Case study – Storing and rebottling hand sanitiser
Carl runs Carl’s Custom Cars, a car yard and workshop in Sydney, and wants to make sure that hand sanitiser is always available at the front desk for his customers and throughout his business for his team.
Carl has been buying 500mL bottles of hand sanitiser until now, but he realises that he could save money by buying hand sanitiser in 5 litre containers and using it to fill smaller bottles, and then refilling the smaller bottles whenever they are empty.
The 5 litre containers of hand sanitiser are much bigger than the bottles of hand sanitiser that might be used at home. Fortunately, Carl is already familiar with many of the requirements for using and storing workplace hazardous chemicals because of the other chemicals he stores at his workshop. He knows he needs to record the hand sanitiser, and keep a copy of its safety data sheet, in his hazardous chemical register.
The 5 litre containers came labelled according to the requirements for workplace hazardous chemicals. Because Carl’s going to be filling his own bottles with a hazardous chemical, he checks the requirements for labelling those bottles by referring to the model Code of Practice: Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals. He sees that there are labelling requirements for decanting workplace chemicals, and he must apply these to his small bottles. He prints off his own labels, which include
- A name for the product (he just uses “Hand Sanitiser”), and
- The flame pictogram.
He also checks the information on the Safe Work Australia website and learns that he can’t put the hand sanitiser into a food or a drink container, or one that could be mistaken for a food and drink container, such as glass bottles that would have been used for beer or cider.
Carl also wants to make sure that the chemicals he’s storing aren’t a fire risk. The 5 litre containers he’s taken to buying could be, especially if he’s storing several of them. Carl decides to only buy two 5 litre containers at a time, so that he’s not stockpiling more chemicals than he needs. He keeps the containers in a flammable liquids cabinet that he already uses to store other flammable liquids at his workshop. If he didn’t have a flammable liquids cabinet, he would have chosen a spot in his storeroom that is away from ignition sources, other chemicals and anything that could easily catch fire.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented situation for everyone. As a small business it is understandable you may have concerns about how to continue to meet your WHS duties at this time. There are a number of practical steps you can take to manage the risk of exposure to COVID-19 at your workplace and meet your legal obligations.
Here are some ideas to help you get started thinking about what you can reasonably do to keep people safe at your workplace.
For more WHS information and resources for small business, go to the COVID-19 Small business hub.
Case study – Storing and rebottling hand sanitiser
Carl runs Carl’s Custom Cars, a car yard and workshop in Sydney, and wants to make sure that hand sanitiser is always available at the front desk for his customers and throughout his business for his team.
Carl has been buying 500mL bottles of hand sanitiser until now, but he realises that he could save money by buying hand sanitiser in 5 litre containers and using it to fill smaller bottles, and then refilling the smaller bottles whenever they are empty.
The 5 litre containers of hand sanitiser are much bigger than the bottles of hand sanitiser that might be used at home. Fortunately, Carl is already familiar with many of the requirements for using and storing workplace hazardous chemicals because of the other chemicals he stores at his workshop. He knows he needs to record the hand sanitiser, and keep a copy of its safety data sheet, in his hazardous chemical register.
The 5 litre containers came labelled according to the requirements for workplace hazardous chemicals. Because Carl’s going to be filling his own bottles with a hazardous chemical, he checks the requirements for labelling those bottles by referring to the model Code of Practice: Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals. He sees that there are labelling requirements for decanting workplace chemicals, and he must apply these to his small bottles. He prints off his own labels, which include
- A name for the product (he just uses “Hand Sanitiser”), and
- The flame pictogram.
He also checks the information on the Safe Work Australia website and learns that he can’t put the hand sanitiser into a food or a drink container, or one that could be mistaken for a food and drink container, such as glass bottles that would have been used for beer or cider.
Carl also wants to make sure that the chemicals he’s storing aren’t a fire risk. The 5 litre containers he’s taken to buying could be, especially if he’s storing several of them. Carl decides to only buy two 5 litre containers at a time, so that he’s not stockpiling more chemicals than he needs. He keeps the containers in a flammable liquids cabinet that he already uses to store other flammable liquids at his workshop. If he didn’t have a flammable liquids cabinet, he would have chosen a spot in his storeroom that is away from ignition sources, other chemicals and anything that could easily catch fire.
Case study – Storing and rebottling hand sanitiser
Carl runs Carl’s Custom Cars, a car yard and workshop in Sydney, and wants to make sure that hand sanitiser is always available at the front desk for his customers and throughout his business for his team.
Carl has been buying 500mL bottles of hand sanitiser until now, but he realises that he could save money by buying hand sanitiser in 5 litre containers and using it to fill smaller bottles, and then refilling the smaller bottles whenever they are empty.
The 5 litre containers of hand sanitiser are much bigger than the bottles of hand sanitiser that might be used at home. Fortunately, Carl is already familiar with many of the requirements for using and storing workplace hazardous chemicals because of the other chemicals he stores at his workshop. He knows he needs to record the hand sanitiser, and keep a copy of its safety data sheet, in his hazardous chemical register.
The 5 litre containers came labelled according to the requirements for workplace hazardous chemicals. Because Carl’s going to be filling his own bottles with a hazardous chemical, he checks the requirements for labelling those bottles by referring to the model Code of Practice: Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals. He sees that there are labelling requirements for decanting workplace chemicals, and he must apply these to his small bottles. He prints off his own labels, which include
- A name for the product (he just uses “Hand Sanitiser”), and
- The flame pictogram.
He also checks the information on the Safe Work Australia website and learns that he can’t put the hand sanitiser into a food or a drink container, or one that could be mistaken for a food and drink container, such as glass bottles that would have been used for beer or cider.
Carl also wants to make sure that the chemicals he’s storing aren’t a fire risk. The 5 litre containers he’s taken to buying could be, especially if he’s storing several of them. Carl decides to only buy two 5 litre containers at a time, so that he’s not stockpiling more chemicals than he needs. He keeps the containers in a flammable liquids cabinet that he already uses to store other flammable liquids at his workshop. If he didn’t have a flammable liquids cabinet, he would have chosen a spot in his storeroom that is away from ignition sources, other chemicals and anything that could easily catch fire.