As a property owner, it’s crucial to keep your building and lawn in an optimal and safe condition. One way to ensure that the property is safe and aesthetically pleasing is by installing proper storage containers outside the vicinity.

Whether you own a residential or commercial property, an outdoor storage compartment is necessary if your building is occupied by people at any given time. It’s even more important if your building houses hazardous goods, such as petroleum and highly reactive substances.

This article will go into detail on why it’s important for landlords to uphold the best outdoor storage practices within their property. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty and explain why proper storage is important in more detail.

It’s important to be aware of the catalogue of items that are best placed outside an interior setting. Doing so can mitigate any potential risks that may harm the house and the people dwelling inside it. It can also free up space and decrease the amount of safety hazards at home.

Here are several types of hazardous goods that are best kept outdoors in a well-ventilated area:

• Flammable liquids

• Flammable gases

• Explosive substances

• Flammable solids

• Oxidising substances 

• Radioactive material

• Organic peroxides

• Dangerous chemicals

By keeping these things out of the property, you’ll help enhance the safety of the property and keep its residents and occupants safe.

Besides the aforementioned list, if you live In houses with children and pets around, it’s also in your best interest to restrict access to areas that house dangerous goods like corrosive material (drain cleaners, cleaning acids, and the like) as well as toxic substances.

You should put these hazardous goods in outdoor containers that are purpose-built to store and handle a specific class of dangerous material with safety in mind. 

These storage units should have ample ventilation, good protection against weather and temperature swings, and a secure lock to prevent unauthorised people from accessing the contents within.

For instance, for flammable liquids and oxidising agents, you should store them in a fire-resistant cabinet with corrosion-resistant materials and other standard safety features. 

For flammable gasses, you need to put them in designated gas storage cages with proper ventilation and gas racks to prevent tipping. 

It’s important to pick a storage container that complies with your country’s regulations. The gas container here is a good example of one such container that complies with all the standards of safety for compressed gas storage.

Now that you know the type of things to store outdoors, you may be wondering, why do it in the first place? 

Besides the obvious factor of safety, there are other variables at play that make outdoor storage so crucial in buildings in the modern-day setting.

Let’s look into six reasons that highlight the importance of proper outdoor storage management.

1. Enhanced Safety

Let’s get the most obvious point out of the way; having a proper storage unit situated outdoors can help increase the safety and security of the contents and people inside the building.

By storing hazardous goods outdoors, you’re reducing the risk of adverse outcomes like fires, explosions, and radiation from causing injury and damage within the building. Moreover, you’re reducing the risk of these events from happening period, as outdoor conditions like open air and greater coverage area can mitigate the chances of these substances from igniting or causing harm.

While the risk of these events from happening is low in the first place, having outdoor storage can further reduce or even eliminate the risk. All it takes is one misstep in the storage process to produce disastrous results—so do consider upholding the highest standard of safety before proceeding.

2. Indoor Storage Legal Limits

In countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, there are legally mandated indoor storage limits for hazardous substances.

For instance, in the UK, the Health and Safety Executive Board states that households and buildings should store no more than 50 litres of extremely flammable and highly flammable substances with a flashpoint below the maximum room temperature of the working area within their premises. 

For flammable liquids with a flashpoint over 55 degrees Celcius, they also regulated that there should be no more than 250 litres of it placed inside a designated storage container indoors.

In Australia, the maximum indoor capacity of flammable liquids and corrosive substances in indoor cabinets are 850 litres; 250 L for flammable solids, toxic substances and oxidising agents; and 100 L for most variants of organic peroxides.

Following these limits is crucial not only for conforming to the law within your respective state but also for upholding the best safety practices inside the building and property you’re managing.

3. Improves Clutter Situation

If you’re managing a property with lots of tenants and rooms, it can be easy to enter a state of clutter and disarray within the premises.

With hazardous goods, you definitely don’t want to fall into a pitfall where these things are shoddily and unsafely kept. You should keep them in designated storage units that won’t get easily accessed by the wrong hands—and outdoor storage presents the perfect solution for that.

With an outdoor storage space for hazardous goods, you’ll help remove the clutter within the building and make it a more pleasant space to live or work in. These conditions can also make your space look more visually appealing for new tenants who may want to stay in your property.

Moreover, you and your team will also have an easier time tracking, managing, and accessing these goods on an as-needed basis with outdoor storage units, boosting the overall efficiency of your workforce.

4. Keeps Tenants Happy

No one likes living or working in an area that also houses highly flammable and combustible materials. As a property manager, it’s a good idea to demonstrate your commitment to high safety standards by putting items that may endanger your tenants outside in dedicated storage areas.

By doing so, your tenants will feel safer and more secure within the premises, which can foster a good relationship with them and contribute to their living satisfaction and long-term occupancy.

Furthermore, putting these hazardous goods out of harm’s way can also signal to future tenants that you’re committed to creating a comfortable living or working environment. 

This can make them choose to stay in your building over competitors, which can help your building thrive and turn in profit in the long run.

5. Allows You to Focus on Effective Building Design

When you place hazardous goods outside your property in the right containers, you have the freedom to design a building with fewer restrictions. This is because you no longer have to accommodate hazardous items when planning your architectural structure.

For instance, if you originally have a storage room that houses these materials, you can repurpose that space into another useful space, like a meeting room or a pantry. Furthermore, you can also enjoy more liberty in designing the aesthetics of the space, as there won’t be a designated spot for bulky and unsightly containers removing the appeal of a room.

In any case, having an outdoor storage container can give you room to optimise your building’s layout, which can increase its inherent value and appeal overall.

6. Reduces Maintenance Efforts

When hazardous items are stored out of common areas indoors, your staff won’t need to constantly consider these items when performing their cleaning checklist. 

They’ll also be less exposed to it on a daily basis—reducing the chances of them potentially misplacing, mishandling, spilling, or damaging the item. This not only lowers potential repair and extensive cleanup costs but also removes the risk of hazardous goods reacting badly.

By putting the hazardous items outside in a designated container, property managers and the staff can develop a better and safer maintenance procedure for these housed items. This, in turn, can keep themselves and their property safe.