A chemical company has been fined $40,000 following multiple failure to store dangerous goods correctly.
Chemical Solutions (Vic) Pty Ltd provides chemical storage, chemical manufacturing, and chemical processing and decanting services from their premises in Coolaroo. In August 2024 the facility was visited by a WorkSafe inspector, and a breach of the Dangerous Goods Act 1985 storage requirements was identified. The inspector issued an improvement notice directing Chemical Solutions to remedy the contravention within two weeks by:
· ensuring all dangerous goods products placed on pallets within the pallet racking were secured
· conducting a risk assessment for the use of the pallet racking within the workplace used to store dangerous goods
· developing a Safe Work Procedure (SWP) for the use of the pallet racking to store dangerous goods which included ensuring that dangerous goods were safely secured to pallets prior to being stored
· developing a schedule for informal and formal racking inspections and process for defect reporting and tag out of plant
Two weeks later the WorkSafe inspector re-visited the site and found that the improvement notice had not been complied with within the stated time – it ultimately took Chemical Solutions five months to comply with this improvement notice.
Eleven days later, WorkSafe again inspected Chemical Solutions’ premises and identified incompatible substances being stored directly beside each other. Four 205 litre drums containing Methyl Methacrylate Monomer, Stabilized (MMMS) (a Class 3 dangerous good) were stored directly beside intermediate bulk containers marked as Caustic Soda 46% Solution (CSS) (a Class 8 dangerous good). WorkSafe identified the MMMS and CSS are incompatible substances and that Chemical Solutions had failed to ensure that the risk of chemical and physical reactions associated with the storage of those incompatible dangerous goods had been eliminated or reduced as far as was reasonably practicable.
A second improvement notice was issued to Chemical Solutions requiring them to segregate the incompatible substances by:
- storing the MMMS and CSS in separate physical locations or compounds, or by
- physically separating the MMMS and CSS by a minimum separation distance of three metres from each other during storage, or by
- storing the MMMS and CSS in a secondary contamination or segregation device to physically separate the dangerous goods.
The $40,000 fine is comprised of $25,000 for the failure to comply with the first improvement notice, and $15,000 for the failure to segregate incompatible substances.
Employers can ensure compliance with chemical storage requirements by referring to the Code of Practice: The storage and handling of dangerous goods and WorkSafe’s Dangerous Goods pages.
In February 2025 the Sentencing Advisory Council released a report to the Victorian Government making 12 recommendations for reform regarding the sentencing of OHS offences in Victoria. This included significantly increasing maximum penalties for breaching OHS duties in line with community expectations. The Victorian Government is yet to provide a response to this report.
Read more: $40,000 in fines for company that failed to comply with improvement notice | WorkSafe Victoria