A chemical plant in China exploded due to failure of adhering to health and safety regulations by the management of the factory. This caused 6 people to become hospitalised. 

Huang Yi, spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety, said that "the bosses of the Goure PX Plant chose the cheapest bidder to build the facility at the expense of safety". He said a "furnace was too close to storage tanks, so when unspecified materials leaked into the furnace because of a broken tube, the blast tore into a tank and caused the fire. (source: Fox News).

This is the worst thing that could happen whilst dealing with storing chemicals. The management  should be adhering to the basics, like keeping chemicals away from fire and checking regularly for leaks.  All organisations are required to stick to COSHH (control of substances hazardous to health) guidelines regardless of their industry. Would having a chemical store container have helped? 

How would we have stored them? Well firstly, we would make sure that the containers are kept away from any source of fire. Stores can be made fire proof, which would have helped a little with this situation. Stores can also be ventilated and dry. Vents are installed to all chemical stores to stop a build-up of chemicals in the air inside the container. A bunded floor is a great way to collect fluids, to stop them from spreading. The standard wooden floor is replaced by a bund to collect leaks, drips and spills. The container walls, roof and doors can be lines to create a stronger shell. Any fluids collected are emptied via a drainage sump. 

Although all these extra accessories will help to keep your chemicals safe; it is also important that you regularly check and maintain your chemicals. Also, if you buy a fireproof chemical store, we still wouldn’t recommend putting it by the fire!

"Good Afternoon, Thank you for your enquiry. Due to it being a narrow country lane, I would recommend having a container up to 20ft delivered on a single rigid vehicle. A narrow lane would not be able to fit an artic vehicle, so it wouldn’t be possible to deliver a container any larger. Depending on the height of the bridge, our driver should be able to fit underneath, if not we would look at alternative routes. In terms of the farm being muddy, there are a few options to look at. We could place trackways down for the container. Roadways are made from both aluminium and plastic, they consist of panels that would be easily adaptable for your site and can withstand up to 1000 tonnes. Plastic Roadways are also extremely versatile, consisting of heavy duty panels which are ideal for heavy weights and can be installed by hand. Another option would be to supply heavy duty boards or slabs to place the container on. Finally, we could supply heavy duty boards for the driver to drive over and set jacklegs to place the container on. We look forward to hearing from you soon"

If you are looking for somewhere to store your rural chemicals, check out some of our previous chemical case studies >>