Oil and chemical storage
You must store and handle oil and chemicals safely to avoid pollution incidents.
You should try to minimise your use of hazardous substances. Regularly review the hazardous substances you use, and where possible use less harmful alternatives.
What you must do
Storing oil
In England and Scotland, if you store any kind of oil on your premises you may need to comply with the oil storage regulations.
In Northern Ireland and Wales you should consider following the oil storage regulations, as they are designed to prevent contamination of surface waters and groundwater. This would be an offence under other legislation.
For more information see our oil storage guidance.
Oil storage
Supplying chemicals
If you supply any potentially hazardous material or chemicals, you may need to provide a safety data sheet (SDS). The SDS gives information on how you should handle, store and dispose of chemicals and what to do in the case of an accident.
If you receive a material without an SDS, contact your supplier to find out whether or not they have to provide one.
Preventing major accidents
If you store or use dangerous substances, such as oil or certain chemicals, check whether the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations affect you.
Control of major accident hazards (COMAH)
Good practice
Storing chemicals
Store all chemicals in an area where you can contain spills. Keep chemical containers within an impermeable secondary containment area that will hold liquids if the main containers leak or break.
Secondary containment areas include bunds, bunded pallets or spill pallets, sump pallets, bunded storage units and storage cabinets with integral sumps.
If you have one oil storage container in a bund, the bund must be able to hold 110% of its volume.
If you have more than one container, your bund must be able to contain at least 110% of the volume of the largest container or 25% of the total volume you are likely to store, whichever is greater.
Maintaining storage areas
Cover storage areas wherever possible to avoid rainwater collecting.
Inspect bunds regularly and remove any rainwater. If the water is contaminated you may need to dispose of it as hazardous/special waste.
Hazardous/special waste
Locate storage tanks as far as possible from drains and watercourses.
Install leak detection devices in oil and chemical storage tanks and bunds.
Lock storage tanks when not in use, to prevent unauthorised access and reduce the risk of vandalism. You are responsible for any pollution incident from your site, even if it is caused by vandals.
Clearly label all tanks with their contents and storage capacity, to prevent overfilling or incorrect filling of storage containers.
Regularly maintain all plant, pipework and other infrastructure.
Regularly test any underground pipework for leaks.
Delivery of materials
Supervise all refuelling operations and only refuel in a contained area away from watercourses or surface water drains.
Use drip trays for all equipment and when refilling containers.
Spills and pollution incidents
Have a pollution incident response procedure for dealing with spills. Make sure that all staff are familiar with the procedure and how to implement it.
PPG 21 Pollution incident response planning (Adobe PDF - 112KB)
Keep a spill kit close to oil and chemical storage areas. Make sure that your staff know where it is and how to use it.
Ensure that you have absorbent materials and other containment equipment suitable for the type and quantity of fuel, oil and chemicals you store and use on site.
Report pollution incidents as soon as they happen to the emergency hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Further information
