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Spill containment booms and spill absorbent booms are important spill control and containment devices. These booms can be used quite effectively on land and also at sea or on watercourses to stop spilled liquid reach a protected area.

Absorbent booms

Absorbent booms don’t just stop a spilled substance reaching a protected area or keep the spill contained. They also soak up the spilled liquid and collect it, so that it is removed from the environment where the absorbent boom is used. Because most absorbent booms are water repellent so they can be used extremely effectively on water surfaces. Absorbent booms can also be bought that only attract hydrocarbons, so that oil spills on water surfaces can be contained and cleaned easily.

Most booms can be tied together so that they can be used over a large surface area, which makes the containment of spills at sea easier and much more efficient. The joined booms can be used over an extremely large area, as they were quite effectively at the Deep Water Horizon oil spill last year.

Land booms are useful to have in stock at your industrial site in case of a liquid spill. They can be kept near your drum or IBC storage containment area so that they can used as and when needed.

Spills can happen at any time, so any company that uses hazardous liquids must have policies in place that shows employees how to handle these particular liquids in case of a spill.

The health and safety of employees and the environment should be a top priority for all industrial businesses, but to do this they need to have the right procedures and products in place. Because spills can be common in industry, it’s important that staff who work at industrial sites are adequately trained in spill response, so they know what to do when a certain type of spill occurs.

Dealing with a spilled liquid can be a lot more difficult than you think, the type of liquid spilled and the type of response can vary greatly. Many people who have not been adequately trained and have had to deal with a spill say they would do things ‘differently’ had they received training or if the same spill happened again.

It’s all about being prepared

Every company should have their own spill response plans in place, which are relevant to the type of liquids they hold at site. And alongside this, staff should be appropriately trained and have the latest spill control equipment at their disposal, this means they can deal with the spill quickly and efficiently.

If your employees attend an accredited spill response course, they will know how to handle a certain type of spill and will be able to deal with spills quickly, which will hence reduce the impact the spill will have on site or to the environment.

Generally oil spills from vehicles can be contained quickly and the spill covers only a certain area. However, this week road users had to contend with a five mile oil spill on the roads of Aberdeen.

Road users were greeted with the five mile spill at around 11am last Friday morning. It appears that the spill originated somewhere in the Kingswell area before ending at Riverside drive. Police were made aware of the incident and quickly called gritters to the scene after a number of drivers reported their cars ‘slipping’ on the surface.

One man who was interviewed by the Press and Journal stated that it was lucky it was not raining as otherwise the roads would have been treacherous. He stated:

“If it rains after a spill, and I know this from long experience, that becomes lethal on the roads.

“Anybody on a bike has got no chance. We were lucky it was dry today.”

The council gritted the areas affected quickly but there were still a number of accidents, including one vehicle that skidded off a roundabout. A police spokesperson commented on the incident:

“There was no damage done to his vehicle, but the driver phoned up to report the incident,”

The spill, which was around 4ft wide in places, has not yet been attributed to a person or vehicle, but police have asked for anyone with any information to come forward.

When using heavy machinery, there will be some form of lubrication that is needed for the machine to operate properly. And in some cases this lubricant may leak.

Mobile generators are notoriously dirty devices to use and often leak oil or fuel products. Because of this a drip tray should be used whenever possible with this type of equipment to catch fluid drips and protect the area where the generator is being used. There are a number of different types of drip trays available including:

Steel drip trays

Steel drip trays are perfect to use in any manufacturing environment and can be purchased in sizes that can hold 20 litres of liquid volume to 60 litres of liquid volume. Steel drip trays are perfect to use when handling solutions that may drip when used, so act as a secondary containment device for cans or bottles of hazardous fluids.

Polyethylene drip trays

Polyethylene drip trays are a lightweight spill containment solution. They are available in a range of different sizes and volume capacities and can be used in conjunction with spill absorbent pads so leaks can quickly be contained. Because polyethylene is resistant to a host of hazardous liquids and chemicals, polyethylene drip trays are perfect to use in a range of different industrial applications.

A colony of penguins in the South Atlantic has been coated with oil, after a cargo ship grounded on the remote Tristan da Cunha islands.

The ship came aground last week on Nightingale Island, and crude oil which was onboard when the ship grounded has said to have coated a colony of Northern Rockhopper penguins in the dark sticky substance. The MS Olivia was carrying 60,000 tonnes of soya beans from Brazil to Singapore when she got into difficulties off the islands; it is believed that the ship has now broken in two.

Alongside the beans, the ship was estimated to be carrying 1,500 tonnes of crude oil. It is estimated that the oil slick now extends for around 8 miles offshore with thousands of penguins being oiled as a result of the spill.

