An oil spill is dangerous in any kind of environment and can have some serious long-term effects. A mishap that leads to oil seeping into the environment can be catastrophic and disturb the pH levels of the area. Not to mention that the air & water get polluted which kill animals and plants in that area.
But oil spills on a construction site are even more concerning as they prove to be fatal for everyone working on the site apart from the dangers they pose for the environment. This is why measures need to be taken in advance to prevent any such occurrence.
When everyone on the construction site knows that there are provisions in place to prevent an oil spill, they can work stress-free and concentrate better on their work. Read on to find out the best ways to prevent an oil spill on a construction site.
- Train the staff:
One of the best ways to prevent a spill is to ensure your staff is trained to use the equipment correctly and identify spills & leaks in the early stages. Apart from safety training, spill training is a must when preparing a construction site for operation.
You can deliver spill training to all the engineers at the site, the contractors, and the workers operating a machine. It is an ideal way to educate them on how spills occur and what is the best course of action to mitigate the problem in such a scenario.
- Use filtration fabric:
A machine that has high chances of leakage can be surrounded by a filtration fabric to capture and soak up the oil. Alternatively, the fabric can also be spread out on the floor at the staging area to ensure whatever leaks out of equipment get retained in it.
The ADsorb-it Filtration Fabric is an excellent option that is manufactured from recycled waste fibers from the textile manufacturing industry. It is a filtration fabric that strongly retains oils, oil sheen, and all kinds of oil-borne contaminants. At the same time, make sure emergency equipment is readily available for your staff.
- Check incoming vehicles for leaks:
A great spill prevention and leak detection practice is to check every incoming vehicle for leakage. A lot of construction sites do not implement this practice which prevents them from noticing issues early on.
Although vehicles carrying oils are being manufactured in a way that there are very minimal chances of leakage, over time they may start developing issues. A simple set of checks to be made on all oil-carrying vehicles doesn’t take much time but can easily save a huge spill situation causing major damage to human life and the environment.
- Repair immediately:
Another overlooked factor that is very common on construction sites is ignoring small faults and issues. A small repair, if ignored, can go on to create major damage in the future. This is why no faults should be left unchecked and must be repaired at the earliest.
Having a robust checking process in place to inspect every piece of equipment in use will bring to light any possibility of an oil spill. If any of the equipment fails to meet the set standards it should not be operated until a thorough inspection has been conducted by a spill survey officer.
Conclusion:
Thorough management and handling of all equipment to be used on a construction site will minimize the risk of an oil spill and prevent loss of life and harm to the environment. At the same time, ensuring everyone on the site is trained to deal with a spill situation can help in mitigating the effects.