Cleaning a heavily contaminated neat oil sump

Procedure

• Prepare a permit to work for any cleaning in potentially confined spaces.
• Provide equipment to remove and replace sump oils with minimum spillage.
• Keep absorbent material to hand in case of spillages.
• Never put clean oil in a dirty sump.
• Follow your supplier’s guidelines as well as this sheet.
• Tell workers to avoid getting oil or cleaning agents on their skin.
• Treat all wastes as 'hazardous waste' for recycling or disposal.
• Check your supplier’s recommendation for dosage levels and circulation times. Mark these in the gaps provided:

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• Follow the steps in the flow chart.

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• Provide good facilities for washing and eating/drinking refreshments away from the work activity.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

• Use 0.4mm nitrile gloves to EN 374 standard to provide protection against skin contact with fluids up to 8 hours; these gloves are normally thin enough to provide finger dexterity. Use thicker gloves to EN 374 and EN 388 standards when protection is also required against abrasions and sharp edges.
• Ensure workers discard gloves that are damaged, and at the end of a cleaning session.
• Provide eye protection to EN 166 standard where there is a risk of splashing.
• Workers also need overalls.
• Ensure contaminated overalls are laundered before re-use.
• Provide storage for PPE to prevent damage or contamination when not in use.
• "Barrier creams" do not create a barrier but skin creams can help in washing contamination from the skin. Use a moisturising cream each time you wash your hands and use after-work creams to help replace skin oils.