A site spill kit audit will look at what spill risks exist on your site and whether you have the correct absorbents and spill kits in the right places to respond to a spill safely and efficiently and avoid a pollution incident and potential enforcement action.
An emergency is not the time to find out that your spill kits are either in the wrong places or need to be replenished. When storing or handling pollutants you need to be able to respond quickly in the event of a spill to contain and clean up any spillages before they become a bigger problem. Pollution incidents where polluting liquids are released into the waterways can carry unlimited fines and potential criminal proceedings.
Spill kits contain absorbents to contain and clean up spilled polluting liquids in an emergency. The size of spill kit you need will depend on how much liquid might need to be absorbed. They are available in oil, chemical and maintenance variants, so it’s important that you have the right absorbents available for the liquid that’s at risk of spilling.
Spill kits should be placed in high risk areas so that the contents are on hand when needed. They should only be used in emergencies rather than for everyday spills. As part of the audit, we may recommend absorbent stations for areas where small spills are likely to occur on a more regular basis.
We’ll visit your site to assess potential risks and check you have the necessary spill kits in the right locations. During the audit, we’ll also check that any spill kits you do have are fit for purpose. A site spill kit audit is not conducted by salespeople. Our auditors will be making recommendations for what you should have in place, but they’re not there to sell to you. We will provide a list of Darcy Spillcare products within your report that matches the recommendations, but you’re not obliged to buy from us.
A spill kit audit will ensure you are fully prepared in the case of a spill. Prevention is better than cure. Having the right spill kits in the right places will enable you to contain and clean up spilled pollutants as quickly as possible and avoid a pollution incident which could result in EA enforcement, including potential unlimited fines and criminal proceedings.
Having a spill kit audit protects your business by reducing the risk of financial and operational threats posed by spillages. Following the recommendations from the audit will give you peace of mind that you have the necessary equipment in place should you face an emergency spill situation.
Worst case, a significant loss could occur with little to no spill mitigation. People could get hurt if they don’t know what they are doing and a pollution incident can result in fines and a potential criminal record.
This depends on how big your site is. The audit involves a walk around to assess the potential spill risks. We’ll be able to give you an estimate of time during the quotation process. For smaller-scale sites, we are often able to complete the visit for a spill kit audit in one afternoon; we regularly conduct audits after delivering a half-day spill response training session. On returning to the office, we’ll write up the audit, which can take as long as the site visit, depending on the findings.
Spill kit audits are conducted by experienced spill response trainers, many of whom have a background in engineering or environmental consultancy.
Someone will yes. It should be someone who knows the site (good, bad and ugly), has some experience of any relevant processes, storage and infrastructure such as drainage and can get us from A to B. We politely ask that this isn’t offloaded onto the poor, brand-new intern!
On arrival at your site, the first thing we’ll ask for is a hard copy of your site plan and a list of your spill kits, which may be referred to as a spill kit register. We’ll ask about what processes you have in place to keep track of your spill kits. Sites should keep a register of spill kits with their locations, tag or lock numbers and a log of regular checks. There should also be a mechanism in place to report defects such as missing items.
If your spill kits are secured with tamper tags and you have the above described log in place, we’ll only open and check the contents of one spill kit on your site to double check that your internal processes are being followed. If there’s no process in place, or we find issues with the one opened spill kit, we’ll check each of your spill kits.
If we’re not satisfied that regular checks on your spill kits are occurring, we’ll conduct a visual inspection on all your spill kits. The container, whether it’s a bag or a bin, has been designed to protect its contents however if your spill kit hasn’t been used and you’ve had it a long time the integrity of the container could have reduced, especially if kept outside. If the container of the spill kit is in poor condition, it could mean that the contents have been damaged. We’ll report on whether your spill kit needs to be replaced on this basis.
When looking inside the spill kit container we’ll report on whether there are items obviously missing. Sometimes the contents of a spill kit are dipped into and not replenished meaning that important items can be missing when responders are dealing with a spill. We can tell quite quickly if a spill kit has been compromised so don’t always need to check the entire contents of a kit.
Most products within the spill kit have an unlimited shelf life, however if you have perishable items within your kit, and you don’t have a spill kit log in place, we’ll check that they’re still usable. Dammit leak sealing putty, for example, can harden over time.
One of the most important things we check for within the spill kit audit is that you have spill kits located in high risk areas. Having spill kits where you need them will save time during an emergency. Your spill responders need to be able to access your spill kits, so we’ll also check they’re not locked away or in otherwise difficult to access places. We’ll also be looking for clear signage that identifies your spill kits.
Our auditor will assess your liquid storage facilities and whether you have the right spill kits available nearby in case of a spill or bund failure. It’s vital that you have the correct type of absorbents for the liquid stored. We have spill kits available for oil, chemical and general spills.
Do you have spill kits in areas where you receive deliveries? This is another factor that we’ll consider during the audit. Deliveries of liquids is a high risk activity. If a hose becomes detached from a tanker, a large spill could occur very quickly.
The site spill kit audit doesn’t include a drain survey, but whilst walking around we’ll be looking for drain identification. If we see grates in the ground, we’ll be asking if it’s a foul or surface water drain. And if it’s a surface water drain, we’ll be asking if you have an interceptor. Understanding the site’s drainage is part of assessing the potential risk from a spill. If pollutants enter a surface water drain and you don’t have an interceptor the damage can be far reaching and disastrous for the environment.
We’ll also want to see if you have drain protection products available, such as wall mounted storage boxes with clay mats that can be placed over drains to prevent spilled pollutants entering the drainage system.
After the audit, you will receive a report detailing our recommendations for any new spill kits or replenishment that’s necessary. Whilst conducting the audit, we’ll take photographs that highlight examples of good and poor practice discovered on site and these will be included in the report. The report will include Darcy Spillcare product codes making it straightforward for you to order anything you need.
Stewart has over 30 years experience as an environmental regulator and consultant.
Operating at an international level, Stewart is a board member of the UK & Eire Spill Association and is the current Chairman of the International Spill Accreditation Scheme which sets and monitors standards within the spill response industry.
With over 30 years of training and spillcare experience, our team are dedicated to ensuring your team are not only compliant, but feel safe no matter what occurs on site.
As we manufacture a wide range of spillcare solutions, our trainers and experts have a deep understanding of how to effectively use the products correctly and can pass this knowledge on to your team.
In addition to a spill kit audit, we can help protect your business by ensuring incident preparedness, including:
Please fill out this form and one of our expert team will be in touch with you to discuss your needs in greater detail and provide a no-obligation quotation.
