What should you do when kerosene spills on your residential property?

1. Contact an emergency response oil spill clean up company immediately – they will undertake spill containment and carry out an on-site assessment
2. If the oil has spilled on soil or land, or has gone into a body of water like a pond, stream or river, you must then contact the Environment Agency on their 24-hour emergency hotline: 0800 80 70 60
3. Contact your insurance company

What should you do when kerosene spills in your workplace?

1. Raise the alarm and call the appropriate authorities
2. Evacuate everyone from the site
3. Take roll call to identify any missing persons
4. Wear gloves, masks, boots and other personal protective equipment if you have to re-enter the area
5. If safe to do so, contain and control the source of the spill with absorbent materials
6. Cover nearby drains to stop the oil spreading to local water supplies or causing environmental contamination

Our kerosene spill clean up process

If you're dealing with a standard spill (kerosene has spilled on a hard surface), our technicians will: 

1. Contain the spill and perform an on-site assessment of the spill and its environmental impact 
2. Use specialist methods to identify the specific type of oil that has spilled 
3. Remove surface oil and utilise an industrial-grade agent on surface contamination and drainage implications 
4. Deep clean the area with our state-of-the-art equipment 
5. Contain any waste securely for off-site disposal 
6. Issue you a decontamination certificate to confirm your site is safe again 

If it’s an environmental spill (kerosene has spilled on soil or land or in water), they'll: 

1. Contain the spill and allocate you a dedicated spill manager – they'll stay with you throughout the entire clean up process 
2. If a heating oil tank is leaking, extract any remaining kerosene and place down protection absorbents to prevent further spread of the oil 
3. Bring an environmental consultant on site to sample and test the soil, and determine the phases of work that are required to clean up the spill 
4. Carry out the works which will be overseen and validated by the environmental consultant 
5. Test the area to ensure all traces of oil are gone and place any residue aside for proper disposal 
6. Issue you a decontamination certificate to ensure your site is safe again 
7. Restore the affected area to how it was before the spill by reinstating the soil 

We're proud to offer environmental consultancy

You'll be allocated an environmental consultant who will attend the site after we've contained the spill to assess the damage caused by the kerosene and determine the best course of action to clean it up.  

Environmental consultants are an impartial party that ensure our team are fully aware of the impacts of the spill they're dealing with, and are carrying a thorough, eco-friendly heating oil spill clean up.

All our solutions and tools comply with the environmental laws and protections in place. Throughout the clean-up process we'll work with the Environment Agency to provide updates and reports to ensure you are compliant, as well.

What are the signs of a kerosene spill?

If you have a heating oil tank, you should be aware of the signs of a heating oil spill so you can catch one early and minimise its impacts.

• There's a strong smell of petrol, solvent or oil
• There are black stains and dead plants around your heating oil tank
• There's been a sudden increase in the amount of fuel you’re using

What causes domestic heating oil tank leaks?

It can be caused by a wide range of problems including failure to the tank body, damage to the tank and damage or wear-and-tear of fuel feed lines. A problem with your boiler, like the flexible hoses, can cause a leak, too.

Both metal and plastic tanks are vulnerable to damage and therefore leaks; metal, for example, can rust through, whereas plastic tanks may split, often due to age or wear-and-tear. A lot of spills occur when oil is being delivered, as well.

Our contact details

Our team is available 24/7, 365 days a year to take your call in the event of an emergency. Call 0208 066 0360 to find out how we can help you. We're also available via email at enquiries@icecleaning.co.uk.