A spill kit is essential to your place of business in case of emergency. Find out which spill kit suits your business best.
A spill kit is an all-in-one container which stores gear and equipment used for cleaning up hazardous material spills. The EPA’s Spill Prevention Countermeasure and Control Planning guidelines state that companies who deal with hazardous materials must have the appropriate spill kits ready as a precautionary measure. If a corrosive chemical were to spill, kit such as these allow workers to better control and contain it. But just what exactly should a spill kit contain?
The Different Types of Spill Kits
Spill kits are generally broken down into one of three different categories: general purpose, oil and hazmat. It’s important for company owners to carefully identify their particular needs before choosing a kit. While a general purpose kit may suffice for some companies, others may require a hazmat kit. Look below for a quick comparison of the three different types of spill kits.
General Purpose
As the name suggests, this type of spill kit is designed for both water-based liquids as well as hydrocarbons. General purpose spill kits are made with gray absorbents, making them effective for cleaning up water and hydrocarbons.
Oil Only
An oil spill kit contains white absorbents and is designed to clean up hydrocarbons such as oil and gasoline. The absorbents found in this kit float on water for more effective cleanup contact with the hydrocarbons.
Hazmat
The third type of spill kit is a hazmat kit, which is designed for spills involving highly corrosive acids and solvents. Hazmat spill kits contain yellow-absorbents.
Contents of a spill kit
The exact contents of a spill kit will vary depending on the particular model you choose; however, there are some key items found in most kits.
Some of the most common items found in spill kits include:
- safety goggles
- gloves
- disposable bags
- pads
- socks and more
Before purchasing a new spill kit, check its contents to ensure it’s an acceptable match for your company’s needs. After identifying the chemicals used in your workplace, you can then choose the right type of spill kit.
Along with the contents, you should also consider the size of a spill kit. A bucket-sized spill kit is perfectly fine for smaller work areas, but larger work areas will require a larger spill kit. A step up from the bucket-sized spill kit is the drum model. Going up even further is the mobile cart spill kit. The mobile cart spill kit contains wheels for easier transportation.