In manufacturing plants, warehouses and distribution centers, spills occur when liquids such as solvents, chemical additives, lubricants and cleansers are transferred from large drums into smaller containers, poured into operating machinery or moved on and off trucks and around the facility. These spills can contribute to slips and falls, one of the leading causes of industrial worker accidents.
Spills of industrial-strength chemicals, strong acids and bases must be quickly cleaned up and neutralized to prevent potential injury to workers and disruption to operations. Dustless cleaning absorbents are emerging as alternatives to traditional industrial absorbents, which can contain harmful chemicals and are less efficient in handling spillage.
In 2016, 19 percent of manufacturing industry occupational injuries-of the over 892,000 total injury cases that resulted in days away from work-were due to slips, trips and falls in the workplace, the United States Occupational Health and Safety Administration found. Slips and falls can be costly to the employer and could carry legal liability. Employer costs stemming from injuries in the workplace include loss of operational productivity, increased industrial insurance premiums and costs associated with training a replacement worker, according to OSHA.
Cleaning up spills usually involves using a mop and bucket or industrial absorbents, but these methods present their own set of challenges. Commonly used cleaning absorbents such as clay or diatomaceous earth create dust in their natural form and can be hazardous when inhaled. While water can be added to reduce the dust from these absorbents, once the water evaporates (such as when a package is left open), they return to their original state.
Many of these absorbents contain crystalline silica, which is listed by the World Health Organization as a Group 1 carcinogen, the same category as asbestos. If inhaled, crystalline silica can also cause silicosis, an incurable lung disease that leads to permanent disability or death, as well as kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As such, OSHA recommends replacing crystalline silica materials with safer substitutes whenever possible.
To protect plant and warehouse workers, production managers need to use a spill cleanup product that does not leave behind water or unsafe residue. Floors left wet from mopping remain a slip hazard until completely dry. Absorbents like clay and diatomaceous earth leave a hard-to-remove residue that requires a secondary cleaning process, and can be slick when wet. And with the amount of liquid substances used and stored in plants and warehouses, workers may not always be fully aware if the spill is hazardous, which can be dangerous during cleanup.
Dustless Pick-up
Industrial managers are turning to alternate, dustless cleaning absorbents that can simplify spill cleanup and remove substances quickly and safely without slippery residue, while also enabling the identification and neutralization of unknown acids and bases.
One example is a line of dustless cleaning and neutralizing absorbents from Ontario, California-based Eco-Absorbent Technologies. Eco-Absorb is a cleaning absorbent made from a non-toxic compound and is registered with NSF International as an anti-slip agent for spot application on floors of food processing facilities. The product binds to the spilled material, making it easy to sweep up the substance along with the absorbent into a dustpan to dispose of in a proper solid waste receptacle. It can be used without risk of inhalation and will remain dust-free even when exposed to open air.
Bob Lawson, president of Fluid Tech Hydraulic Services in Pomona, California, commented that they chose the product to eliminate airborne dust that could pose a health risk to workers or contaminate equipment parts. We wanted a cleaner environment for our employees as well as for manufacturing and repair, he added.
The hydraulic services provider previously used clay for cleanup of hydraulic fluids. Clay is a relatively poor absorbent material, since it is mostly coated by the spill and absorbs it slowly. The dustless absorbent, in contrast, picks up spills in a quarter of the time compared to clay, which expedites cleanup.
The Eco-Absorb does not leave wet spots to dry, like mopping, or any residues, like clay, Lawson added. It absorbs spills very quickly and leaves the floor visibly clean.
Neutralizing Dangerous Spills
Dangerous spills can involve common acids such as sulfuric acid (used to manufacture batteries, chemicals and fertilizers, as well as to refine oil and reduce corrosion) and bases such as sodium hydroxide (used in the production of oil, paper and soap). Some absorbents can actually indicate if a substance is hazardous by changing color, preventing accidental exposure and injury.
Eco-Absorbent Technologies neutralizer absorbents, for instance, can neutralize a chemical hazard and indicate the substances pH level. One product turns red for dangerous acids at pH 1 and the other one blue for dangerous bases at pH 13. When the harmful substance is neutralized, both products change back to their original beige color, indicating that the spill is safe for disposal.
Another issue with clay and diatomaceous earth absorbents is that they are heavy. As a result, workers could injure themselves handling multiple bags of these materials to clean up a spill. The weight and quantity of absorbent is also an issue after the spill cleanup, since disposal fees are usually based on weight.
These materials have relatively low absorption-to-weight ratios, and a lot of product must be used to clean up spills of any size. Because they take up a lot of space, storage can also be an issue in manufacturing plants and distribution centers, where every square inch of space must be efficiently used.
To address these concerns, dustless absorbents can bring higher absorption ability at a lower weight. The California companys cleaning absorbent weighs a third less than traditional clay products but absorbs up to 15 times more spills-meaning less product is needed to do the job. Clay absorbent bags normally weigh up to 50 pounds. By comparison, a 15-pound bag of dustless absorbent could soak up about five times the amount of spillage.
The Eco-Absorb takes up much less space than clay and weighs less, yet absorbs spills much better, so there is a good deal less material to dispose of, said Lawson. That saves us a considerable amount in disposal costs. Using the product to clean up a spill typically costs less than 25 percent of the total cost of clay alternatives.
To speed cleanup in a variety of industrial settings, chemical spill centers that include the dustless absorbent, a dustpan and hand brush, disposal bags and a safety cone can also be wall-mounted in areas prone to spills.
Michael Shannon, Sr., is president of Shannon Diversified Inc. and the creator of Eco- Absorb. Shannon has over 30 years of experience working in the commercial cleaning industry. For more information, visit www.eco-absorb.com or contact Eco-Absorbent Technologies, Inc. at 866-820-8050 or at info@
eco-absorb.com.