Australia's Science Forum

Hi everyone! I had/have a problem with a delivery of four 500ml bottles of concentrated sulphuric acid. A casual woman working in front office took delivery of carton which was damaged with sulphuric acid showing as seeping/soaking through both the bottom and top of the carton. I contacted the supplier and was told that the office should not have signed for the hazardous goods as they were damaged. He said that the sulphuric acid would leak if transported by the transport company upside down and they did not follow the instructions to keep box upright. I said that sulphuric acid should not leak even if upside down. I have never used this supply company before and will not again! Have had numerous deliveries of dangerous goods/acids etc. over the years without a problem. I am extremely annoyed and trying to contact Minister for Transport as cannot find any other avenues at present to find who I can speak to. What are your thoughts and has anyone else had this problem????

I once took delivery of a broken bottle of bromine water. It wasn't immediately evident that it was broken, so I took delivery of it. As soon as I saw that it was broken I left it in its packaging and put it straight into a larger jar and put the lid on to seal it all in. I contacted the supplier and they reluctantly had it picked up for disposal and replaced it. I had to insist and they treated me as if I was making a fuss over nothing. Having said that, it is the only problem I have had with them.

Hi Julie, just wondering if you could pm me the name of the company you bought it from just to see if is same company.

Time for training of all staff in the office. Maybe a sign near the counter as a reminder to not accept damaged packaging without contacting you first. You probably are "up the creek" on this one as signing for the goods usually is an acknowledgement that they are received in good condition. The supplier is correct in that. It is up to them as to whether they replace the broken container or not, they have no legal requirement to do so, more of goodwill.
Maybe remind them that this is your first purchase and you are reluctant to buy anything again from them.
You'll need to make sure that you follow your schools WHS procedure for reporting near-misses, assuming no one was injured.
Curious, why four bottles of sulfuric acid?

Was there any damage to the office or the admin person?
If anyone is injured then its a worksafe issue need to fill in the form.
You could try the WH & S directorate or your deputy principal

I think fishy that a call to workcover may help.. report the transport people as their employee could have been seriously injured.. they are negligent.
DO it to make sure workers everywhere are kept safe