How to Handle a Hazardous Chemical

“The dose makes the poison.”

Have you ever heard of this saying before? Even if you haven’t, its meaning is quite simple.

Ingesting or absorbing too much of any product can be toxic. But of course, how much harm it will cause the body depends on the manner of exposure and for how long.

Now, if you’re concerned about dangerous substances in your home or at your workplace, you can feel more at ease by learning about some safety precautions. Let’s talk about the basics of safely handling a hazardous chemical.

Chemical Safety at Home  

From antifreeze to toilet cleaners to used motor oil, brake fluid, and so on, there are a lot of household products that can be harmful when used incorrectly. To safely handle these chemicals, it’s important to read and understand all warning labels.

If you don’t, you’ll miss out on important information such as proper storage instructions, directions for usage, and the manufacturer’s contact information. Another safety tip to remember is to never remove a hazardous substance from its original container. If you transfer a yellow-colored cleaning product in an empty soda bottle, for example, someone, especially a young child, might drink it.

You should also be careful when disposing of hazardous chemicals. As a rule, any chemical product that’s leaking, looking different from when you first used it or expired should be thrown away asap. If you don’t know the right way to dispose of a chemical substance, your local waste management authority can help you.

Handling a Hazardous Chemical in the Workplace

For the most part, working safely with chemicals in the workplace isn’t that much different from how you should handle household chemical products. Even though you might need to use them in larger quantities, the most important rule to keep in mind is to be cautious.

To do that, you have to follow your company’s chemical safety program. This should include complete documentation of all chemicals used in the facility. It would also cover MSDS or material safety data sheets for each chemical used or stored, ventilation guidelines, safety signage, and so on.

Now, if your organization plans to adopt an MI or mechanical integrity program, you can discover more here. This can help your company reduce the potential for loss since its main focus is the right containment of hazardous chemicals.

Stay Safe: Handle Hazardous Chemicals With Care

Working safely with a hazardous chemical can be nerve-wracking, especially if you don’t have lots of experience doing it.

Aside from not forgetting the tips mentioned here, you can do further research on chemical safety. The more you learn about how to handle hazardous chemicals, the more safety precautions you can practice.

For more safety tips and advice, feel free to check out our other posts. We also have tons of articles on other topics such as tech, fashion, and business, so don’t hesitate to stick around. You might find some content you’d like to bookmark or send to family and friends.