Spills training
November 1st 2004

In 2002, there were over 30 000 substantiated pollution incidents in England and Wales leading to fines reaching a total of £3.65m. Training in spills prevention and response could drastically reduce both environmental damage and costs to businesses

Negligence in the use, storage or transport of liquids can lead to loss of product, clean up costs, fines, litigation expenses and bad publicity all of which are potentially disastrous.

The spillage of oils and hazardous liquids, even in extremely small quantities, can lead to not only personal injury but major environmental damage. An ‘empty’ 45-gallon drum contains, on average, one gallon of residual oil. This can spread to cover an area of water equivalent to two football pitches. One litre of spilled or leaked solvent is enough to contaminate 100 million litres of drinking water. Milk and orange juice can be 1000 times more destructive than raw sewage if added to river water just one litre of milk can remove the oxygen content from 10 tons of river water, killing thousands of fish.

Accidents, bad working practice, poor maintenance, inappropriate storage and leaking equipment can all cause a potentially hazardous spill. The Environment Agency recently reported that ammoniacal etching solution, spilled by workmen during the decommissioning of the vats in which it had been stored, caused a brook and river to turn blue. Instead of reporting the spill, the workmen had scraped up some of it and hosed the rest into the drain. About 19 kilometres of the brook and river were affected by raised copper concentrations, fish were killed over 2.1 kilometres and invertebrates over a distance of about 5 kilometres. The managing director and plant manager of the company responsible for the pollution were fined £9000 with £3000 costs.

"The task of decommissioning the site and removing the bulk storage vats in which the special waste had been stored was conducted by employees with little or no training or experience of such issues, with the full knowledge and consent of the managing director," said Environment Agency team leader, Mike Webley.

After the hearing Mike Webley said: "This pollution would have been totally avoidable if the proper procedures had been put in place (by the company). He added, "This prosecution confirms that the Agency will always take a strong line with polluters especially when negligence is a significant factor." The Environment Agency considers legal compliance and good environmental performance to be fundamental and advises that large companies should adopt internationally recognised environmental management systems such as ISO14001 and EMAS.

Smaller companies should consider signing up to DTI/DETR Project Acorn that is concerned with simpler environmental management systems and also use the NetRegs web pages to help them understand their environmental responsibilities.

Training for all staff on best working practice, preventative solutions and how to deal with spills and leaks with sorbent products is crucial to organisations that use or store quantities of oils, chemicals and solvents. Training should be carried out by recognised, professional organisations.

Geoff Hooke from the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) explained, The BSIF has recently established the new First Responder Spill Training Standard.

This Standard sets out the minimum requirements for the content of an approved course. Courses are independently audited to confirm that all requirements are met before BSIF accreditation is awarded.

Fosse Liquitrol suppliers of oil and chemical spill solutions, has just been awarded BSIF accreditation for its certificated Spill Prevention and Response Training Course. This course is carried out at a company’s premises, in the environment where any spill is likely to occur, can accommodate up to 12 people and lasts around two hours Miles Hillmann, managing director and founder of Fosse Liquitrol explains, The course identifies hot spots, where trainees participate in the simulation of spills, deployment of equipment, spill response procedures and after-spill analysis. Spill prevention and control issues are discussed and a video highlights how easily environmental damage can be caused if staff are unaware of emergency procedures and equipment. All participants gain environmental awareness, knowledge of legislation and best working practice, emergency spill response skills and a certificate of attendance.

The Environment Agency states that, Training plays a crucial role in protecting the environment. Trained and knowledgeable staff can help prevent or lessen the effects of a pollution incident saving both money and time. Occasional accidents are inevitable so it is important to have plans in place to deal with pollution emergencies and make sure everyone knows what to do in the event of an incident.

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