Emergency Planning Resources
An effective emergency response plan is vital for minimising the impact of spills when they do occur. In animal feed manufacturing, a well-built plan protects people, prevents cross-contamination, reduces downtime, and helps you meet environmental and health and safety expectations.
What a good spill emergency plan includes
Clear procedures
Develop and document step-by-step procedures for the spill types you are most likely to encounter (for example: hydraulic oil leaks, diesel, lubricants, liquid additives, cleaning chemicals, and trade effluent). Your procedure should define:
- Immediate actions (isolate source, make safe, protect drains and thresholds, prevent spread).
- Escalation and reporting (who is notified, when to call external support, what evidence to capture).
- Clean-up method (containment, recovery, absorbents selection, decontamination, waste handling).
- Post-incident checks (area inspection, restocking, corrective actions, lessons learned).
Access to resources
Ensure spill response equipment is easy to reach, clearly labelled, and suited to your site risks. As a minimum, most feed manufacturing sites benefit from:
- Spill kits positioned near bulk tanks, additive dosing points, maintenance areas, and loading bays.
- Drain protection products for yards, wash-down points, and any area with surface water risk.
- Appropriate PPE and a simple “grab-and-go” instruction sheet inside each kit.
Internal links (Serpro):
Regular drills
Run short, realistic drills that match your layout and tasks. Keep them practical: a small simulated leak at a pump, a “tank bund overflow” scenario, or a spill close to a drain. Drills should verify:
- People can find the correct kit quickly (and know what to do first).
- Drain protection is deployed correctly and early.
- Waste is segregated, labelled, and stored safely pending disposal.
- Incident recording is completed consistently (photos, location, likely cause, volumes).
Coordination with local authorities
For anything that could reach a watercourse, surface water drain, or could present risk to the public, your plan should include “who to call” and when. In the UK, reporting channels vary by nation, so ensure your plan is site-specific and up to date. Serpro’s emergency response guideline page includes official reporting links for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
External guidance and templates you can use
The resources below are widely used as a starting point for developing and validating incident response plans and emergency procedures:
- HSE: COSHH emergencies – be prepared (covers procedures, equipment, training, and waste arrangements).
- HSE: Emergency procedures in the workplace (emergency plan expectations and practice drills).
- HSE: Emergency response and spill control (technical measures) (spill control measures and emergency response design).
- NetRegs: GPP 21 (Pollution incident response planning) – PDF (practical structure and content for a Pollution Incident Response Plan).
- NetRegs: GPP 22 (Dealing with spills) – PDF (risk assessment, response steps, and spill control measures).
- UK Government: PPG collection status (explains withdrawal of older PPGs and where archived copies may be found).
Planning tips tailored to animal feed manufacturing
Feed manufacturing sites often combine food-chain quality requirements with industrial plant risks. When building your spill plan, consider adding specific controls for:
- Liquid additives and dosing systems: include isolation points, tray/bunding checks, and a rapid “stop dosing” instruction.
- Hydraulics, gear oil and lubricants: prioritise fast containment to prevent slip risk and to keep oils away from drains and walkways.
- Cleaning chemicals: ensure SDS access, correct PPE, and a defined method for neutralisation/containment where appropriate.
- Yard drainage and interceptors: document where surface water drains run, what they connect to, and how to protect them quickly.
- Waste handling: define temporary storage, labelling, and who arranges collection (especially for mixed liquids/absorbents).
Real-world incidents: why planning matters
Spills and leaks can be costly even when nobody is injured. The following cases show how quickly environmental impact, clean-up costs, and reputational risk can escalate:
- OMEX Agriculture – River Witham pollution (Lincolnshire): a major leak polluted around 46 km of river and resulted in a total court-ordered payment of £510,190 (fine, costs, surcharge). Case link
- Trade effluent incident – Worcestershire brook: two companies convicted after trade effluent polluted around 3 km of brook, with fines and costs totalling over £90,000. Case link
- Buncefield (Hemel Hempstead) – major fuel storage incident: a large-scale incident demonstrating the importance of robust containment, alarms, and emergency planning for fuel/oil systems. Final report (PDF)
Build your plan: a simple starter checklist
- Map spill risks by location (tanks, dosing, maintenance, wash-down, loading, yards, drains).
- Define response levels (minor, significant, major) and matching actions and call-outs.
- Assign roles (incident lead, first responder, drain protection lead, waste coordinator).
- Stock the right equipment and store it where spills happen (not where it is convenient).
- Run drills and review outcomes (update procedures, improve signage, adjust stock levels).
- Keep a simple incident log template and require completion after every spill.
Related Serpro pages
If you would like, we can help you match kit types and placement to your site risks (oils, additives, chemicals, yards and drains), so your emergency plan is practical rather than just paperwork.