How to Safely Handle Hazardous Materials During a Move

How to Safely Handle Hazardous Materials During a Move

Moving to a new place, whether for a personal or professional reason, may appear to be an exciting affair, but as they say, “every rose has its thorns”! Likewise, moving, besides the excitement, also brings stress and commotion. Dealing with hazardous material is one of the challenges that you might have to face while making a move. In order to avoid any intentional/unintentional mishap that may occur while packing your goods, it is important to follow appropriate safety measures.

Handling Hazmats During Your Move

Hazardous materials can be a threat to your household items. This is the reason why these items are categorized under non-allowable items while moving.

There is a huge list of these hazardous items:

– Flammable, corrosive, or explosive items

– Acids

– Aerosols

– Ammonia

– Ammunition

– Car Batteries

– Charcoal

– Charcoal Lighter Fluid

– Chemistry Sets

– Cleaning Solvents

– Darkroom Chemicals

– Fire Extinguisher

– Fireworks

– Gasoline

– Household Batteries

– Kerosene

– Lamp Oil

– Liquid Bleach

– Loaded Guns

– Matches

– Motor Oil

– Nail Polish

– Nail Polish Remover

– Paint Thinner

– Paints

– Pesticides

– Poisons

– Pool Chemicals

– Propane Tanks

– Gun Reloading Supplies

– Scuba Tanks

– Weed Killer, etc.

In order to handle these vulnerable products, you should:

– Use plenty of packing material to keep from knocking bottles against each other

– Avoid lifting containers or bottles by the cap.

– Do not stack boxes too high on carts.

– Avoid excess lifting.

– When you lift boxes, support them from underneath.

– Use a cart designed to carry loads.

– Use the elevator when carrying containers, not the stairs.

– Prevent yourself from any kind of physical injury.

– Do not handle hazardous material hastily or otherwise it may cause a serious damage.

Safe Disposal of Hazardous Material

The best option is to get rid of these harmful products when making a move. There are few tips to safely dispose:

– If possible, give these products to a friend/neighbor who can use them, or take the products to a collection point for hazardous waste in your community.

– Try not to abruptly dump or burn the hazardous products.

– Recycle products like used motor oil and antifreeze which could be useful for many auto service centers and auto parts stores.

– Call your local trash department or health department to ?nd out where you can recycle products that contain mercury such as, Fluorescent light bulbs, thermometers, thermostats, and blood pressure meters.

– Make sure all hazardous/special waste is transported by a registered or exempt waste carrier.

– Should evaluate the recycling, recovery, and disposal options available for the waste you produce.

– Must comply with controls on the carriage of dangerous goods while transporting hazardous/special waste.

– Marking and labeling of boxes containing hazardous material is mandate while disposing off.

You need to ensure that the relocation process is well-organized in order to avoid any last minute confusion or damage to your belongings. Effective-handling of all the perilous stuff is one of the most important tasks to accomplish while you move to a new zone. To help with the task, you can hire a competent moving company with specialization in moving perilous items.