With the price of petrol increasing, you may be thinking about storing petrol at your home. If you plan to do so, the Environmental Protection Authority has guidelines establishing how much you are allowed to store.
This piece is written by one of our newest hazardous substances team members Imogen Bates.
- Because petrol is highly flammable, you should store it in a shed or garage, rather than inside your house
- 50L of petrol is the maximum that can be stored at home without requiring a storage location certification
- Your petrol must be in an approved petrol container and should be stored in a safe, cool, location that is not accessible to children
If you plan to store more than 50L of petrol on your property, this then becomes a hazardous substance location and certification is required. Obtaining this certificate involves a compliance certifier visiting your property to ensure that your petrol storage is in accordance with the relevant legislation. They will send you a report outlining their observations and conclusions, and if your property is compliant then a certificate will be issued. This certificate is valid for three years. It is also worth noting that storing large quantities of petrol on your property is likely to impact your insurance.
What this means for you is that you must:
- Label petrol containers with appropriate information, including a flammable liquids pictogram
- Have a petrol Safety Data Sheet available
- Know how much petrol you have on site (i.e. keep an inventory)
- Have a fire extinguisher readily available
- Establish a hazardous area around the storage location, in which ignition sources are not allowed (e.g. smoking, electrical equipment)
- Ensure that your petrol is stored sufficiently far away from protected places
(e.g. your house, the neighbouring houses)
If you have very large quantities of petrol, you have some further obligations:
- If you have more than 200L of petrol, you must have two fire extinguishers readily accessible
- If you have more than 250L of petrol, your storage area must have full HAZCHEM signage
- If you have more than 1,000L of petrol, you must have an Emergency Response Plan detailing spill and fire responses, and you must have secondary containment (e.g. bunding). The volume of secondary containment will depend on your total storage volume
In short, keeping your petrol storage below 50L keeps your obligations simple. If you intend to store larger volumes, then make sure you understand your legal obligations and have appropriate health and safety controls in place.
Contact us if you have any questions about your hazardous substances compliance.