A central tenet of hazardous waste management is that you’re responsible from “cradle-to-grave” for any hazardous waste you generate. And if you manage to spill the stuff somewhere between its metaphorical bassinet and tomb, you’d better have a plan—and a reputable hazardous waste management company at the ready on your Rolodex—or its digital equivalence.
Oil or chemical spills usually evoke images of listing & leaky oil tankers, typically flagged by countries you have never heard of and definitely wouldn’t want to visit. However, less dramatic amounts of oils or chemicals—spilled on land—can contaminate lakes, rivers, and wetlands if you don’t act quickly & effectively.
How spilled oil and chemicals can pollute
When errant oils or chemicals find their way into an aquatic environment, they can harm organisms that live on, nearby, or under the water’s surface. Spilled oils and chemicals can also do major harm to the local food chain, including the stuff we humans eat.
The environmental damage caused by an oil or chemical spill depends on a variety of factors, including the characteristics of the pollutant itself. Among them:
- Surface tension is a measure of attraction between the surface molecules of a liquid. The higher the tension, the more likely a spill will remain in place. Contrarily, if it’s low, the pollutant will spread—even without assistance from water currents or wind.
- Viscosity also influences the predilections of a pollutant to stay put. It’s the measure of a liquid’s resistance to flow. So it’s logical: the higher the viscosity, the more local the pollutant will remain, which is all the better for cleanup.
- Specific gravity is the density of a substance compared to that of water. If the pollutant is lighter than water, it’ll float. However, if it’s heavier, it will sink, which will complicate your cleanup methods to no end.
There are also ambient conditions to consider, such as local weather and the temperature of the affected waters. For example, warmer temperatures can reduce a liquid’s surface tension, so it’s more likely to spread in warmer waters than in cold ones.
You need a spill-emergency response plan
No commercial or industrial enterprise that involves oil or chemicals is immune from the possibility of an unintentional discharge. No matter how large or small your enterprise, you need to consider the environmental damage that might be caused by a spill, regardless of whether such a disaster is man-made (e.g. stupidity) or an Act of God (e.g. tornado).
What a spill-emergency response plan should include
Effective spill-emergency response plans differ across companies according to the types and quantities of chemicals they handle and the kinds of operations endemic to their enterprise. You can get expert advice here. But in general, a spill-emergency response plan should have five elements:
- Rescue. Evacuate the spill area, aid affected individuals, and seek emergency medical assistance.
- Confine. Confine the spill area as best you can. Isolate contaminated persons. Don’t allow them to leave and contaminate others. Cover drains to prevent spills from entering municipal sewers.
- Report. Immediately report the spill to the appropriate emergency response authority, including location, injuries, as well as type and quantity of spilled hazmat.
- Secure. Ensure nobody enters the spill area until emergency personnel deems it’s safe. If the area has multiple entrances, locate staff at each to prevent entry.
- Cleaning. Cleanup must be conducted by personnel who have appropriate training, protective equipment, and cleaning materials.
You need to decide now what to do in the event of a spill emergency
The onset of a spill isn’t the time to begin a discussion about what you should do in the event of one. Instead, a spill should instigate a well-defined and rehearsed spill-emergency response plan, with all employees knowing what triggers its implementation.
Who’s in charge of your spill-emergency response plan?
An oil or chemical spill has no regard for your organizational chart. Thus, who should be in charge during a spill emergency might not be the person who’s running things during a normal day at the widget factory.
Thus, it’s important to develop an Incident Command System, wherein once the spill emergency is declared, authority and responsibilities are clear, unequivocal, and without regard to the usual departmental boundaries.
Your plan should map out exactly what must be done during the first hours, days, and weeks of a spill, with responsibilities delegated to specific personnel at each juncture to ensure no important detail is inadvertently neglected that might later become a legal liability.
Keep your spill-emergency response plan uncomplicated
Each step of your spill-emergency response plan should be stated in simple language and well-rehearsed.
During an emergency, adrenaline kicks in while “executive functioning” checks out. That means that personnel won’t be in the right state of mind to read and evaluate pages of instructional do’s & don’ts, but they can effectively execute simple, well-rehearsed assignments.
Ensure all your personnel are aware of your spill-emergency response plan and that each knows his or her role within it. Provide regular training to educate new employees and keep current ones qualified. And run drills—some planned and some a surprise—to improve your spill-emergency response plan and assess employee readiness to implement it quickly.
Printed copies of your spill-emergency response plan should be kept off-site as well as onsite in places that are intuitive and easily accessible to employees. Web copies are best kept in a secure cloud-based platform and accessible from virtually anywhere on any device.
Summary
A suitable spill-emergency response plan for contending with possible accidents and disaster scenarios is your first defense against the financial, legal, and political damage caused by any hazmat spill. The first step is to identify your operation’s greatest vulnerabilities.
While it might not be possible to foretell how a spill will exactly impact your business, you can nonetheless develop a spill-emergency response plan that will lessen the degree of damage to your operations, your reputation, and—ultimately—your finances.
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