Incidents, release reporting and emergency response

Despite every precaution, packages leak, trucks crash and tank cars derail. When that happens, the first minutes decide how bad the outcome will be. This lesson covers what drivers, warehouse workers and supervisors should do when dangerous goods are released or about to be released, how to use the Emergency Response Guidebook, and what the law requires you to report and to whom. It is awareness training: it does not prepare you to clean up a spill or enter a contaminated area. Spill response is covered in HSE-251, and hazardous materials responders receive specialized training far beyond this course.

The first actions

If you are the driver or the person on site when dangerous goods are released, your priorities are, in order: protect yourself, protect others, call for help and give responders accurate information. In practice that means:

• Stop the vehicle in a safe place if you can, away from people, buildings, drains and waterways, turn off the engine and set the brakes.
• Stay out of any vapour, smoke, mist or spilled material. Do not walk into or touch it, and do not try to plug leaks unless you are trained and protected.
• Move yourself and others away, upwind, uphill and upstream of the release.
• Warn others, keep bystanders back and prevent smoking or other ignition sources.
• Call 911 or the local emergency number and give your location, the UN numbers or shipping names, the classes, the quantities and what you can see happening.
• Take the shipping documents with you if it is safe, and hand them to the first responders who arrive.
• Follow the instructions of responders, and call the emergency telephone number on the shipping document.

Do not move damaged packages, restart a vehicle that is leaking fuel, or let curiosity draw you closer. Several gases, including hydrogen sulfide (HSE-244) and carbon monoxide, can disable people within minutes or seconds, and others such as propane are heavier than air and collect in low areas where a single spark can ignite them.

The Emergency Response Guidebook

The Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) is published jointly by Transport Canada, the US Department of Transportation and Mexico's transport secretariat, and CANUTEC distributes it free in Canada to emergency services. The current edition is ERG 2024; editions are normally issued every four years. It is designed for first responders in the first 30 minutes of an incident involving dangerous goods, before more detailed information is available. Many carriers keep a copy in each vehicle, and it is free as an app and online.

The ERG is organized in coloured sections:

• The white pages at the front explain how to use the guide, show the placards with the guide to use if only the placard can be seen, and include rail car and road trailer identification charts.
• The yellow pages list materials by UN number, each with a three-digit guide number. Entries highlighted in green indicate a material that is toxic by inhalation, reacts with water to produce toxic gases, or is a chemical warfare agent.
• The blue pages list the same materials alphabetically by name, with the same guide numbers.
• The orange pages are the guides themselves, numbered from 111 to 174. Each guide gives potential hazards (fire or explosion and health), public safety advice (isolation distances, protective clothing, evacuation) and emergency response actions (fire, spill or leak, first aid).
• The green pages give initial isolation and protective action distances for the highlighted materials, for small and large spills, by day and by night, and for some large spills of common toxic gases, by wind speed.

# A tiny ERG-style lookup: UN number -> guide number -> first message (simplified extract).
YELLOW = {"1203": 128, "1075": 115, "1830": 137, "3480": 147, "1005": 125}
ORANGE = {
    115: "Gases, flammable: extremely flammable; may form explosive mixtures with air.",
    125: "Gases, corrosive: toxic, may be fatal if inhaled; fumes extremely irritating.",
    128: "Flammable liquids (non-polar/water-immiscible): highly flammable; fumes may travel to an ignition source.",
    137: "Substances, water-reactive, corrosive: reacts with water; contact causes severe burns.",
    147: "Lithium ion and sodium ion batteries: may ignite; may release toxic and flammable gases.",
}
GREEN = {"1005"}   # toxic-by-inhalation entries highlighted in the yellow pages (illustrative)

for un, guide in YELLOW.items():
    flag = " -> check green pages for isolation distances" if un in GREEN else ""
    print(f"UN{un}: guide {guide}. {ORANGE[guide]}{flag}")

