What is your No. 1 chemical handling rule?

Proper chemical handling is critical in our line of work. Mistakes can lead to injuries and damage to your property or a customer’s property. One of the big things we often see is placing the empty chlorine and acid jugs upside down in their cases, some even going so far as to mix chlorine and acid jugs upside down in the same case. When liquid chlorine and liquid muriatic acid are combined, it creates an exothermic reaction that produces hydrochloric gas and chlorine gas, which can be explosive. These gases can cause eye irritation, lung irritation and burns and can easily send you to the hospital or even be fatal. We may sometimes overlook the dangers of these chemicals since we use them daily, but safety should always be on our minds.

I’m also a big advocate of the proper storage and transportation of chemicals. One of my pet peeves is when you see a mess of stacked chemicals in a truck bed that is piled as high as the cab with no safety precautions or organization. I keep my truck bed organized and safe by adding a wood frame that I custom-built to hold everything in place. I personally never stack cases of chemicals on top of each other, and I keep everything below the bed rails.

Michael Krause
Owner
First Response Pool Service
Simi Valley, California

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