If you are what is considered a ‘professional user’ of agricultural chemicals and pesticides, e.g. a farmer, garden centre/nursery owner, greenkeeper, etc., you are required to provide a safe storage method to store your pesticides. A pesticide store can be purchased from specialist chemical store manufacturers in a range of sizes and storage configurations. They are normally prefabricated and delivered to the end user ready for immediate use. The pesticide store provides a safe storage system for agri-chemicals. The chemicals are stored safely on shelves, away from moisture or direct sunlight, over a bund or spill tray with fire protection.
Key Features of a Pesticide Store:
Security: Pesticide stores are of heavy duty steel construction with lockable doors to prevent unauthorised access to dangerous chemicals. Security is a very important factor in chemical storage. A professional user can still be held accountable for any chemical pollution or damage caused by chemical stored on their site, even if the damage occurred due to a chemical storage security breach.
Storage areas must be identified with clearly visible warning labels and kept securely locked. Ensuring the security of your chemical storage area not only protects investments from theft but also reduces the risk of potential H&S citations.
Fire Protection: A pesticide store is built and required to provide 30 minutes of fire protection. This means that if there is a fire on the farm or nursery, the pesticides are insulated in the pesticides store and prevented from becoming part of the fire for 30 minutes. This will allow enough time for safe evacuation of the area.
To further reduce the risk of contamination in the case of a fire, locate pesticide stores away from areas populated with humans or livestock. If you store a large quantity of hazardous chemicals, inform your local fire department on the location, amount and types of pesticides. This will help ensure you are fully protected in the event of a fire.
Spillage Control: Every pesticide store must be bunded. The bund which is a large tank or tray in the base of the store is designed to capture and hold any spilled chemicals, thereby preventing environmental pollution. The bund needs to have a holding capacity of 110% of the total volume of chemicals to be stored in the pesticides store or 185% of the total volume if the store is to be located in an environmentally sensitive area.
Bunds must be constructed using impermeable materials and be resistant to chemical attacks. Additionally, pesticide stores must be free of cracks in order to minimise the risk of contamination if a spill occurs. It is important to ensure a response plan is in place in the incident of a spill such as persons to contact and a list of actions to take.
Ventilation: The store should be ventilated to disperse harmful vapours which may be given off by the chemicals. Ventilation systems help to control the temperature of the storage container and reduces the risk of chemical fires. Not all pesticide stores come equipped with ventilation systems, but it is recommended as best practice. You can learn more about ventilation in chemical stores here.
Safety: Safety is a key consideration when selecting a pesticide store. Safety signage including ‘No Smoking’ signage needs to be fitted to the door as well as warning signs for firefighters and members of the public. Most pesticide stores have an eye wash station for personnel safety and secure shelving to allow safety storage and easy segregation of any non-compatible chemicals.
When selecting a pesticide store, it is important to confirm that it offers all five of the aforementioned features to ensure total chemical safety. Traditional chemical stores include several of these features; however, additional components are often necessary to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations. At Safety Storage Systems we offer completely customisable solutions for pesticide stores. Discover the customised features for our pesticide stores here.