UN1203: guide 128. Flammable liquids (non-polar/water-immiscible): highly flammable; fumes may travel to an ignition source.
UN1075: guide 115. Gases, flammable: extremely flammable; may form explosive mixtures with air.
UN1830: guide 137. Substances, water-reactive, corrosive: reacts with water; contact causes severe burns.
UN3480: guide 147. Lithium ion and sodium ion batteries: may ignite; may release toxic and flammable gases.
UN1005: guide 125. Gases, corrosive: toxic, may be fatal if inhaled; fumes extremely irritating. -> check green pages for isolation distances

In a real incident, responders use the full guide, not a short extract like this. The point is the workflow: identify the material by UN number or name, find the guide, check the green pages if the entry is highlighted, and read the whole orange guide before acting. If the material cannot be identified, guide 111 (mixed load or unidentified cargo) gives cautious general advice.

Emergency advice centres

CANUTEC, the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre, is staffed 24 hours a day by chemists and specialists who advise responders, carriers and shippers during incidents. It can be reached at 1-888-CAN-UTEC (1-888-226-8832), at 613-996-6666, or by dialling *666 on a cellular phone in Canada. CANUTEC has access to databases of products and manufacturers' information, can call the ERAP holder, and can help responders decide on isolation distances and protective actions. Calling the 24-hour number on the shipping document, and the ERAP number if there is one, brings in the people who know the product best.

What must be reported

Part 8 of the TDG Regulations sets out reporting duties in tiers. When there is a release or anticipated release of dangerous goods in excess of the quantities set out in Part 8, the person who has charge, management or control of the goods at the time must immediately make an emergency report to the local authority responsible for responding, usually by calling 911. The thresholds are low: any quantity for class 1, class 2, division 6.2 and packing groups I and II of classes 3, 4, 5, 6.1 and 8, and 30 L or 30 kg for packing group III and class 9.

A second, immediate report to CANUTEC and to the consignor is required when the release or anticipated release causes a death, an injury requiring immediate medical treatment, an evacuation or shelter-in-place order, or the closure of a facility, road, main railway line or main waterway, and in some other cases involving rail tank cars and large means of containment. When an immediate report is required, a written 30-day follow-up report must be sent to Transport Canada. Losses and thefts of dangerous goods above set quantities (any quantity for high-consequence goods such as many explosives, toxic gases and radioactive materials), and any unlawful interference with dangerous goods, must also be reported to CANUTEC. For air transport, the 2026 amendments changed reporting of undeclared and misdeclared dangerous goods from immediate telephone calls to monthly electronic reports.

# Which Canadian reports are needed? (simplified from Part 8; check the regulations for exact rules)
def reports(cls, pg, amount, death_or_injury=False, evacuation=False, closure=False):
    any_qty = cls in ("1", "2", "6.2") or (pg in ("I", "II") and cls[0] in "34568")
    over = any_qty or amount >= 30
    out = []
    if over:
        out.append("emergency report to local authority (911)")
        if death_or_injury or evacuation or closure:
            out += ["immediate report to CANUTEC and the consignor",
                    "written 30-day follow-up report to Transport Canada"]
    return out or ["no Part 8 report (still clean up and record)"]

cases = [("drum of PG III solvent leaks 10 L", ("3", "III", 10)),
         ("cylinder of propane vents", ("2", None, 1)),
         ("corrosive PG II spill, road closed", ("8", "II", 200, False, False, True))]
for label, args in cases:
    print(label, "->", "; ".join(reports(*args)))

drum of PG III solvent leaks 10 L -> no Part 8 report (still clean up and record)
cylinder of propane vents -> emergency report to local authority (911)
corrosive PG II spill, road closed -> emergency report to local authority (911); immediate report to CANUTEC and the consignor; written 30-day follow-up report to Transport Canada

These helpers show the logic, not the full legal test. When in doubt, report: regulators would rather receive an unnecessary report than miss one that was required, and failing to report is itself a violation.

After the emergency

Once responders have the situation under control, the shipper, carrier and their response contractors arrange cleanup, product transfer and disposal, often under environmental law. Everyone involved should preserve evidence, record what happened and cooperate with investigators. A good internal review asks why the release happened (a loose closure, a wrong packaging, poor securement, a crash) and what will prevent the next one, using the investigation methods covered in HSE-403.