If you use chemicals in any significant quantities, the chances are high that you are using chemical drums to store them. These drums are handy, as they can keep more substantial volumes of your chemicals with relative safety – but there are still some procedures that you should adopt to make sure you are doing everything you can to minimize leaks and spills and that your storage is as safe as it can be.
Be weight aware
Your chemical storage drums can hold huge volumes – hundreds of liters. When you start to store multiple drums, the weight can soon shoot up into thousands of kilograms, so make sure that the floor, rack, shelving, or other storage systems can handle the weight – otherwise, your drums could fall and become damaged or opened.
Use bunds
Bunds are a type of secondary storage, perfect for liquids. Your drum is your primary container, and you rely on it for strength and integrity. Still, if it leaks, spills, or becomes damaged, the contents can quickly flood into your site or the wider environment causing untold damage and costing a lot of time and money to deal with. Placing your drum on a bunded pallet is like an insurance policy; you don’t expect the drum to break or leak, but if it does, your bund is there to deal with the issue.
Training staff
As with most health and safety risks in the industrial space, training can resolve most issues before they even arise. Make sure your personnel knows the correct way to handle, move and store your chemical drums, and ensure that they know what to look out for when it comes to any drum degradation that could cause a failure. Lastly, make sure they know what to do if a drum does tip, spill, or leak.
Deploy lifting equipment
As we have mentioned, a full drum can be weighty. Even empty drums can be cumbersome and tricky to move – rolling them is poor practice as you can damage the integrity of the outer skin, leading to weak points or small cracks/holes. Use the correct type of equipment – there are manual drum trolleys readily available (they work similarly to a sack trolley), as well as a range of forklift attachments, including clamps, lifts, and rotators.
Outdoor storage
If you are storing your drums outdoors, you need to think about protecting them from the elements, even if they are empty. Temperature fluctuations, ultraviolet light, wind, rain, and other weather types can all impact the drum, and any weaknesses that develop now can quickly translate into spills and breakages down the line. Use a covered storage space – there are options available that include the bunded containment you need, walls, doors, and a roof for an all-in-one outdoor storage and containment space.