Prevent emergencies caused by hazardous chemicals

Emergencies and incidents

Find out what to do in an emergency and check if you need to report an incident.

Preventing emergencies

Preventing emergencies at your workplace caused by hazardous chemicals requires you to first control the associated risks.

You should also have an emergency plan in place, as not all emergencies can be predicted or prevented. An emergency plan will help you minimise the effects of an emergency by dealing with it quickly and strategically.

Develop an emergency plan

Knowing what to do in an emergency is an important aspect of any risk management plan. If your workplace has any hazardous chemicals, an emergency plan is vital - especially if it contains flammable chemicals and/or gas.

Developing an emergency plan includes preparing an incident response plan, developing evacuation plans/routes and testing your plan (e.g. with fire drills).

Find out more about emergency planning for hazardous chemicals.

Storage and transport

Remember that you should also include information about any storage or transport requirements for hazardous chemicals in your emergency plan.

Also consider...

• Learn more about risk management.
• Find out more about keeping your workplace safe.
• Find out more about safely managing hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
• Read more about preparing and reporting workplace incidents.
• Learn more about workplace hazardous chemicals on the Safe Work Australia website.
• Get an overview of Queensland's work health and safety laws.