If you’re advised to use an overpack drum in a spill situation, that’s not an overpack drum. If you’re sold a liquids-certified overpack drum, that’s not an overpack drum. Or, if it is, you aren’t using it in the way it was designed or certified to be used and your noncompliance could result in a nasty fee, or, worse yet, a dangerous mess. That’s because overpack drums and salvage drums are designed and tested differently.
An overpack drum is a container that makes handling a package or multiple packages easier. A condition of using an overpack drum is that the items or packages it contains cannot be damaged or leaking. Overpack drums are not certified for liquids or to hold damaged packages. The container inside an overpack drum must be intact. Overpack drums are often used as a preventative measure to keep the inner package from leaking or enduring any dents or dings, but if the damage is already done, it’s too late for an overpack to compliantly save you.
So what do you do if the packages you need to contain are leaking? Call on a trusty salvage drum. Salvage drums are designed to contain leaking, damaged or otherwise non-compliant drums, even if they contain hazardous materials. And there is such a thing as a liquids-certified salvage drum.
Some resources use the terms overpack and salvage interchangeably, but it is important to note that they are not. And making that mistake can be costly.