How do you handle, carry and store chems that should never come in contact with each other? For example, ox and sh… How to avoid taking even a minuscule chance to have the fumes combine in an enclosed trailer for example… besides having some vent holes and not storing them on top of each other…keeping containers labeled properly… What else?
Foolproof tips for avoiding related accidents with employees as well.
I’m hoping we get a few good tips here so new and experienced alike may benefit.
I run an open trailer and all my chems go into individual containers and those are stored in Contico Pro Tuff Bins with other chemicals that are safe to store with. Great question though. I’m interested to see what folks are using.
Color code everything. Make it a visual instinct. I don’t personally do this but it’s good practice if your starting out and don’t have any industry related habits your used to.
Good idea… For myself i’m not as worried as i’m careful and i have a habit of doublechecking everything (but accidents happen to everyone). But i’m always worried an employee would get hurt. I want to eventually put a system in place where risks are minimized as can possibly be.
Does someone have an example they can show of the color code or other tips?
Perfect example that stupid accidents happen quickly: on the edge of my enclosed trailer is a 5 gallon jug of water and a yellow bottle of Sunlight dish soap with a picture of a lemon on the label. They are there to wash our hands. I went to throw some fresh wash from a sample bottle ( picture of yellow lemon on label) in a container and i set it back on the edge of the trailer for a second while my client came with a question, intending to put it back in its place in a second. In the meantime a brand new guy starting that week wanted to wash his hands, couldn’t see the bottle of sunlight because it had fallen in the milk crate, and was about to wash his hands with the fresh wash surfactant that was near the place the Sunlight dish soap usually is. ,
Imagine if he decided to wash his face also… 
I have all my chems neatly organized on shelves in enclosed trailer. @DisplacedTexan can vouch for me on that.
I’m looking to get better organized with my chems, as well. I’d like to swap my gallon jugs for these space saving hedpak containers:
But that means everything is going to look alike.
I’m thinking of doing a color coded system based on +/- pH :
caustics/bases like hydroxides, degreasers, bleach, etc will get labeled in red, since red is positive in electrical color coding. And it makes me think of Red Devil lye.
Acids like OneRestore, F9, etc, will get marked in black
Neutral pH chems like surfactants will be marked in green
I like the idea from an organization point of view and it would be neat but my understanding is you have to keep chems in labeled containers with all info including SDS…
Buzzkill. 
I could peel the labels off the original containers and tape them onto the new ones…
I think you can.
I mean legally, not practically… 
As long as the name and SDS are there… So you could print it off… If i’m not mistaken.
For us Canadians, for example:
But i still have to figure out where to store a pump-up sprayer half full of oxalic acid solution and containers of concentrated vinegar in an enclosed trailer with 50 gallons of SH.
In the bed of the truck.
My acid solutions get stored in one of my underbody toolboxes.
That’s what i’ve done so far but now that i installed my 8 gpm in my truck bed i have 4 x5 gallon pails of SH there to downstream out of… lol
If it’s in open air separated by some distance, probably nothing to worry about. Just bleed off the pressure from pump sprayers before putting them away. Never know when one will decide to leak.
