Safety is always a priority for drivers. This is especially true for those transporting hazardous materials. Strict adherence to federal and state hazmat regulations is imperative. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in stiff fines and penalties, including being barred from working with commercial transports.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires that all trucks transporting hazardous materials have this fact clearly marked for other drivers. Drivers must always be in compliance with state and local traffic regulations.
When an accident takes place involving hazardous materials, it is important to notify all of the proper authorities. While it is important to notify your truck insurance provider as soon as possible, they are usually one of the last agencies that should be contacted. After emergency services have been contacted, but no later than 12 hours following the accident, the first agency you should contact is the Department of Transportation (DOT) National Response Center (NRC), followed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) if the incident involves etiologic agents.
These agencies should be immediately contacted in the following instances:
-A person is killed.
-A person receives an injury requiring hospitalization.
-There in an evacuation of the general public for one hour or more.
-A major transportation route is blocked or inaccessible for more than one hour.
-Fire, breakage, spillage, or possibly contamination occurs with a radioactive cargo.
-The spill of a marine pollutant occurs in a quantity greater than 450 L (119 gallons) of liquid material or 400 kg (882 lbs.) of solid material.
-The driver deems that there is a threat to life not covered in the previous criteria.
The first report will be made by telephone. The NRC reporting number is (800) 424-8802, and the CDC reporting number is (800) 232-0124. It is important to have these numbers available at all times. Be sure to have all information prepared before calling. The information needed in this report will be:
1. Name of Reporter.
2. Name and address of person represented by reporter.
3. Phone number where reporter can be contacted.
4. Date, time, and location of incident.
5. The extent of injury, if any.
6. Class or division, proper shipping name, and quantity of hazardous materials involved if that information is immediately available.
7. The nature of the incident and whether a threat to life still exists at the scene.
The second report that needs to be filed will be DOT Form F 5800.1. It must be submitted within 30 days. In addition to the above circumstances, this form must be submitted after the following events:
-The unintentional release or discharge of hazardous materials or waste.
-A specification cargo tank with a capacity of 1,000 gallons or greater containing any hazardous material suffers structural damage to the lading retention system or damage that requires repair to a system intended to protect the lading retention system, even if there is no release of hazardous material.
-Undeclared hazardous materials are discovered.
