Milne Safety supplies the right spill kit Norwich businesses need for the substances on their site, and helps them choose kit that matches their risks. We are based in Wymondham, about ten miles away, and we have been advising Norfolk employers on health and safety since 1978.

Spill Kit Norwich: what’s involved and your options

A spill kit only works if it suits what could actually leak. Absorbents made for oil will not deal properly with an aggressive chemical, and a small cabinet kit will not cope with a drum failure in a loading bay. Before recommending anything, we look at:

• The substances you store and use, and their safety data sheets
• Where they are kept, decanted, moved or delivered
• The largest single container that could fail, which sets the absorbent capacity you need
• Drains, watercourses and other routes a spill could take off site
• Who will use the kit, and whether they know how

Broadly, kits fall into three groups. General purpose or maintenance kits deal with oils, coolants and water-based fluids. Oil-only kits repel water, so they suit outdoor areas and forecourts. Chemical kits are made for acids, alkalis and other hazardous liquids. Many sites need a mix of the three, placed where spills are most likely to happen.

Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, employers must assess and control the risks from hazardous substances, and that includes planning for accidents and emergencies. The HSE’s COSHH guidance explains the duty. Having the right spill kit to hand is one practical part of meeting it. You can see the full range on our workplace spill kits page.

Why choose a local Norwich specialist

Buying a kit online is easy. Knowing whether it is the right kit is harder. As a health and safety consultancy, we can link your spill kit to your COSHH assessment, your environmental risks and your emergency plan, so the kit is not a box ticked on its own. If your COSHH assessments are missing or out of date, our consultants can help with those too.

Being based in Wymondham means Norwich businesses deal with a Norfolk team they can call, not a national call centre. Our wider work covers health surveillance, accredited training at our Wymondham centre or on your site, and HR support, so one adviser can see the whole picture.

For cleaning chemicals and janitorial products themselves, our sister business Milne Chemicals handles product enquiries.

Recent work

We have not yet published Norwich spill kit case studies on our site, so we will not list examples here. If you would like to know how we would approach a site like yours, call us and we will talk it through.

Areas around Norwich we cover

As well as Norwich, we work with businesses in Wymondham, Attleborough, Thetford, Dereham, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. That includes industrial estates, warehouses, workshops, food and drink sites and forecourts, all places where a spill can quickly become a slip hazard, an exposure risk or a pollution incident.

Frequently asked questions

Do we legally have to have a spill kit?

No law names spill kits directly. COSHH does require you to control the risks from hazardous substances and to plan for accidents. Where your assessment shows liquids could escape, a suitable spill kit is usually the sensible way to meet that duty.

How do we know which type of kit we need?

Start with your safety data sheets and your COSHH assessment. They tell you what could spill and how hazardous it is. We can review them with you and recommend the type, size and position of each kit.

Can you help with our COSHH assessments as well?

Yes. COSHH assessments are part of our health and safety consultancy, and we can put them together alongside your spill planning.

What should we do after a kit has been used?

Restock it straight away and dispose of used absorbents according to the hazards of the substance they picked up. It is also worth asking how the spill happened, so you can stop it happening again.

Talk to us about spill kits in Norwich

If you are not sure your current kits match the risks on your site, call Milne Safety on 01953 607093 or contact us for a spill kit quote. We will help you work out what you need and where it should go. We can also arrange related training at our Wymondham centre or on your premises.