DISPLAY ON ALL RELEVANT HSE NOTICEBOARDS

SAFETY BRIEFING NOTE–492017

Acid Based Drain Un-blockers Update

  1. Background

One client employee was recently taken to hospital earlier this month as a result of inhaling fumes of a drain unblocked used within the site toilet facilities.

The employee experienced difficulties in breathing and after first aid review, was taken to hospital as a precaution for further assessment. Luckily the employee had no further repercussions and no further action was taken by the individual or the client.

2. Findings/ Conclusions:

The chemical used for the task had a sulphuric acid concentration of between 70-97% despite a briefing note being sent out in May 2017 informing staff/engineers not to use products with these concentrations. The substances not only have the potential for ill health through splashback and accidental release from mixing chemicals, but there is the potential for property damage as these products have been known to eat through pipework which results in cost to the business.

As a result,KNOCK OUT by Barrettine,has been added to the list of Integral’s banned substances. Upon further research on our COSHH database, RAMROD by Chemaide should not be used either. As a reminder, the original banned items are listed below:

“Liquid Drain Rod”

“One Shot”

“Block Buster”

“Melt”

As a further reminder - Banning these substances isn’t because I want to make your lives impossible. There are safer alternatives that are available on the market whichMUST be to prevent both yourselves and others being put at risk.

3. Recommendations for Managers and all Employees:

Ensure that each substance you use has a COSHH assessment and that you know what instructions to follow. Do not purchase or acquire products that have high concentrations of sulphuric acid. Contact your line manager or the National HSE Team to acquire the documents for you or undertake a point of use assessment for completion. Any further discretions will result in disciplinary action.

Allison Connick, MSc, CMIOSH, IIRSM, MRSH, FCMI

National Director of HS&E

Prepared by / Approved by / Issue Date / Alert Ref No / Source / Attachments / Pages
A Connick, National Director HSE / 01st December 2017 / 492017 / Internal / No / 1 of 1