How to reduce the risk of flammable liquids in the workplace

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

How To Reduce The Risk Of Flammable Liquids In The Workplace Of the nine classes of dangerous goods, class 3 ammable liquids would have to be one of the most commonly used dangerous goods. Flammable and combustible liquids are found in almost every workplace. One reason why ammable liquids are used so frequently is because they readily combust and release energy. This energy can be successfully harnessed and used to power engines in power stations, automobiles, earth movers, generators and many other machines. Flammable liquids also have many other good uses. They are often the vital ingredients in cleaning agents, thinners, solvents, glues and adhesives, polishes, waxes, paints and varnishes. Even though ammable liquids have many good uses in our modern society, they also have the potential to cause a lot of harm to people, property and the environment if they are not managed in a safe and compliant manner. Flammable liquids are liquids that give off ammable vapours at relatively low temperatures. The Australian Dangerous Goods Code De nes ammable liquids as:

Flammable liquids are liquids, or mixtures of liquids, or liquids containing solids in solution or suspension (for example, paints, varnishes, lacquers, etc., but not including substances otherwise classi ed on account of their dangerous characteristics) which give off a ammable vapour at temperatures of not more than 60 °C, closed-cup test, or not more than 65.6 °C, open-cup test, normally referred to as the ash point. This class also includes:

(a)

liquids offered for transport at temperatures at or above their ash point; and

(b)

substances that are transported or offered for transport at elevated temperatures in a liquid state and which give off a ammable vapour at a temperature at or below the maximum transport temperature.

The ability of ammable liquids to give off ammable vapours at room temperatures make them very dangerous in our workplaces. Flammable liquids do not combust themselves, but the ammable vapours that they release are combustible. For a combustion reaction to take place, only 4% of the air has to be lled with a ammable vapour and brought into contact with an ignition source. After the ammable vapours have ignited, they will spontaneously burn until the ammable liquid is completely vapourised. This process can take a long time and release a lot of heat. This heat can cause other combustible materials in the workplace to burn and cause a lot of destruction. Workplace re also has the ability to cause death. As other materials in the workplace start to combust, they can produce a lot of smoke. Breathing in this smoke will cause you to asphyxiate and pass out, and hence not be able to escape the re.

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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A Methodology For Managing Risk

As ammable liquids pose many risks upon the people, property and environment of your workplace, it is very important that you have a risk management process in place to mitigate the risk that ammable liquids pose upon your workplace. A methodology that STOREMASTA has developed can be used to control the risks associated with ammable liquids. This methodology is called:

Identify Assess Control Sustain

Identify If you don’t know what hazards are present in your workplace, you won’t be able to take any action to reduce them. A hazard is an event that will hinder you from reaching your objectives. If your organisation’s objective is “Zero Harm” then a hazard is anything that will hinder you from achieving the state of zero harm. Therefore the risk management process starts by rstly identifying the potential hazards associated with the ammable liquids in your workplace. To carry out this part of the risk management process successfully, you must go into your workplace and physically identify all the areas on your premises where ammable liquids are stored or used. A good way to do this is to print off a oor plan of your premise and then mark in all the locations where ammable liquids are present.

Some common places where ammable liquids are stored or used are in areas where: Petrol/diesel powered machines are used and serviced Paints are mixed and applied Greasy metals are cleaned with solvents • • •

Each time you identify a location in your workplace where ammable liquids are stored you must also identify any hazards that may be present. There are a number of hazards that ammable liquids may present. These hazards are outlined below:

• • • •

the potential to burn or explode when ignited the potential to undergo a spontaneous reaction the potential to react with other chemicals or water the immediate, delayed or long-term health effects on humans or animals through inhalation, skin absorption or ingestion the effect on the environment, including aquatic life The potential corrosive chemical action on other materials, in particular, packagings and living tissue (including skin)

Flammability Instability Reactivity Toxicity

• •

Environmental impact Corrosivity

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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Assess

Once you have identi ed all the potential hazards associated with the ammable liquids stored in your workplace, you can then carry out a risk assessment. A risk assessment is a systematic approach to identifying how the storage of your ammable liquids could harm people property and the environment of your organisation.

This process involves assessing:

What hazardous events (accidents, incidents), could occur? How frequently these hazardous events could occur? What the consequences of each event could be? What are the total risks (the probability and consequences of events) of each area where ammable liquids are stored.

• • • •

Once you have assessed these factors you can then use the data to calculate the risk level associated with each location where ammable liquids are stored on your premises. Risk is calculated by using the formula below:

Risk = Severity of the outcomes x Likelihood of the incident

To use this formula to calculate the level of risk, you must have a quantitative method and criteria for quantifying the likelihood of an incident occurring and the severity of the outcomes. An example of a quantitative system for ranking risks is outlined on the next page.

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Quantifying Severity Of The Outcome - S

S

Extent Of Consequences

Examples

1

Minor

Minor loss of containment Dealt with by site personnel No harm to personnel No environmental damage

2

Medium

Loss of containment Minor Fire

No structural damage No harm to personnel No long term environmental damage

3

Major

Major loss of containment Fire Some structural damage Minor injuries or personnel affected by fumes Some environmental damage

Total loss of containment Major Fire Major structural damage Injuries / harm to personnel requiring hospitalisation > 24 hours Death Impact largely con ned to the premises

4

Catastrophic

Signi cant impact beyond the boundaries of the premises

5

Catastrophic External

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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Quantifying Likelihood Of Incident - L

L

Likelihood Of Occurence

Indicative Frequency

Zero

Totally Eliminated

0

Once in a thousand years

1

Rare

Once in a hundred years

Unlikely

2

Once in ten years

3

Likely

Less than once a year

Certain

4

More than once a year

5

Imminent

Assessing Relative Level Of Risk (R = S x L)

