Below, we’ll explain how to clean up battery acid while minimizing hazards for employees. However, remember that your operation’s unique characteristics (such as its floor plan or the location of other hazardous materials onsite) may affect your spill response strategy. The safest course of action is to perform a full hazard assessment when planning for disasters.

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Appropriate training is also required by law. To ensure compliance with OSHA (and to limit hazards in the battery room), make sure that your workers understand how to properly don, adjust, and remove their PPE. Your training program should be documented and should include guidance for using eyewash stations and emergency showers.

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Battery Spill Kits include loose sorbents, socks, chemical pads, pillows, PPE, and other necessary supplies for responding to battery acid spills.

Available in a range of sizes from 6.5-gallon pails to 55-gallon drums, Solus Group’s Battery Spill Kits simplify neutralization and cleanup. Place Battery Spill Kits wherever employees work with batteries for quicker access to the essentials — and faster spill response times.

With that said, following these five steps should help you prepare your workforce to respond efficiently to lead-acid battery spills.

Instead of purchasing PPE items individually, consider using ready-to-wear PPE kits to improve spill response times. Solus Group's PPE Standard Kit includes a disposable face shield, safety glasses, nitrile gloves, a disposable apron, and a pair of latex overboots.

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However, in warehouses and storage facilities, dedicated sorbents are a much better option. Here’s why: Forklift batteries may contain as much as 432 pounds of sulfuric acid. If a major spill occurs, your spill response team will need to contain the hazard as quickly as possible; they may not have time to dilute an appropriate amount of baking soda.

Many dedicated sorbents (such as AcidSorb) change color to indicate neutralization. However, if you’re using baking soda or soda ash, you’ll need to test the materials to ensure that the pH is between 6 and 8 before continuing with cleanup.

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All battery spills are serious chemical hazards. Contact with battery acid can cause chemical burns immediately, but symptoms may take several minutes or hours to appear. As such, employees must wear PPE when performing any neutralization or cleanup activities.

In modern industry, batteries are a relatively safe technology. OSHA reports only 52 serious injury incidents involving direct handling of batteries in lift trucks and other electric vehicles since 2015. Most of those incidents occurred when moving or watering batteries, and battery acid exposure only caused 3 of the listed incidents.

Use appropriate supplies to keep the spill from spreading outside of the containment area. Sorbent socks are effective for creating a perimeter, while pads and pillows can absorb large liquid spills.

If your operation has a large fleet of electric vehicles, occasional battery acid spills are practically unavoidable. However, preventative maintenance can prevent larger spills from occurring.

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According to OSHA, battery acid can be safely neutralized with a dilution of baking soda or soda ash (one pound per gallon of water). For smaller spills, baking soda is sufficient.

However, those statistics don’t include minor injuries or OSHA compliance violations — and major battery acid spills can destroy inventory, damage equipment, or lead to significant production bottlenecks.

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To contain the spill as quickly as possible — and minimize the dangers for employees, inventory, and equipment — keep your spill response supplies in a highly visible location. Consider building a mobile spill cart with sorbents, socks, pillows, PPE, and other essentials.

While your goal is to neutralize hazards as soon as possible, you’ll also need to establish a safe working environment for the spill response team. Train workers to take the following steps:

The Solus Group customer service and technical support teams are available to answer any questions. Contact us by calling 314-696-0200 or click here

Available in sizes ranging from ½ gallon to 55 gallons, AcidSorb improves spill response efficiency and aids in compliance with OSHA regulations.

AcidSorb is a granular sorbent that changes color to indicate neutralization. By solidifying acids on contact, AcidSorb simplifies cleanup, and its buffered compound reduces toxic vapor emissions by reducing the heat generated during the neutralization process.

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Additionally, baking soda can neutralize acid, but it can’t stop the spill from spreading. If the spill occurs in a traffic lane or near inventory, fast containment is absolutely essential. Industrial facilities should keep dedicated sorbents on-hand to address battery spills quickly.

High-quality equipment in the battery room can reduce the risks of boil-overs and other incidents — and keep workers prepared for spill response. Regardless of the size of your electric vehicle fleet, Solus Group can help your operation find appropriate solutions.

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Remember, PPE isn’t optional. OSHA 1926.441(a)(5) requires that “face shields, aprons, and rubber gloves shall be provided for workers handling acids or batteries.”

The bottom line: Every operation that uses industrial batteries should have a detailed spill response strategy. When workers understand how to neutralize battery acid safely, they can act quickly in emergencies without taking unnecessary risks.