(108c) Development of Hazardous Material Compatibility Storage Guideline and Tool

The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) has developed a process for managing Chemical Reactivity Hazards, which includes the safe storage of reactive materials. A Hazardous Material Compatibility Storage guideline was developed for sites storing reactive materials, as well as an abbreviated Hazardous Material Compatibility Storage Tool. This Tool assists personnel in developing and documenting appropriate storage strategies. The Tool identifies potential hazardous combinations of materials for material handlers and suggests storage strategies. This Tool is formatted as a template and is adaptable for storage in warehouses, laboratories, as well as production buildings where drum quantities of materials are stored. Development of the Tool included trials at various facilities storing reactive materials. These trials included; ? analyzing current storage strategies at these locations; ? determining suggested strategies based on a hazardous materials compatibility storage matrix; ? referencing a small quantity exemption table; and ? finalizing appropriate strategies based on the suggested strategies and the overall risk (i.e., literature searches, laboratory data, engineering and administrative controls). When MSDS information was insufficient, literature searches and laboratory testing were undertaken. Further trials and implementation are planned for additional facilities that store hazardous materials. As the Tool is "validated" in practice, warehousing and storage areas will be able to adapt this process to an electronic format capable of providing: a) suggested storage strategies; b) alerts when storage areas are filled; and c) a feedback mechanism should there be additional questions on storage.