AusSpill standard for Spill Response Kits
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is this an Australian Standard?
a. No, this is a Standard, developed and adopted by the Ausspill Association and its members only. It is not legally binding. It is our intention to develop an Australian Standard in the future, based on this standard.
2. Why use the Lime Green bins – what’s wrong with yellow or blue or red?
a. The Lime Green colour was selected because it is a unique colour for the bin base, it is highly visible and recognisable and is a similar colour to other emergency signage and equipment.
b. There is an Australian Standard for wheelie bins (that most spill kits use as their housing): AS4123.7-2008 Mobile Waste Containers, Part 7: Colours, markings, and designation requirements. This Australian Standard designates that some wheelie bins colours are specified for certain types of waste. For example, a yellow wheelie bin is designated for clinical waste, blue is designated for paper and red is designated for radioactive waste. This is a key reason that we are developing a standard and using the lime green colour, to differentiate spill kits from waste bins.
3. Why were the lid colours selected?
a. The lid colours were selected to match the standard industry colours of the absorbent they refer to, specifically:
i. White – Oil & Fuel only
ii. Grey – General Purpose
iii. Yellow – Hazardous (or aggressive) chemicals
b. These colours also match the absorbent colour types used by the British Standard BS 7959-3:2007 Materials used for the control of liquid spillages – Part3 Colour coding of sorbent materials
4. What if I want a mixture of absorbent types in my kit?
a. The mixture of absorbents and the kit itself should reflect the liquid spills that it will be used to absorb, which will fall into one of the three standard categories
5. Do I have to use the Lime Green coloured spill kits now?
a. It is not compulsory to use the Lime Green coloured spill kits, however the Ausspill Association members have agreed to adopt this colour as the standard spill kit colouring. Each member has agreed to phase this in before the end of 2017.
6. What do I do with my existing spill kits, do I need to change them?
a. There is no need to change your existing spill kit colours unless you require consistency across the site. Existing spill kit bins can be reused for other purposes, such as to store the spent absorbents. Alternatively, they may be able to be recycled. Please contact your current supplier for more details.
7. What about spill kits that aren’t in wheelie bins, will those colours be changing too?
a. As part of the Ausspill Association standard for Spill Response Kits, spill kits that aren’t housed in wheelie bins will use a similar colour coding system.
Date: April 2019