R

Assessment Of Risk

Initial Priority For Action*

4. Schedule for actions after other risks

Low

1-2

3. Further improvement required

3-4 Medium

2. Immediate action required

High

5+

1. Shutdown unless additional controls instigated immediately

10+ Totally Unacceptable

As you carry out these risk assessments on the different locations where ammable liquids are stored in your workplace, it is important to keep track of all the data in a central location. This can be done by using a risk management matrix template. This template can be manually drawn up on a piece of paper or even better, on an excel spreadsheet or google sheet that automatically calculates the risk level with embedded formulas. An example of a risk management matrix is shown below. This matrix has two sections. The rst section is for assessing the level of risk before any controls have been implemented and the second section is for assessing the success of the controls after implementation.

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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Risk Management Matrix Template

NAME

OBJECTIVE

P R E - M I T I G A T I O N

P O S T - M I T I G A T I O N

DEPARTMENT / LOCATION

MITIGATIONS / WARNINGS / REMEDIES

REF / ID

RISK LIKELIHOOD

RISK LIKELIHOOD

ACCEPTABLE TO PROCEED?

RISK

RISK SEVERITY

RISK LEVEL

RISK SEVERITY

RISK LEVEL

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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Control

After you have assessed the risk level for each location where ammable liquids are present in your workplace, you must then develop a plan to reduce the risks by implementing the necessary controls. Risk reduction can often consume a lot of resources, which makes it important to prioritise which risks must be reduced rst. The hazards that pose the greatest amount of risk upon the people, property and environment of your organisation must be controlled rst and then the hazard with the next greatest risk. This process must be followed until all risks have been mitigated.

The controls that you use to mitigate the risks associated with ammable liquids will depend on the nature of the risk. In all cases the control measures must be implemented in a strict order. This order is shown below:

1 2 3

• • •

Discontinuing the use of the ammable liquid. Substituting the ammable liquid with a less hazardous substance Engineering controls to enclose or isolate the hazard eg. Flammable liquid storage cabinets Safe working procedures Use of personal protective equipment such as gloves and respiratory equipment

Elimination Substitution Engineering controls

4 5

• •

Administrative controls Personal Protective equipment

Hierarchy Of Controls

Most Effective

Elimination

Physically remove the hazard

Replace the hazard

Substitution

Isolate people from the hazard

Engineering Controls

Administrative Controls

Change the way people work

Least Effective

PPE

Protect the worker with Personal Protective Equipment

After you have implemented all the controls to reduce the risk associated with ammable liquids, it is a good practice to carry out another risk assessment to analyse the success of the controls. This risk assessment can be recorded on the same risk management matrix that you used for the rst risk assessment so that you can identify the improvement.

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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Sustain

Once you have implemented the controls to reduce the risks associated with ammable liquids, it’s very important to develop an ongoing system to sustain your low risk and compliance to dangerous goods regulations and standards. Before you develop this plan, you must rst identify the factors that may increase your risk or decrease your compliance. Some of these factors could include: Increased quantities of ammable liquids stored onsite due to business growth. Changes in the layout of equipment and machinery in the workplace bringing items such as ignition sources

• •

into close proximity of ammable liquids Lapse in the use of safe working procedures When ammable liquids storage facilities break down due to wear and tear. The employment of new personnel

• • •

Once you have identi ed these events and how frequently they occur, it will allow you to determine how frequently you will have to carry out certain activities to sustain your low level of risk and your compliance to the regulations. For example, when you make changes to the layout of your workplace, it is a good practice to carry out a risk assessment of that area to identify any changes and to determine if these changes pose any further risks upon your workplace. Also, if you employ a new worker, you will need to train him to handle and store ammable liquids according to your safe working procedures so that he doesn’t pose any further risk upon himself or others in the workplace. By analysing how frequently things change in your workplace, you will be able to determine how often you will have to carry out a periodic risk assessment. If your organisation is growing rapidly, you may have to carry out a risk assessment every month, whereas established organisations may only need to carry out a risk assessment every quarter. Another factor that should be considered when sustaining low risk is a maintenance schedule for your ammable liquids storage facilities. All ammable liquids storage facilities have certain features that make them safe and compliant. Some of these features include: Correct dangerous goods signage

• • • •

Compliant ventilation system Self-closing self-latching doors Liquid tight spill containment sump

If any of these features breakdown, it can make the the storage facility unsafe to keep ammable liquids. A systematic maintenance plan will enable you to keep your ammable liquids storage facilities in a safe working condition.

Another factor that is important to consider when sustaining your low risk is a periodic risk assessment or compliance check from an external assessor. An external assessor with a good knowledge of the dangerous goods standards and regulations will be able to provide extra insights and pick up things that you may not have been aware of. An external assessment doesn’t have to be a highly frequent event. A half yearly or annual external assessment would be recommended to ensure that your storage systems and facilities comply with the dangerous goods standards and regulations.

How to Reduce the Risk of Flammable Liquids in the Workplace

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Conclusion

As ammable liquids pose a lot of risks upon the people, property and environment of your organisation, it is very important that you have a disciplined, methodical and systematic approach to the management of their risks. An effective methodology that can be adopted is Identify, Assess, Control, Sustain. The adoption of this methodology will allow you to manage the risks associated with ammable liquids in an ef cient and effective manner. If you would like any further advice on how to manage the risks associated with ammable liquids, please don’t hesitate to reach out, as we are more than happy to help.

IDENTIFY

SUSTAIN

ASSES

CONTROL

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