Legislation
Compliance with legislation governing the handling, storage and transportation of Agrichemicals is mandatory and is being enforced.
The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act, Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act and the Resource Management Act, establish rules for managing many of the risks associated with agrichemical use.
The industry Code of Practice, NZS 8409:2021 incorporates the requirements of the legislation and documents good practice.
Agrichemical storage guide
The following guidance is based on NZS 8409:2021 and is provided to assist you in establishing and managing a compliant Agrichemical store on your farm. This guidance is a starting point for understanding your compliance obligations and is not to be relied on exclusively. To ensure you meet all of your legal obligations for compliance, please refer to the appropriate legislation and government agencies.
The key aspects to Agrichemical storage are:
- Store location
- Store construction
- Spill containment
- Store management
These are discussed in turn below.
Store location
It’s important to ensure that the site you choose for your ChemStore meets the requirements of the code. Regardless of whether you are locating your ChemStore on a permanent site or a temporary site, it must meet the conditions laid out in the NZS 8409:2021. No exceptions.
In order to be compliant, your site must be located in a safe place away from areas that may be at risk if contaminated by a spill or that may pose a risk to the storage facility. This includes:
- Dwellings
- Livestock
- Feed stores
- Crops
- Waterways
- Environmentally sensitive areas
- Incinerators and other sources of heat and sources of ignition e.g. welding areas
- Storage areas for fuel or other flammable goods
- Areas prone to flooding
- Strong winds
Check with your local Regional Council to check if there are additional local requirements you need to take into account.
Store construction
Your ChemStore is NZS 8409:2021 compliant. It has been carefully designed and constructed to meet all of the requirements of the code for the storage of Agrichemicals. This includes:
- Ceilings and walls constructed of appropriate fire rating materials
- Contents are protected from moisture
- Good ventilation and lighting
- No direct lighting on stored products
- Convenient access
- Appropriate signage; HAZCHEM 2WE, No Smoking
- Locks for security
- Vermin proof
Spill containment
Accidents happen, containers sometimes leak and spills do occur. When they do it’s a requirement for your chemical store to have contain those leaks. All ChemStores have a tough, non-slip fibre-glass bund to catch spills and are compliant with NZS 8409:2021 when used in accordance with the product guidelines.
The Code specifies the required capacity of the bund based on the total storage capacity of the store and the size of the containers stored. For this reason it is important that the Max Storage Capacity and recommended Max Container Size detailed in the Storage Guidelines for each ChemStore product not be exceeded as this may result in a breach of the Code.
You also require a spill kit which to ensure that spills can cleaned up quickly and safely. These are available from ChemStore.
Store management
Your ChemStore must be actively and appropriately managed in order to meet your legal obligations.
Appendix L Section 4.4 of the NZS 8409:2021 details the activities and measures that are involved in managing an Agrichemical store appropriately. This includes:
- One person must have responsibility for the condition of the store and for managing its contents.
- The person in charge must have the appropriate training and approved-handler certification
- A full inventory of the substances stored must be maintained
- A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for each product must kept
- Inventory and SDS must be available to Emergency Services within 10 minutes
- Incompatible substances must be segregated
- Appropriate personal safety equipment must be used
- A Spill Kit must be available and spills cleaned up immediately