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Cleaning and Containing Chemical Spills eLearning
Online chemical spill training: assessing a spill before touching it, containing it safely, and knowing which spills you should walk away from and evacuate.
Who it is for
Who this chemical spills course is for
The dangerous moment in a chemical spill is the first minute, when somebody decides to deal with it. This course is about making that decision properly rather than reaching for a mop.
- Manufacturing, process and laboratory staff
- Cleaning and facilities teams
- Warehouse and stores staff handling chemical deliveries
- Garage, workshop and vehicle staff
- Site and maintenance teams
- Anyone responsible for spill kits
Course content
What the chemical spills course covers
Eight short modules from assessing the spill to disposing of the waste, with a clear line between what you deal with and what you evacuate from.
Before anything else
Stop, look, and identify the substance before deciding anything.
Using the safety data sheet
Finding the spill and first aid sections, and what they tell you to do.
Assess or evacuate
The spills you deal with, and the ones where you leave and raise the alarm.
Protecting yourself
PPE for the specific substance, and why ordinary gloves are often not enough.
Containment
Stopping the spread, protecting drains, and preventing it reaching water.
Absorbing and cleaning up
Spill kit contents, correct use and dealing with the residue.
Waste and disposal
Treating contaminated absorbent as hazardous waste.
Reporting and review
Recording the spill, reporting it and preventing the next one
Outcomes
What you will be able to do afterwards
- Identify a spilled substance before acting
- Use a safety data sheet to decide what to do
- Judge whether to deal with a spill or evacuate
- Select PPE appropriate to the substance
- Contain a spill and protect drains
- Use a spill kit correctly
- Dispose of contaminated material as hazardous waste
Your legal duty
The law behind chemical spills training
Chemical spills sit under COSHH, which requires employers to prevent or adequately control exposure to substances hazardous to health, and to have procedures for accidents, incidents and emergencies involving those substances. That includes the equipment and training to deal with them.
There is an environmental dimension too. Allowing a spill to reach a drain or a watercourse can breach environmental law entirely separately from any health and safety consequence, which is why drain protection is part of the course.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 - including accident and emergency procedures
- Environmental Protection Act 1990 - including duty of care for hazardous waste
- Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 - where the substance is flammable
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 - sections 2 and 3
Practicalities
How the course works
For employers
Chemical Spills training for a team
Spill response fails when the only trained person is on another shift. Cover everyone who might be first on the scene.
- One invoice instead of a card payment per person
- Licences allocated as people join, so induction is covered
- Completion and expiry reporting for your records
- Renewal reminders before certificates lapse
- Bespoke versions built around your own procedures
General COSHH awareness covers the substances themselves. See the COSHH course →
Cleaning and Containing Chemical Spills eLearning: common questions
No, and this is the most important message of the course. Some spills require evacuation and specialist response. Deciding which is which comes before anything else.
The safety data sheet, which has specific sections on accidental release and first aid. The course covers how to read them quickly under pressure.
Because a spill reaching a drain or watercourse can breach environmental law entirely separately from the health and safety consequences, and it is far harder to remedy.
Usually not. It generally becomes hazardous waste and must be disposed of accordingly. The course covers the duty of care that applies.
Often not. Glove material has to match the substance, and the safety data sheet tells you what is needed. The course covers this because it's a common and dangerous assumption.
About 30 minutes, with no time limit. Start it, pause it, and come back whenever suits. The certificate is issued the moment you finish.
Yes. It runs in a browser on any modern phone, tablet or computer. Nothing to install.
Yes. Open a business account and we invoice you for the licences, which you allocate as people need them. Completion reporting included.
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