What Is Health and Safety?

The effect of a spill will vary. A giant oil spill in the ocean can have devastating consequences for many years. In your workplace the result of a spill depends on what and how much has been spilt. The most important thing is that prevention is better than cure. Know the right way to handle hazardous and volatile materials and treat them with the utmost respect.

But accidents do happen and if one does, be well prepared with your recovery routines. As with a fire in a building, you need a sound evacuation program and should run drills to help prepare for the real emergency if and when it happens.

Here are some simple steps you should take once a spill occurs in your workplace.

• Stop
• Contain
• Clean

The first step is to stop the flow of the hazardous material. You want to find the source of the spill and seal it and the sooner the better. Now that there is no more of the substance escaping you need to contain that which has escaped.

Finally, having stopped the leak at its source and contained what has been spilt, you can begin the cleaning up process. How you clean and with what will depend on the type of material. Oil, paint and dangerous chemicals all require their own particular method of handling and in all cases the workers require the appropriate protective clothing, goggles and footwear.