Ed Richardson
CAPE TOWN could face serious loss of life caused by leaking chemicals from transport vehicles involved in accidents, if chemical companies continue to avoid disclosing the contents of hazardous loads they are placing with transport companies.
This warning was issued by Phil Proffit, Head of DCS Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Response Team based in Cape Town. His warning follows several accidents in which Phenol Formaldehyde was being carried by transport companies who were totally unaware of the highly dangerous nature of their loads.
In the one incident, when the DCS HAZMAT Response Team was called to the scene by the Epping Fire Station control centre, a number of local residents, some of them elderly, were busy inspecting an overturned truck, unaware that the potential fumes from the cargo of Phenol Formaldehyde could be lethal if inhaled. This chemical is also highly inflammable.
The driver's delivery note merely stipulated goods and not the name and hazardous nature of the contents. said Proffit. As a precaution, the HAZMAT team immediately cleared the area until the nature of the contents could be established. Fortunately, none of the steel drums containing the hazardous material were ruptured.
Proffit says that he suspects chemical companies are being less than honest about their hazardous loads because of an additional 25% that would be charged by the transport company to transport hazardous materials. Transport companies obviously charge more for several reasons, not least of which is that the driver must be HAZCHEM certified.
Proffit points out that when hazardous materials are being transported, this must be clearly stated on the delivery note, the driver must be HAZCHEM certified and the vehicle must carry the prescribed HAZCHEM vehicle decals.
Whilst transport companies do share some of the responsibility in establishing the loads they are carrying, chemical companies who are not specific when the load is hazardous should have the book thrown at them, he says. Road blocks should also be set up along the main long haul arteries on a regular basis, says Proffit. The sooner this happens the better, as this regular less than honest behaviour is bound to have disastrous consequences. he explains.
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