10.1 Emergency Response Planning & Spill Kits
Key Takeaways
- An emergency response plan must exist in writing before an incident, naming who is called, in what order, and what authority each person has to shut down and evacuate.
- The Arizona Pesticide Hotline at 1-800-423-8876 is the state number for reporting a pesticide-related illness, exposure or drift incident; national poison control and CHEMTREC serve different functions and are not substitutes.
- A spill kit is useless if it is in the shop: absorbent, containment, PPE, tools and the safety data sheets must travel on the vehicle and be reachable from the driver’s position.
- Spill response follows Control, Contain, Clean up — but the first act is always personal protection and keeping bystanders out, because a responder who becomes a casualty doubles the incident.
Emergency Response Planning & Spill Kits
Core Principle: Pesticide emergencies are rare, which is exactly why they are handled badly. The decisions that matter — who to call, where the absorbent is, whether to evacuate — cannot be improvised while a drum is leaking in a parking lot at 108°F. The National Core Manual makes emergency response its own chapter for that reason.
The Written Emergency Response Plan
A usable plan is short, specific and carried. It answers, without discussion:
| Question | What the plan must contain |
|---|---|
| Who is in charge? | A named incident lead and an alternate, each with explicit authority to stop work and evacuate |
| Who do we call, in what order? | 911 for injury or fire; the Arizona Pesticide Hotline 1-800-423-8876 for a pesticide-related illness, exposure or drift incident; the office; the product manufacturer’s emergency number from the label; CHEMTREC for transport incidents |
| What is on site? | Current product inventory with safety data sheets, kept where responders can reach them without entering the hazard |
| Where are the shut-offs? | Water, power, and the nearest point to isolate a drain or irrigation lateral |
| Where does a casualty go? | The nearest emergency medical facility, by name and address, with directions — a Worker Protection Standard requirement for agricultural establishments and simple good sense everywhere |
| How do we account for people? | A muster point and a headcount method |
Review the plan annually and after any incident. Post the emergency numbers where they are visible from the mix/load pad and inside every service vehicle.
Reporting: Getting the Right Number
Candidates routinely confuse these. Learn what each one is for.
- 911 — immediate danger to life: injury, fire, unconsciousness, a spill threatening the public.
- Arizona Pesticide Hotline, 1-800-423-8876 — the state number to report a pesticide-related illness, exposure or drift incident. This is the Arizona-specific number the exam expects.
- Poison control — clinical guidance for a specific exposed person. Have the label in hand when you call.
- CHEMTREC — 24-hour emergency information for transportation incidents involving hazardous materials, using the shipping papers.
- AZDA — the department itself, for regulatory reporting and for the Inspector of the Day.
Spill Kits: Contents and Placement
Placement first. A kit in the shop does not respond to a spill on the highway. Every vehicle that carries pesticide carries a kit, within the driver’s reach and not buried under equipment.
A workable kit contains:
- Absorbents — non-combustible clay or vermiculite, absorbent pillows or socks, and a shovel that is used for nothing else
- Containment — a sturdy plastic drum or heavy-gauge bags with ties, and a spill berm or dike material
- PPE — chemical-resistant coveralls, gloves and boots, goggles or face shield, and respiratory protection appropriate to the products carried
- Tools — broom or brush, dustpan, duct tape, drum patch or plug, and a marker to label the waste container
- Decontamination — clean water, soap, single-use towels and a clean change of clothes
- Paper — safety data sheets, product labels, the emergency plan and the phone list
- Barrier — cones and warning tape to keep people out
The Response Sequence
0. Protect Yourself and Bystanders First
Before anything else: don PPE, move upwind, and get people away. A responder who is overcome turns one incident into two and removes the only person who understood the product. If the material is a fumigant, an unknown vapour, or the area is confined, do not enter — call for trained response.
1. Control — stop the source
Upright the container, close the valve, plug the leak, patch the drum, shut down the pump. Every second of flow you prevent is material you will not have to recover.
2. Contain — stop the spread
Dike ahead of the flow with absorbent clay, sand, or spill socks. Protect drains, ditches, canals and washes above all — a spill that reaches moving water stops being a cleanup and becomes a release. Cover dry spills lightly with plastic to prevent wind dispersal; do not hose them.
3. Clean up — recover and decontaminate
Work the absorbent into the spill, sweep or shovel the saturated material into a labeled, sealable container, and repeat until no free liquid remains. Decontaminate the surface per the safety data sheet. Where the label permits, contaminated absorbent may be applied to a labeled site at or below label rate; otherwise it is managed as pesticide waste.
Never wash a spill away. Hosing a spill converts a contained, recoverable problem into a mobile one that heads for the nearest drain or wash. Water is the enemy of pesticide spill cleanup.
A worker on an Arizona farm reports headache, nausea and blurred vision after a neighbouring field was sprayed. Which number is the Arizona-specific line for reporting a pesticide-related illness, exposure or drift incident?
A service truck overturns on a rural highway and a 30-gallon tank of diluted insecticide is leaking toward a roadside ditch. The driver is uninjured. What is the correct first action?
In the Control-Contain-Clean up sequence, what does "Contain" specifically prioritise?
Which siting decision most undermines the usefulness of an otherwise complete spill kit?