How to Store Acid Safely & Securely in a COSHH Cabinet

Acid is a common substance that is used in many laboratories, school classrooms and other spaces such as processing and manufacturing plants. As acid has many potentially dangerous properties, which can cause burns on the skin, eye damage, lung damage and even potentially a fatal injury, storing acid requires special chemical storage solutions to be completely safe.

Acid is subject to regulations under legislation known as the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (or ‘COSHH’ for short), which are enforced by the government’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE). The best way to store acid is to use one of our robust hazardous storage cabinets, which are specially designed to conform with COSHH, HSG51 and DSEAR.

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Specialist COSHH Cabinets for Storing Acid

We have special COSHH storage cabinets that are fully compliant with HSG51 and DSEAR regulations and will be ideal for storing concentrated sulfuric acid, acetic acid, nitric acid, citric acid, hydrochloric acid and others. Some highlights of these products include the following:

COSHH cabinets are robust, corrosion-resistant and have COSHH warning labels supplied with them, which means you can customise the signage to your requirements and make sure people have been warned as to the contents of the glass, metal or plastic tanks and containers inside.

However, these are COSHH cabinets so they are not acid-specific and can be used for a range of other substances too. Other storage solutions these cabinets can provide include the following:

• Agricultural chemicals: Fertilisers, pesticides and other dangerous chemicals are essential for agriculture. COSHH cabinets are excellent options for the safe storage of these types of flammable, toxic and sometimes explosive farming products.
• Cleaning substances: Whether it is a strong detergent, powerful disinfectant or a protective lacquer, cleaning chemicals are often very hazardous to health. Commercial laundry or hotels can make use of COSHH cabinets when strong chemicals are in use.
• Garages and automotive: Flammable oils, greases, lubricants and much more are great for fixing or maintaining vehicles, but they are highly volatile and potentially a danger to health. A COSHH cabinet will help mitigate any negative effects on health.
• Metal work: Anywhere metals are shaped, fashioned or welded together will have a lot of gas, acids, emulsions, oils and cutting fluids in constant use. Of course, many of these are hazardous to health and so they will require an acceptable storage solution.

The best way to store acid is by using a COSHH cabinet, but the cabinets can be used for any number of harmful or flammable substances, or a mix of different acids, such as for a school classroom, so there are no dedicated acid cupboards or cupboard for a specific type of acid.

Tips On How to Store Acid Safely

So you have the COSHH cabinet, all done you say? Not so! There are a few things you can do to make sure you are storing acid in your COSHH cabinet in the safest possible way:

• Ensure you store all containers with lids on and make sure they are tightly sealed
• Use a data sheet, available from the acid manufacturers, to see if there are any unique storage requirements or warnings for the specific type of acid you are storing
• Do not compromise on ventilation, which is a key issue for acids as the fumes themselves can be corrosive – it is not just an issue after an accidental spill!

Whether you are wondering how to store sulphuric acid, acetic acid, nitric acid, citric acid or any other kinds of acid in metal, glass or plastic containers, the above tips will help to improve safety.

Another consideration is where to store acid cabinets. Generally, a cool, dry room with sufficient ventilation is fine. Ensure there is no direct sunlight and the cabinet is away from heat sources.

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