Storage of chemical drums in workplaces is important to ensure compliance with Australian standards, insurance requirements and Australian regulatory safety bodies such as Worksafe or Workcover. There is a range of standards that could apply depending on what you are storing including; AS 3780-2008 The storage and handling of corrosive substances, AS NZS 3833-2007 The storage and handling of mixed classes of dangerous goods in packages and intermediate bulk containers, AS 1940:2017 The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids.
It’s important to ensure you have correct sump capacity for the items that you’re looking to store. The most common calculation in bunding requirements is the minor storage that your sump needs to be the greater of 110% of the largest container or 25% of the aggregate. You’ll often hear other percentage requirements mentioned such as 100%, 125%, 130%, 135%, so it’s important that you speak to a company such as Containit Solutions who understand the Australian Standards requirements to help ensure you are actually compliant.
It’s important that you provide the consultant all the information around what you are storing including the SDS document, which is important as this will dictate the type and size of bund that you require; For example in corrosive storage there are 3 packing groups (I, II, III). If you’re storing packing group 1 (III) then the minor storage capacity requirement is actually 100% of every items stored due to the dangerous makeup of this particular chemical.
The team at Containit look forward to discussing your requirements. Whether you require bunded pallets, IBC bunding, drum bunding, bunded shelving, racking bunding, floor bunding or even need a DG storage cabinet, we can help.
