[sherco]

When carrying lots of different cleaning chemicals in your vehicles do you have to notify your insurance company. If you have a accident and those chemicals get spilled neat could they cause a problem? Do you have to keep them in a sealed container to avoid this? Are you required to carry a chemical spill kit in your vehicle? anybody know 

[Joe H]

I have a folder in the van with a copy of the Safety Data Sheets.
Try to keep it up to date.
Dont know about the rest - interesting to follow this.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

An intersting point, you certainly should'nt have oxidising agents next to concentrated acids.

In practice as most cleaning chemicals are quite dilute,  there should not be a problem.

Solvents should be kept in secure containers as you do not want them to leak in the back of your van, could cause headaches, drowsiness etc.

Cheers

Doug

[cleanndry47]

Hi chaps,  chris from clean n dry,wales. Sorry and ladies,  what I remember  from the N.C.C.A, course you should carry C.O.S.H.H. sheets on every chemical you have on the van. If asked by the police,  you  must produce every single sheet .

[Joe H]

Yes it was discussed at the NCCA training I went on, but from what I remember it was the Safety Data Sheet we need to carry.
Difference, as pulled from the internet, being :-

About COSHH Essentials
COSHH Essentials has been developed to help firms comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). COSHH requires employers to:
assess the risks to health from chemicals and decide what controls are needed;
use those controls and make sure workers use them;
make sure the controls are working properly;
inform workers about the risks to their health;
train workers.

About Safety Data Sheets
A material safety data sheet (MSDS) is a form containing data regarding the properties of a particular substance. An important component of product stewardship and workplace safety, it is intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill handling procedures. The exact format of an MSDS can vary from source to source.

COSHH is about having a statement of training and proceedures and could run into many pages.

Safety Data Sheets are brief info about the product including what to do in emergancy, ususlly no more then 2 sides of A4.

Imagine the situation - you are working away, and a young child finds a bottle of cleaning chemical and drinks. What do you do? What does the ambulance service do? The SDS provides info like "do not induce vommiting", Immediately wash the eye with plenty of water for 10 minutes", wash the skin throughly with soap and water".
"this product does not support combusion", "flush to foul sewer with large amount of water (observe local authority regulations)".
SDS are usually no more then 2 sides of A4.
Available from supplier with purchase or as a download.
Should keep a SDS in van for every chemical carried.
Its one of those things that will gather dust, but one day it will prove very useful and perhaps save someones life.

[stevegunn]

A lot of manufacturers/suppliers allow the data sheets to be downloaded from their websites so no excuses really for not having them

[Straker Cleaning]

Same as Joe, clearly labelled ring folder with the plastic pockets in. All safety sheets are in there with manuals for my machines etc . 

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Hi chaps,  chris from clean n dry,wales. Sorry and ladies,  what I remember  from the N.C.C.A, course you should carry C.O.S.H.H. sheets on every chemical you have on the van. If asked by the police,  you  must produce every single sheet .

this is where the n.c.c.a is talking bull poo there is no legal requerment to carry dater sheetswith what we use  i wish they would stop talking about stuff they know bugger all about ! i mean how many of them have sat there a.d.r. corse   none of them !!  i have  thats why i can carry anything as long and ive got my orange signs on ok it maybe good buisness to carry them but to tell people its a legal requiment is just plain wrong

and from the 01/01/07  the law was changed to make the supplyers resonable to make sure your had a a.d.r. if it was needed

[Joe H]

whether it is a legal requirement or not to carry safety data sheets does not matter in my mind.
There is a moral issue here.
We are using chemicals that if in the wrong hands could prove extremely harmful.
We all go into premises where there are young children and pets.
We cannot keep an eye on our gear every single minute, though we should ensure to keep it safe & secure.
but accidents do happen
Would it be really good press if a child drank a chemical and there was a delay in treatment because paramedics/hospital staff did'nt know what the cause was.
Yes we can say it was (sush and such) and then phone calls would be made to suppliers/manufacturers,
but how much better if we took a responsible attitude and had a data sheet at hand.

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

whether it is a legal requirement or not to carry safety data sheets does not matter in my mind.
There is a moral issue here.
We are using chemicals that if in the wrong hands could prove extremely harmful.
We all go into premises where there are young children and pets.
We cannot keep an eye on our gear every single minute, though we should ensure to keep it safe & secure.
but accidents do happen
Would it be really good press if a child drank a chemical and there was a delay in treatment because paramedics/hospital staff did'nt know what the cause was.
Yes we can say it was (sush and such) and then phone calls would be made to suppliers/manufacturers,
but how much better if we took a responsible attitude and had a data sheet at hand.

yes i agree with what you are saying but to tell people its law when it is not is just plain wrong its not just the ncca the iirrc are the same