What to Do First
Keep People Safe
- Avoid direct contact with the spilled material.
- Avoid inhalation of any gases, fumes, vapors, or smoke. All
personnel should stay upwind (some gases inhibit the sense of smell
or may be dangerous at undetectable concentrations).
- Move and keep people away from the incident scene. Contact the
nearest law-enforcement authority for assistance, if
necessary.
- Find and, if possible, safely remove all ignition sources.
- Assess the situation with regard to injuries.
- Contact the appropriate authorities and responsible parties and
allow them to handle the response.
Substance Identification
If you can’t determine a substance spilled from information
available at the site, call CHEMTREC at 800-424-9300 (emergency) or
800-262-8200 (non-emergency).
- Vehicle operators should be able to identify
the materials they are carrying. Locate and question operators as
soon as possible regarding the contents of their vehicle.
- Shipping papers identifying any substances
involved should be in operators’ possession and will also
identify the shipper, consignee, and manufacturer.
- United Nations (UN) or North American (NA)
material-identification numbers. A black four-digit
identification number may be found directly on warning placards or
on individual orange panels on the tank, vehicle, or railcar ends.
These numbers are generic hazard category codes that can be
identified from the latest U.S. Department of Transportation Emergency
Response Guidebook
or by contacting
CHEMTREC.
- Information on containers, in certain
situations, will identify their contents or the shipper.
- The shipping firm or railway company involved
in the incident should be able to identify the contents of its
vehicle. Trucks and trains often have unique identification
numbers. By contacting the company involved, either directly or
through CHEMTREC, and giving the identification numbers when
available, you should be able to identify the contents.
If direct identification is impossible, or if any of the above
methods of identification are prohibitively time-consuming or
unsafe, ascertain as many of the chemical and physical properties
of the substance as possible. Contact CHEMTREC and give them that
information to help identify the material. Ascertain the
following:
- color
- physical state (gas, liquid or solid)
- odor (do not smell the material intentionally, but a
description of the odor may be available through unintentional
exposure)
- any noticeable sound
- abnormal or extreme heat
- abnormal or extreme cold (presence of frost)
- pressure leaks
- color of flame (if present)
Posting of Warning Signs
The threat posed by contamination from a discharge or spill may
warrant the placement of Contaminated Area warning signs
by TCEQ personnel on affected property.
Rules
