Everything You Need to Know About Chemical Safety
Have you heard about the dangerous substance dihydrogen monoxide? It corrodes metal, erodes rock, can kill you if inhaled, and what’s worse, it’s inside our bodies right now! It requires special procedures to clean up and is one of the leading causes of worker and consumer injury each year.
In case you’re out of the loop, “dihydrogen monoxide” is another way of writing out H2O. Water.
The fearmongering language we used earlier often gets employed to create mistrust in the chemicals we use every day. That said, it’s important to follow chemical safety guidelines, no matter what the chemical in question may be.
The following guide will give you some basic tips for chemical safety in the workplace. Read on to learn more!
Have Your MSDS Sheets on Standby
MSDS sheets, or Material Safety Data Sheets, have everything you could ever want to know about a given chemical. Manufacturer, reactivity, properties, everything. This even includes how you should handle spills, transport, and disposal.
Not only are MSDS sheets required by OSHA as part of your safety plan, but they’re also a handy resource to have around. Even common chemicals like bleach, ammonia, acetone, and alcohol can prove dangerous if not handled correctly. Just ask the hapless homeowners who mixed vinegar and bleach and walked away from it with severe chemical burns.
Organized Stockrooms Prevent Accidents
Do you want to know one of the best ways to stay safe in the workplace, whether you’re working with chemicals or not? It’s simple! Keep your backroom organized.
When employees have to stand on tiptoe, root and dig through a storage room to find what they need, it creates opportunities for spills and falls. This is disastrous enough when the only risk is broken merchandise. Now imagine that they’re working with a massive crate of cleaning products when it falls off the shelf.
What would have been a simple cleanup has now become a full-on chemical spill, pouring noxious fumes into the air. If the stockroom had been organized from the start, the spill might not have happened.
Make Safety Guidelines a Part of Regular Training
You can’t assume that every employee you have has received complete training on chemical safety guidelines. Many workplaces offer a basic safety course within the first week of training, then completely forget to follow up and make sure the employees retained the information. So, make sure that you’re incorporating proper chemical safety as part of your regular training.
Touch base with employees and make sure that they know the proper procedures to handle a chemical. Make yourself available to answer any questions they may have regarding the safety guidelines. It’s better to have them come and question you for something simple than to try and handle it themselves and get hurt if they’re unsure.
Have an Emergency Plan for Spills
Let’s face it: Despite our best intentions, we can’t plan for everything. Sometimes, even after every precaution we take, spills happen. When they do, you can’t start panicking. You need to have a clear and concise emergency plan for what to do if there’s a bad spill.
The plan doesn’t need to be anything complex. It can be as simple as searching “chemical spill clean up near me“, and saving the contact information of the first few results. If you at least have the information on hand, you have some way of responding to an emergent situation with the speed it deserves.
Stay Safe With Proper Ventilation
You need proper ventilation to avoid exposure risks, even with chemicals that most folks work with every day. You don’t tend to spray paint inside the house for the same reason you turn on the fan or open the window while cleaning. The scent, and thus the fumes, become unbearable within a few hours.
However, sometimes, the most dangerous chemicals to inhale are the ones that you can’t smell. So, proper ventilation not only helps your employees work more comfortably, but it can save their lives. So, the next time you see sanitation personnel standing outside, don’t immediately assume they’re slacking off. They might need a precious few minutes to breathe away from the fumes.
PPE Is Key
Every business that’s still open should have had the necessity of personal protective equipment, or PPE, pounded into their head over the course of the last year. However, COVID restrictions aside, proper PPE can help your employees stay safe while they’re working with chemicals.
Many common cleaning chemicals are abrasive or dangerous to human skin and eyes. That’s why, bacterial concerns aside, it’s so important to supply your sanitation personnel with the gear they need to protect their hands and eyes.
Conduct Thorough Inspections
It’s all well and good to train your employees on the safety guidelines you wish to implement. However, giving them training and having them implement those rules are two completely different things. So, in order to ensure the safety of yourself and your workers, you need to conduct thorough inspections.
Comb through the storeroom and make sure no one’s slacking on the organizational system you drafted. Check to make sure that the MSDS sheets are in a clear, visible spot, not blocked by gear or merchandise. Double-check that your PPE is well-stocked and accessible.
If you find during your inspections that people aren’t following the guidelines, pursue disciplinary action. The safety of your workers is not something that you, nor anyone who works for you, should take lightly.
Let’s Review the Basic Chemical Safety Guidelines
Setting up chemical safety guidelines for your business doesn’t have to be difficult. All you need to do is organize your backroom, train your employees on the appropriate procedures, and have information at the ready in the event of an emergency. Follow these procedures, and you can help your employees stay safe in the event of a chemical spill.
Did you find this article about chemical safety helpful? Would you like to read more content that can help you prevent accidents in the workplace? If so, then check out our blog for more articles like this one!
