Industrial-based incidents that occur within confined space environments can pose a substantial safety hazard due to the heightened chance of personnel being exposed to toxic gases.
As several recent workplace accidents have highlighted, the risk applies both to the victims and to those who are tasked with the role of emergency response.
Chemical incidents that occur caused by leaks, explosions or fires in industrial settings can have significant consequences for both human health and the environment.
Building and maintaining an understanding of the key principles governing the regulation of chemicals is a core skill for businesses and personnel involved in the supply, distribution or use of hazardous chemicals, as well as for those working within the context of local authorities and emergency planning.
Competency in chemical hazard monitoring and detection is a fundamental requirement for first response personnel operating within the areas of civil defense, environmental protection and the military.
Providing trainees with the opportunity to experience realistic hands-on training is vital, but it is a goal that can often be difficult to achieve in the face of strict regulatory controls and safety considerations.
One of the most common challenges that CBRNe and HazMat instructors face in delivering hands-on chemical hazard training is the extensive time that it can take to plan, set up and oversee their scenarios.
Even once an exercise is up and running, the practical demands of keeping tabs on every detail and delivering vital information to students via verbal or written cues, can leave precious little time for observing trainees’ actions and responses.
As major incidents such as the 2018 Novichok nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury have demonstrated, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies can push national and international response capabilities to their very limits.
At the same time though, these types of challenging CBRN events can also provide a powerful learning opportunity by highlighting the core skills, resources and training that underpin emergency response.
The risk of encountering a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear explosive (CBRNe) hazard is an ever growing reality for emergency teams in the course of routine incident response.
In such situations, the extent to which they have been trained, and are confident, in the principles of CBRNe incident management and CBRNe casualty management will be of paramount importance.
While regulations exist to guide HazMat training requirements for first responders, the reality is that many personnel still don't consider themselves to be adequately skilled in the use of their equipment.
Sometimes it's because there simply isn't enough time to carry out regular and structured training programmes. Sometimes this lack of preparedness comes as the result of budget cuts where training is one of the first things to go.
The ability to deliver consistent, engaging and true-to-life chemical hazard detection training scenarios relies on regular access to realistic, hands-on equipment.
What's vital is that these training tools replicate not only the readings and the responsiveness of real detectors, but that they also provide trainees with an authentic experience that recreates the potential challenges that they will face in actual incidents.
Argon Electronics will be among the global CBRNe and HazMat professionals at the eleventh annual CBRNe Convergence which takes place in Orlando, Florida, from November 6th to 8th, 2018.
This year's event brings together leading world experts in the fields of WMD, chemical attacks, biological weapons and HazMat - with the programme of activities tying together on the theme of the merging of military and civilian response to CBRNe and IED threats.
HazMat first responders are typically the first line of defence after an unintentional or deliberate release of toxic chemicals. As most first responders know, these releases can pose a wide range of physical health and environmental hazards. And when it comes to the storage, handling or transport of hazardous materials (HazMat), safety is paramount.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines HazMat as any substance that is potentially harmful to human health or the environment, while in Europe, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) states that all substances and mixtures meeting the criteria of one or more of the hazard classes in the European Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (or CLP Regulation) are considered hazardous.
While there are a multitude of precautions that industries will take to stay safe, in the event of accidental spillage due to a road traffic accident or as the result of an industrial incident, highly trained HazMat crews will be called on to mitigate the threat.
In this blog post we explore eight of the most common hazardous materials that first responders are likely to encounter in the event of an industrial accident or road transport incident.