What is the most brutal thought one can have in a work environment? That you have bought the necessary equipment and your work is done. But there are things that if one ignores can turn fatal to everything around. Take this for example – you’ve bought a metal container for flammable liquid and, says Spill Station, flammable cabinet too. But, all might fall futile if one fails to take care of grounding them all. Grounding your flammable cabinet and container is as important as asking people to not smoke around fuel stations, says Spill Station Australia. Thus, here is how to make sure that your fuel container and cabinet are grounded and how to do it if they are not.
How do you ground the Flammable Cabinets and Containers?
The good thing about science is that it works; it always works. If you light a matchstick around LPG, it surely will catch fire. If you throw a man from the 50th floor to the ground, he surely will die unless he meets God midway and makes him an offer he couldn’t refuse). The story rolls the same around, says Spill station, Flammable cabinet and flammable liquid. Flammable liquid is something that can catch fire at around room temperature upon getting some fire source like a cigarette or spark. This spark is the reason we need to ground the containers and cabinets.
Flammable liquids should never be stored in plastic or glass containers. They’ll gather the static electric charge and then not be able to pass them to the ground. The reason? Because of their non-conductive nature. If you store the flammable liquid in a plastic container, the static charge in it can cause a spark and this can ignite the fuel. For this same reason, metal containers get used to store flammable liquid as they can pass the static charge directly into the ground. The containers become charge-free like this. Chances of sparks die off. So how do you do it the right way?
Grounding the flammable liquid metal containers!
If you put the metal container straight to the ground, it itself is grounded. You need not do anything. But if there are containers above each other or around, you may bind them all in a metal wire and then ground that wire. The grounding must be done with perfection otherwise containers might fail to pass the charge, says Spill Station Australia. There are containers available that already come bonded with each other. Then all you need to do is to bond them to the grounding rod or pipe you have already. Scratch the paint off from the ground rod, if there is any. Make sure that all the containers are closed tightly and away while you scratch the rod.
Grounding the spill storage flammable cabinet!
Most of the time the flammable containers need to be stored inside a flammable cabinet, says Spill Station Australia. This is to ensure that no big tragedy happens. These flammable cabinets are a requirement as per OHS Australia. Almost all the quality flammable cabinets come with proper grounding mechanics that you need to connect alone. Some come with a screw and some with a clip. You need to unscrew the grounding area, attach the wire, and then screw again. Though know that soldering is the best method as it diminishes the chances of spark. Sold/bond the wire always.
When buying the flammable cabinets, check that they do comply with the OHS and EPA Australia and pass all the quality tests. This will set you free of any legal penalty if there happens a tragedy. These quality products sometimes might feel to be a bit heavy on the pocket, but in the long term they always save money and lives.
