includes:
•Closing a valve;
•Shutting down a pump to stop flow;
•Putting “bandage” around a leaking hose;
•Applying packing to a joint / valves; or
•Positioning of punctured container.
- stopping the spread includes:
•Building a barrier around the spill;
•Make a flow channel;
•Use of clay granules / sorbent sheets or pillows; or
•Shut down ventilation if material in gas/vapours/mist

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After the spill
1.Place the used sorbents (for controlling the spill) in a
container that can safely hold and store the spilled
material.
2.Remember that absorbed materials have the same
properties and hazards as the original spilled
materials.
3.Safely dispose all disposable coveralls, gloves and
respirators.
4.Decontaminate all non-disposable items (e.g. scrapers,
shovels, thongs, protective clothing, Self-Contained
Breathing Apparatus)

22. 22
After the spill (Continued)
5.Arrange for pick up by licensed toxic industrial waste
collector as soon as possible.
6.Review what happened to prevent reoccurrence.
7.No matter how small the spill, keep a record of what
happened.
8.Make sure that supplies (e.g. first aid, spill control kit)
are replaced immediately.

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Video

24. 24
General Overview of PPE
•Presentation by PDS International Pte Ltd

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26. 26
Demonstrations
•Presentation by PDS International Pte Ltd

27. Other
Information

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Website
NUS OSHE website:
•http://www.nus.edu.sg/osh
•http://www.nus.edu.sg/osh/manuals.htm
Faculty of Engineering Safety Unit website (coming soon):
•http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/SafetyUnit/index.html

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Any……
?

30. Thank you