Australia's Science Forum

Hello

I have been asked to provide a spill kit for the science laboratory so would like to know how others have gone about this and what your kit contains.

Thanks

Hi Kerryw,

Inthe DET Chemical safety in schools folder there is a section on spills with the list of things for a spill kit.
I can fax a copy to you if you provide the details.

Lorrae

Hi Kerry,
Absorb Enviromental Soloutions ( Qld ) have a product called Hazchem Granular Absorbent thats pretty cheap , I suspect its kitty litter but it seems to do the job.

Regards Robo

Hi Kerry
I'm with Robo I use no name kitty litter its cheap
I also keep sand in a bucket in each lab.
Rosalie

We keep ours in a Paper Ream box, the strong cardboard boxes the paper arrives in. The A4 size fits all the bits put down in CSIS. Much cheaper then purchasing one. Remember to put a sign above the Spill's Kit
So everyone can see where it lives. We have had ours for about 4 years now, as they never get use, (Fingers crossed) we have now covered ours in Contact, to keep the surface easy to clean. I also have a mask, and saftey glass, which were not in CSIS list, but may be needed. Looking in Seton book, they had a list of their Spill's Kit, so got the idea from that.

Regards

We have spill kits in each lab. Put together in a milk crate type craft box in fluoro colours, they contain 10L buckets of chemical absorbent, available from local commercial chem supply companies, one for acids, and one for bases. Also contains 1 scoop for distributing absorbent, dustpan and brush, to remain in the box (i.e. not for other purposes), red & blue litmus paper, in case we don't know what has been spilled, disposable gloves and a pair of safety glasses.

Kristin

We have just made our up in the last month - in them I have
*Dust pan and Brush
*Safety Glasses
*Disposable good gloves not just the everyday ones
*Disposable face mask
*Kitty Litter
*Vomit kit
*Disposable overalls
*Large strong disposable rubbish bag
All this is kept in a large plastic container with lid purchased from Q stores for around $7.00

We have never had a 'spill kit' as such, but I went to an SRG conference last month and now I'm trying to organise a specific kit.
It was put to the OHS committee that we needed it (so they'll pay for it), but my deputy (science trained) said that he's contacted four other schools and no-one knows anything about it. He wanted proof that it's a departmental requirement and not just some little training course I was on.
So I printed out the relevant page from Chemical Safety in Schools.
Now he's asking who is trained to use a spill kit.
Is there a training course? Or is it common sense (ie labbie sense)?
Carol

we bought a big bag of vermiculite and a big bag of bicarb soda... then put this into buckets with lids - from Bunnings - we then have a cupboard under the sink in the front each room whihc contains all the items required .. cheaper than buying a specific spill kit

We have just purchased ZeoMed chemical safety spill kits from Serrata for $50 each. It has everything in there you need and that also means there can be no discrepancy about not haveing the correct equipment in the kits.

We did the same thing as Sunray, but used Ream paper boxes, painted them red and put SPILL's Kit on it, one in each prep room. No training course of course, just labbie common sense. We have had one for 13 years now, and have never used it.

Ours contains,
Perlite
Absorbency pads
Ice cream container Empty
Gloves
sponge
wipe up cloth
safely glasses
one dust mask
One plastic bag black

Thanks Sunray.
So is that in each lab? preproom? chemstore?
Does your kit contain a plastic dust pan and scoop?
What about mini 'snakes' to contain spills?
And the info I've been looking at says we need sodium bicarbonate for alkali spills and sodium carbonate for acid spills.

I've got vermiculite for organic and oil spills.

Do you have a respirator?

Am I being too pedantic here, since we've never had an incident, and it is 'recommended that a "spill kit" be prepared?

My dust pan is my ice cream container empty
Each prep room the CSIS says
Vermiculite or Perlite poured around the spill acts like a snake to contain the spill.
No we do not have a respirator, but no large jars of chemicals go into the class rooms.

Sorry - yes I have both sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate - also a dust pan brush, gloves, garbage bags.
I don't have a respirator because if it is that bad a spill that it requires a respirator then I am OUT OF THERE and calling Hazmat!
BUY IT IN BULK it is really cheap then. It doesn't have to be reagent grade. Try pool shops. Vermiculite try gardening supplies or places like Bunnings.

The Safety Data Sheets for each chemical will detail what is required for clean up of spills. The respirator is a good idea because if you spill a chemical that you normally use in the fume cupboard, you will need to use a respirator in the clean up process.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, everyone, for you ideas.

I'll compile a list for the committee.

I've also got citric acid for alkali spills and have recently added a spray bottle with water to damp down anything that could create dust. That was after a sodium hydroxide bottle leaked over the holidays. It had dried out and the residue had formed a very fine dust that started to float up when I cleaned it.