An emergency workplace spill is rarely if ever anticipated, but it pays to be prepared for one. Your health and safety plan should not only include information on how to prevent skills but also on how to address and clean up after any spills that do manage to occur.
Everyone working on-site and in the same building as hazardous materials that could spill should be trained in how to handle an unexpected incident in the event that they do, in fact, spill. An untrained employee could possibly make the situation worse or put themselves in possible danger if they misidentify the incident. Employees need to be able to identify the product spilled, to know its potential hazards, to determine the exact source of the spilled material, to figure out how much may have spilled and how long the spill has been ongoing, and to begin containment or remediation of the spill as soon as possible. This may or may not include contacting local authorities, depending on the severity of the spill and the nature of its contents.
After the spill has been addressed and, hopefully, cleaned up in a timely manner, further action needs to be taken. Looking at a spill in the moment seems daunting, but looking at it with the help of information about previous incidents can cut down on situational anxieties and make the whole process move more quickly and easily. Using an incident tracking software will allow employees confronted with spills to easily research past spills and see what caused them and what actions were taken. Although they should have been trained already on what to do, having a concrete reference for their plan of action will be incredibly helpful in a time of crisis. In this way, incident tracking software can help make an emergency spill into a manageable incident instead of a complete disaster.
