It’s something we all want to avoid, but it’s something that occurs every day on our roads, and when you’re transporting dangerous goods or hazardous chemicals, the consequences of an incident on the road can be dire.
Agsafe has developed an online training AgByte, ‘Transport Incidents and Emergencies’, to provide those in the supply chain with some basic guidelines to assist in the event of a roadside incident occurring.
As drivers are first on the scene in many roadside emergencies, they are often confronted with situations ranging from a minor accident to a serious and major emergency where lives are at risk or even lost.
Minor emergencies may include vehicles getting bogged, minor collisions, single treated first-aid injury, minor fuel or product spills and the loss of or a shifted load in a non-dangerous situation.
Serious emergencies may include significant chemical product spills, where dangerous goods or other hazardous chemicals are involved, a significant fire event and any non-first aid injury.
A major emergency may include a fatality or fatalities, multiple serious injuries, major spills, explosions or collisions resulting in significant damage to property and infrastructure.
This training will give you an understanding of the possible effects on people, the environment, damage of property or assets and the damage to the company and an individual’s reputation that result from a transport emergency.
It also looks at the safety requirements for vehicles, what forms a transport emergency response plan, transporting dangerous goods including placard loads, placard types, documentation, training requirements and driver licencing.
The course also looks at the actions immediately following a roadside emergency, and the statutory reporting responsibilities, for both placard and non-placard loads.
Transport Emergency Response Plan (TERP)
The applicable dangerous goods transport regulations in all jurisdictions require that a prime contractor or consignors must have an emergency plan for the transport of placard loads.
These are commonly called the Transport Emergency Response Plan or TERP.
The TERP sets out the guidelines that all transport drivers, and many others in the chain delivering dangerous goods should follow as part of an overall company objective to be safe and compliant. The four main objects of the TERP are:
• To minimise any adverse effects on people, damage to property, or harm to the environment in a transport emergency
• To facilitate a rapid and effective emergency response and recovery
• To provide assistance to emergency services and potential site security, and
• To communicate vital information to all relevant persons involved in the transport emergency (BOTH internal and external) with a minimum of delay.
A nominated individual should be responsible for updating the TERP, including contact telephone numbers and informing all plan holders of any changes.
This is particularly important where information-gathering, and situation appraisal is carried out by an external contracted emergency response provider. A record of plan amendments should be maintained, with the plan updated at least annually.
It should also be noted that in all jurisdictions, any quantity of dangerous goods being transported that causes a dangerous situation must be reported to the Police or Fire service, the prime contractor and the competent authority. Drivers must also provide reasonable assistance where able.
This training will discuss many other elements that resellers need to be aware of when there is a transport incident or emergency. The training will be available on the Agsafe Learning Management System later in the year.
For further information on Agsafe’s online training, visit the Agsafe website, or call (02) 6206 6888.
