storage of corrosives

[Merilyn1]

Sorry I had missed this thread - only here two days a week and have had some WHS things on.

DG goods classification, now legally only relates to transport of chemicals. However, it provides a good solid framework for segregation of chemicals. Your reference for storage should always be the SDS from the manufacturer or supplier.
If it is classed as hazardous, a chemical will (or should) have the appropriate pictogram on the label.

I agree with Rosalie that if you can't adequately segregate you should have cabinets.

Bigmack - lead trays?? I hope you were wearing gloves when you handled those!

As for the size of the corrosives cabinet, our one here isn't that big. We don't use a lot of acids other than HCl. Most of the HCl dilutions aren't hazardous and are stored on a shelf in the chem store. The dilutions of sulfuric acid were so rarely used I had one tray of 0.1M and one of 1M. Nitric acid hadn't been used in my six years but things may have changed as there's a whole bunch of new people in Science now. Acetic acid - only ever used that at low concentrations too.

[RosalieL]

Does anyone have one of the divided corrosive cabinets that can store acids on one side and bases on the other? They are 100L. Just wondering how they go for storing winchesters.

[PeterK]

We have a poly 80L divided one, after years of asking for one and cleaning out tons of rust in the metal one. They come with four gratnell trays, so you have two levels. You can't have fit winchesters on both levels. I just keep the winchesters on the bottem level (around 36cm max clearance) and the other bottles on the top level (around 30cm max clearance).

[macca]

Hi Brains trust!!

We have been told we have to have a corrosive cabinet, we have a flammable liquids cabinet inside our chemical room which is well ventilated 24/7. It's been suggested that a small 50L corrosive cabinet could be placed on top of flammables cabinet. Can anyone see a problem with this idea, or could anyone point me in the right direction as to published guidelines.

Thanks in advance
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[Pm706Narrogin]

We have 2 smaller flammable liquids cabinets. A wider one at the bottom and a narrower one on top of that. Audits haven't considered that to be a risk. Corrosives cabinets on top of flammable cabinets may be different. Would be great if Australian workers could freely access the relevant Australian Standards that we need to comply with legislation but somebody ruined that

I would err on the side of caution and place both of them on the ground. Mainly because of the headache it would cause if an auditor came in and told you to move it when the cabinet was full

[bigmack]

I would err on the side of caution and place both of them on the ground. Mainly because of the headache it would cause if an auditor came in and told you to move it when the cabinet was full

"No worries mate , grab the other end and we'll do it right now"

Seriously though , I prefer not to have to lift Winchesters of Concentrated H₂SO₄ out of cabinets at chest height. If your Flammables cabinet is the same size as ours , that would be head height .No thank you

[mtg]

Hi Brains trust!!

We have been told we have to have a corrosive cabinet, we have a flammable liquids cabinet inside our chemical room which is well ventilated 24/7. It's been suggested that a small 50L corrosive cabinet could be placed on top of flammables cabinet. Can anyone see a problem with this idea, or could anyone point me in the right direction as to published guidelines.

Thanks in advance
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That is not a great idea, I am surprised it has even been suggested. Our chem storage solutions should be a priority for the school and dept. My storage is OK except the corrosives cupboard, not vented, is leaching salts now.