Since the advent of the industrial revolution, the use of non-water based chemicals has increased dramatically. For those of us working with them, the exposure to the associated hazards has also increased.
One potential hazard is flammability and to prevent fires, hazardous liquids require special precautions in storage, handling and use.
The current standard in place to manage these is AS1940-2004: The Storage and Handling of Flammable And Combustible Liquids.
For some industries, special costly structures are necessary for storing the large amount of flammable liquids held on site. However, for the bulk of New Zealand businesses, only smaller amounts are used and therefore a much faster and economical solution is available in approved metal cabinets. These cabinets must meet the following criteria, among others, as set out in the above standard:
- The walls, floor, door and roof should be of double-walled sheet steel construction, with a space of at least 40mm between the walls.
- The inner base of the cabinet shall form a liquid-tight compound of at least 150mm deep, and shall be designed to prevent the compound from being used as a storage space.
- Any shelves shall be perforated to permit free air movement, and shall be capable of carry the maximum possible load.
- All cabinet doors shall be self-closing, close fitting and held shut automatically by catches of two or more points.
These requirements are stringent (for good reason) and the Chemshed cabinet range has been designed and engineered to meet or exceed each one of them. Whether your business needs a small single door 60L cabinet, a large double-doored 350L or something in between, this range is your answer to the question of safely storing flammables in your workplace. Other unique features like sequential door closing, flush mounted latches and adjustable galvanized shelving, make Chemshed cabinets a sound safety investment.
Civilquip Ltd are the national importers of Chemshed and with distributors right across the country, there’s bound to be a supplier not too far away.
Contact Civilquip today on 0800 688 844 for your nearest dealer or email sales@civilquip.co.nz
