Manual for the safe storage of chemical products.
Basic preventive measures
- To have a specific area for the storage of chemical products, conveniently signposted.
- Reduce the stock of chemical products to the minimum necessary.
- Establish separations between incompatible product families.
- Island system: arrangement of products by islands, with each island serving a family of products.
- Shelving system: arrange the chemical products in such a way that there is always a column of inert products between two incompatible products.
- Flammable products should be stored in a place free of ignition sources, preferably inside safety cabinets.
- Certain products, such as carcinogens or radioactive products, must be packaged separately.
- Recipients of peroxidizable products that have been opened should not be kept in stock for more than six months.
- On the shelves always dispose:
- The heaviest packages at the lower levels.
- The recipients of acids and bases, the lower the greater the aggressiveness.
- Reagents sensitive to water, separated from water dams or pipelines, and isolated from flammable materials.
- Recipients’ material:
- Glass: only for small quantities.
- Plastic: resistant but easily damaged. They must be checked frequently.
- Metal: they are the safest.