Whether you need to keep some petrol for you small fleet of vehicles, or you have several generators that need to be powered, you may well find that it’s easier for you to store a reasonable amount of it at your business premises. This is a fairly common thing to do, and there aren’t too many procedures involved, but you do need to be aware of a few things to ensure that you’re doing it by the book, and you’re keeping you and your employees safe.
Rules and Regulations
The first point is that of regulations. Depending on where you are in the world, it is very likely that you will need to notify your local fire department or fuel regulation body before storing large quantities of petrol. You will also likely require a licence to keep the volumes a commercial entity generally needs. The very first thing you must do then, is to find out what all of the rules are in your area.
Safety First
When it comes to actually storing the fuel, safety is of course paramount. Petrol is naturally extremely flammable and therefore a significant potential hazard, especially in larger quantities. There are two main things to think about:
- The container that you use must be suitable for purpose, and tanks are widely available for whatever requirements you might have. This website has many available for you to take a look at. These tanks have to be extremely robust and resistant to things like light degradation or rust. Labelling is important too – anyone should be able to quickly identify the contents of the container, and the potential danger that it poses.
- Location is something to be thought about too. You want to make sure that the container is in a place where it will cause minimal damage if it does happen to ignite, and ideally somewhere it cannot spread, such as within a fire resistant housing. One very important point to bear in mind is that you should never fill up your vehicles or generators in the same location as where the fuel is stored. This is because spillages could leave a trail of fuel away, and this compromises containment.
So there you have it. Safe storage of petrol isn’t too difficult as long as you follow the guidelines of your local authority, and keep common sense in mind.
