11.3 Spills, Leaks, and Class-Specific Emergency Responses

11.3 Spills, Leaks, and Class-Specific Emergency Responses

[!WARNING] The single most-tested judgment call in this section: if hazardous materials are spilling from your vehicle, do not drive the vehicle to find a phone, a truck stop, or help. Park it, secure the area, stay there, and send someone else for help. Drivers fail this question because the instinct to "get to a safe place" feels responsible — but a moving leaking truck lays down a contamination trail that the carrier pays to clean up, and it carries the hazard into places where people gather.

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What to Do When You Discover a Leak

1. Identify the material using the shipping papers, the labels, or the package location — not by smell and not by touch.
2. Do not touch any leaking material. Many people injure themselves by handling hazardous materials.
3. Do not try to identify the material or find the source of a leak by smell. Toxic gases can destroy your sense of smell and can injure or kill you even when they do not smell.
4. Never eat, drink, or smoke around a leak or spill.
5. Do not move the vehicle any more than safety requires. You may move off the road and away from places where people gather if doing so serves safety and you can do it without danger to yourself or others.
6. Never try to repack leaking containers. Unless you have the training and equipment to repair leaks safely, do not try.
7. Call your dispatcher or supervisor for instructions and, if needed, emergency personnel.

If Hazardous Materials Are Spilling From Your Vehicle

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    The Four-Step Leaking Vehicle Rule                            |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  1. PARK IT              | Stop; do not continue driving to find help.           |
|  2. SECURE THE AREA      | Keep people far away and upwind.                      |
|  3. STAY THERE           | You are the only person who knows the cargo.          |
|  4. SEND FOR HELP        | Call, or send another person with written details.    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Keep upwind and away from roadside rests, truck stops, cafes, and businesses. Never move your vehicle if doing so will cause contamination or damage the vehicle.

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What to Tell the Person You Send for Help

If you send someone else for help, that person must be able to give responders enough to find you and bring the right equipment on the first trip. Write it down for them — it is a lot to remember under stress:

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Responses to Specific Hazards

Class 1 (Explosives)

Warn others of the danger and keep bystanders away. Allow no smoking and no open flame near the vehicle. If there is a fire, warn everyone of the danger of explosion. Remove all explosives before separating vehicles involved in a collision, place the explosives at least 200 feet from the vehicles and occupied buildings, and stay a safe distance away.

Class 2 (Compressed Gases)

If compressed gas is leaking, warn others of the danger and permit only those removing the hazard or wreckage to get close. You must notify the shipper if compressed gas is involved in any accident. Unless you are fueling machinery used in road construction or maintenance, do not transfer a flammable compressed gas from one tank to another on any public roadway.

Class 3 (Flammable Liquids)

Prevent bystanders from gathering, warn people of the danger, and keep them from smoking. Never transport a leaking cargo tank farther than needed to reach a safe place. Get off the roadway if you can do so safely. Do not transfer flammable liquid from one vehicle to another on a public roadway except in an emergency.

Class 4 (Flammable Solids) and Class 5 (Oxidizing Materials)

Warn others of the fire hazard. Do not open smoldering packages of flammable solids — remove them from the vehicle if you can do so safely. Also remove unbroken packages if doing so will decrease the fire hazard.

Class 6 (Poisonous Materials and Infectious Substances)

Many products classed as poison are also flammable. If you think a Division 2.3 poison gas or Division 6.1 poison material might be flammable, take the added precautions required for flammable liquids or gases: no smoking, no open flame, no welding. Warn others of the hazards of fire, of inhaling vapors, and of contact with the poison.

A vehicle involved in a leak of Division 2.3 or Division 6.1 must be checked for stray poison before being used again.

If a Division 6.2 infectious substance package is damaged in handling or transportation, contact your supervisor immediately. Packages that appear damaged or show signs of leakage should not be accepted.

Class 7 (Radioactive Materials)

[!CAUTION] The survey meter rule. If radioactive material is involved in a leak or broken package, tell your dispatcher or supervisor as soon as possible. If there is a spill, or if an internal container might be damaged, do not touch or inhale the material. Do not use the vehicle until it has been cleaned and checked with a survey meter. A radioactive load is the one case where the vehicle itself is quarantined until instrumentation clears it — visual inspection proves nothing.

Related handling limit: do not leave radioactive Yellow II or Yellow III labeled packages near people, animals, or undeveloped film longer than the Radioactive Separation Table permits.

Class 8 (Corrosive Materials)

If corrosives spill or leak, avoid further damage or injury when handling the containers. Parts of the vehicle exposed to a corrosive liquid must be thoroughly washed with water. After unloading, wash out the interior as soon as possible before reloading. If continuing to transport a leaking tank would be unsafe, get off the road; if it is safe to do so, contain any leaking liquid and keep bystanders away from the liquid and its fumes.

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Commercial Driving Scenario: A Cracked Drum on US 460

Roadside Case Study: A driver hauling drums of UN2810, Toxic liquids, organic, n.o.s., 6.1, PG II notices a chemical odor at a fuel stop east of Petersburg, Virginia, and finds a dark stain spreading beneath the rear of the trailer. The nearest carrier terminal is 18 miles away.

What the driver does:

1. Does not drive the 18 miles. The vehicle is parked where it is, well away from the fuel islands and the building.
2. Identifies the material from the shipping paper, not by opening the doors and not by smell.
3. Moves upwind, keeps bystanders back, and allows no smoking near the trailer.
4. Writes down, for a bystander to carry inside: "Chemical leak, tractor-trailer at the back of the lot. UN2810, Toxic liquids organic n.o.s., hazard class 6.1. Driver's name, carrier name, terminal in Richmond. Eastbound US 460 at the fuel plaza."
5. Calls 911 and the Virginia State Police at #77, then calls dispatch.
6. Does not attempt to repack the drum or wipe up the liquid.

Afterward, because this was a Division 6.1 leak, the vehicle must be checked for stray poison before it is used again — the trailer does not simply go back into service after the drum is removed.

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Common Exam Traps & Pitfalls

• Trap: "Drive to the nearest phone."
  • The Legal Reality: Park it, secure the area, stay there, and send someone for help. Continuing to drive with a leak is the wrong answer in every version of this question.
• Trap: "Sniff it to figure out what it is."
  • The Legal Reality: Never identify a material or locate a leak by smell. Toxic gases can deaden the sense of smell and can kill without any warning odor.
• Trap: "Hose the radioactive trailer out and keep going."
  • The Legal Reality: After a radioactive spill or a possibly damaged internal container, the vehicle may not be used until it is cleaned and checked with a survey meter.
• Trap: "Separate the wrecked vehicles first, then deal with the explosives."
  • The Legal Reality: Remove all explosives before separating vehicles involved in a collision, and place them at least 200 feet from the vehicles and occupied buildings.