Richard Cuthbert, who is a research biologist for the RSPB stated:

"The consequences of this wreck could be potentially disastrous for wildlife and the fishery-based economy of these remote islands.

“Over 200,000 penguins are currently on the islands and these birds will be heavily impacted by leaking oil.”

One salvage vessel has arrived on the scene, but it does not have all the necessary spill control equipment to deal with this size of spill. A specialist spill control vessel is expected on the scene shortly.

There are a number of different ways that liquid can be stored at an industrial site. Below are a types of storage containers.

Liquid storage at industrial sites

Intermediate bulk containers have become the common method of storing liquids at industrial sites today. Intermediate bulk container or IBCs can effectively store large volumes of liquids such as solvents, food liquids and chemicals. Their design means the containers can be stored easily and being encased in a steel mesh frame they are protected somewhat from damage by external forces.

Drum storage

Drums are a classic way of storing liquid solutions such as oil. Classically drums are made from steel and are used for storing hazardous liquids, oils and foodstuffs. The standard steel drum size is 205 litres. New drums are now available in plastic in a range of different sizes from 30 litres to 220 litres. They are manufactured from heavy duty polyethylene and feature a removable lid with locking mechanism. They are now used widely for the transportation of all liquid solutions.

Bunded storage tanks

Bunded tanks are a large liquid storage solution which have a double skin, so if the inner bund fails the liquid is released into the outer bund and hence will not contaminate the surrounding area. They are perfect for storing fuel oil on industrial sites and if purchased from a reputable dealer meet the current oil storage regulations.

A Nuneaton factory is coming to terms with a chemical spill that closed the industrial estate where the factory is located.

A valve at on a tank malfunctioned on Tuesday the 8th of March which led to a significant spillage of nitric acid from the tank at Technic UK, who are based in Nuneaton. The spill led to the Attleborough Industrial estate being evacuated while fire crews with specialist equipment were called.

One employee of the firm suffered burn injuries as a result of the spill which happened at around 9:30am. Liberty Way was cordoned off by fire crews on arrival at the scene.

The technical sales manager at the site, Gareth Davies, stated that the firm had contained the chemical but needed the Fire Brigade’s assistance.

He stated in the Coventry Telegraph:

"A valve on a mixing tank blew out. It was a complete accident and is something that has never happened before.

"We managed to contain the chemical within the unit but needed to call in the fire brigade.

"The man who was operating the tank was slightly burned on one arm and went to hospital for treatment. A specialist contractor was brought in to take away the spilled chemical."

With many warehouses now using a fleet of battery powered vehicles, such as forklift trucks, it becomes imperative to have the right equipment on standby in case battery acid is spilled.

Batteries need to be charged regularly and topped up frequently to make sure that they operate to their peak efficiency. Automation in warehouses and factories has led to an increased number of vehicles that have to be looked after, further increasing the chance of a spill.

Topping up the electrolyte level in a battery can be a hazardous task, so those individuals who are tasked with this should have all the appropriate equipment at hand to protect themselves and protect others.

A battery acid spill kit contains everything you will need to cope with a battery acid spill. Part of the kit contains equipment designed to contain the spill, whereas other components in the kit are designed to neutralise the acid.

The benefits of battery acid spill kits include:

• When neutralisation is complete, the solution colour changes giving positive neutralisation indication

• When treated, the acid is environmentally safe so it can be washed into the foul sewer system

• Decontamination of the area is done quickly and effectively

• Kits contain goggles, gloves and instructions on use.

In industry, large rotating machines are used frequently for the manufacture of many of the products we use on a daily basis. And, where there is rotating machinery, there has to be some form of lubrication, such as oil, to keep the machines running smoothly.

Spill control solutions for leaky machines

Many industrial processes use machines which can be decades old, and as such they are usually not in the best state of repair. In some instances they may even leak the lubrication solution which they need to work. While it is the responsibility of the company that uses these machines to make sure they are in a good state of repair it is sometimes impossible to stop the occasional leak of the lubrication material such as oil. And when this happens, steps need to be taken to control the spill and to use an appropriate medium for its clean-up.

Spill absorbent granules

Industrial spill absorbent granules are the perfect solution to clean up irregular spills from machinery such as this. The material can be used indoors to soak up the spilled lubricant, and because it is in granular form, you only need use an appropriate amount for the size of spill you have. This can be really cost-effective, as only the amount that is needed is used.

Industrial spill control absorbent granules are the perfect absorbent material to use to clean up spills of water, fuel and oil.