Tips for Cleaning Up Battery Acid

When battery acid spills, it can create a big mess—one that’s corrosive and hazardous. Knowing how to neutralize battery acid for disposal and clean it up safely is an important skill. Whether you use this knowledge at home or at work, it will come in handy more often than you might expect.

Battery acid isn’t an acid. It’s actually an alkaline residue made with potassium hydroxide. Even though it’s not a true acid, it can still damage your eyes, burn your skin and harm your machinery and components. Cleaning up spilled or leaked battery acid is important for health and safety reasons.

If you’re at work when battery acid spills, you can follow the tips below to contain the spill before anyone is harmed; then call the appropriate team member to finish neutralizing and cleaning the battery acid.

Here’s a quick guide to show you how to clean up battery acid:

• Isolate the area: When you’re working with industrial or car batteries, it’s important that you isolate the area where the battery acid spilled. (At home, you can just shoo your housemates away and tackle the spill.) Extinguish any flames with the appropriate fire extinguisher, and turn off the charger.
• Remove metal jewelry and tools: Next take off any metal jewelry, and remove any metal tools from the cleanup area.
• Wear protective gear: Put on your personal protective equipment (PPE), such as goggles, an apron, gloves and a face shield. This will protect you from coming into contact with the battery acid.
• Contain the spill: If this is an industrial or car battery spill, you’ll need to contain it. Grab your hazmat absorbents (like an absorbent sock), and place it around the spill. This will prevent it from moving elsewhere while you’re trying to clean it up.
• Neutralize the acid: Now you can neutralize the battery acid. At home, white vinegar or fresh lemon juice will do the trick. Dip a cotton swab in the vinegar or lemon juice, and use it to clean up the leaked battery acid. At work, you’ll need a hazmat neutralizer to soak up the spilled electrolyte. The packaging should tell you what color the neutralizer will turn when it has neutralized the battery acid.
• Clean up absorbents and neutralizers: Next sweep up the absorbents and neutralizers, and dispose of them safely in disposal bags or containers.
• Report the spill: Finally, report the spill to the appropriate work authority so that the battery can be replenished and your supplies restocked.

Neutralizing battery acid for disposal isn’t hard, and following these steps will ensure that your workplace—and you—will remain safe.

When you need your industrial batteries serviced (whether that’s replenishing the battery acid or replacing the batteries entirely), Remis Power Systems Inc can help. Our company has been a leading supplier of industrial batteries and chargers for over 40 years, so we can help you find exactly what you need for your industrial equipment. Call us today to learn more about our services and selection.

Categorised in: Batteries

This post was written by Writer