Dealing with land contamination
How to stop land becoming contaminated
Most contaminated land in the UK resulted from the country's long industrial heritage, and while many sites have already been identified, it is likely that many remain. If you have hazardous substances such as oil and chemicals on your site, make sure that you don't cause further contamination.
There are a number of ways to stop your business causing land contamination:
- If you have a permit, licence or consent make sure you comply with any conditions it contains. These are designed to control your impact on the environment.
- Keep the amount of hazardous substances you store and use on site to a minimum.
- Handle any special (hazardous) waste carefully. For more information see our guide on managing your hazardous waste.
- Store hazardous substances in appropriate containers that have pollution prevention features such as secondary containment systems.
- Clearly label containers.
- Regularly service your equipment, storage containers and other infrastructure to reduce the risk of leaks or spills.
- Make sure that all your personnel have the right level of training and that they fully understand their responsibility to prevent pollution.
- You must carry out a health and safety risk assessment to identify hazards and allow preventative measures to be put in place.
- Make sure you have written procedures for dealing with pollution incidents and that everyone in the business understands them.
- Ensure you have suitable absorbent material and containment equipment for the hazardous substances stored on your site. Keep them close to potential sources of pollution and inform your staff where they are and how to use them.
Subjects covered in this guide
- Introduction
- Classification of contaminated land
- Regulation of contaminated land
- How to stop land becoming contaminated
- The risks of buying contaminated land
- Insuring against the risk of contaminated land
