Operational guidance Incidents involving hazardous materials Operational guidance Incidents involving hazardous materials Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from: Online www.tsoshop.co.uk Mail, Telephone, Fax & E-mail TSO PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN Telephone orders/General enquiries: 0870 600 5522 Fax orders: 0870 600 5533 E-mail: [email protected] Textphone 0870 240 3701 TSO@Blackwell and other Accredited Agents Published with the permission of the Department for Communities and Local Government on behalf of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. © Crown copyright 2012 ISBN : 9780117541092 Copyright in the typographical arrangement and design rests with the Crown. This is a value added publication which falls outside the scope of the HMSO Class Licence. Applications for reproduction should be made to The Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU or e-mail: [email protected]. Printed in the UK for The Stationery Office Limited ID2511951 C5 11/12 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 2 12/11/2012 13:17 Contents 1 Foreword 5 2 Preface 6 3 Introduction 7 Purpose 9 Scope 9 Structure 10 4 Legal framework 13 Introduction 15 Primary Fire and Rescue Service legislation 15 Other legislation and regulation 25 5 Strategic role of operational guidance 27 Strategic perspective 29 Vaules 30 Operational guidance review protocols 31 6 Generic Risk Assessment 33 Introduction 35 7 Fire and Rescue Service Operations 37 Part A Pre-planning considerations 39 Part B Operational considerations – Generic Standard Operating Procedure 57 Part C Technical considerations 137 1 Information sources 139 2 Interpreting and using chemical information 171 3 Transportation, packaging and supply of hazardous materials 197 4 UN Class 1 Explosives 261 5 UN Class 2 Gases (including acetylene) 295 6 UN Class 3 Flammable liquids 349 7 UN Class 4 Flammable solids; substances liable to spontaneously combust; substances which on contact with water emit flammable gases 355 8 UN Class 5 Oxidising substance and organic peroxide 360 Contents 3 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 3 12/11/2012 13:17 9 UN Class 6 Toxic and infectious substances 365 10 UN Class 7 Radioactive materials 385 11 UN Class 8 Corrosive substances 427 12 UN Class 9 Miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles 436 13 Asbestos containing materials 457 14 Personal protective equipment for hazardous materials incidents 481 15 Decontamination 512 16 Environmental protection 551 17 Additional chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRN(E)) considerations 569 8 Appendices 579 A Generic Standard Operating Procedure Summary 581 B Hazardous materials incident information record and Fire and Rescue Service Risk assessment template 589 9 Acknowledgements 593 10 Glossary of terms and abbreviations 599 11 References and bibliography 621 12 Record of obsolete or superseded guidance 633 4 Fire and Rescue Service Operational Guidance – Incidents involving hazardous materials 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 4 12/11/2012 13:17 SECTION 1 Foreword Major incidents involving hazardous materials in the United Kingdom are rare. Such incidents place significant demands on local fire and rescue services and often require resources and support from other fire and rescue services and emergency responders. However smaller scale incidents involving hazardous materials are more prevalent and these may require a response from any fire and rescue service in England. The Fire and Rescue Service Operational Guidance – Incidents involving hazardous materials provides robust yet flexible guidance that can be adapted to the nature, scale and requirements of the incident. The Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser is grateful for the assistance in the development in this guidance from a wide range of sources, including the fire and rescue service and a range of experts from a wide range of industries and other organisations. It is anticipated that this guidance will promote common principles, practices and procedures that will support the fire and rescue service to resolve incidents involving hazardous materials safely and efficiently. Foreword 5 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 5 12/11/2012 13:17 SECTION 2 Preface The objective of the Fire and Rescue Service Operational Guidance – Incidents involving hazardous materials is to provide a consistency of approach that forms the basis for common operational practices, supporting interoperability between fire and rescue services, other emergency responders, industry experts and other relevant groups. These common principles, practices and procedures are intended to support the development of safe systems of work on the incident ground and to enhance national resilience. Operational Guidance issued by the Department of Communities and Local Government promotes and develops good practice within the Fire and Rescue Service and is offered as a current industry standard. It is envisaged that this will help establish high standards of efficiency and safety in the interests of employers, employees and the general public. The Guidance, which is compiled using the best sources of information known at the date of issue, is intended for use by competent persons. The application of the guidance does not remove the need for appropriate technical and managerial judgement in practical situations with due regard to local circumstances, nor does it confer any immunity or exemption from relevant legal requirements, including by-laws.Those investigating compliance with the law may refer to this guidance as illustrating an industry standard. It is a matter for each individual fire and rescue service whether to adopt and follow this Operational Guidance. The onus of responsibility for application of guidance lies with the user. Department of Communities and Local Government accept no legal liability or responsibility whatsoever, howsoever arising, for the consequences of the use or misuse of the guidance. 6 Fire and Rescue Service Operational Guidance – Incidents involving hazardous materials 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 6 12/11/2012 13:17 Introduction SECTION 3 Introduction 7 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 7 12/11/2012 13:17 Purpose 3.1 This operational guidance is set out in the form of a procedural and technical framework. Fire and Rescue Services should consider it when developing or reviewing their policy and procedures to safely and efficiently resolve emergency incidents involving hazardous materials, including CBRN(E) materials.1 3.2 In everyday language the term hazardous materials, also referred to as dangerous/hazardous substances or goods, means solids, liquids, or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. They not only include materials that are toxic, radioactive, flammable, explosive, corrosive, oxidizers, asphyxiates, biohazards, pathogen or allergen substances and organisms, but also materials with physical conditions or other characteristics that render them hazardous in specific circumstances, such as compressed gases and liquids, or hot/cold materials. 3.3 Non-Fire and Rescue Service organisations and agencies may use more technical and specific definitions because of their own requirements but the above definition is the most appropriate one for Fire and Rescue Services to base their risk assessments and planning assumptions on. 3.4 A Fire and Rescue Service may respond to a wide range of incidents involving hazardous materials that have the potential to cause harm to firefighters, the community and the environment. They may be called to deal specifically with emergency spillages or releases, or they may encounter hazardous materials at fires and other emergency incidents. The purpose of this guidance is to assist emergency responders to make safe, risk assessed, efficient and proportionate responses whenever hazardous materials are encountered in the operational arena. Scope 3.5 The scope of this guidance is wide ranging due to the extensive nature of hazardous materials incidents encountered by the Fire and Rescue Service. It is applicable to any event, regardless of scale, from small incidents, such as the careless use of domestic cleaning products, to large scale chemical spillages on the highway and industrial accidents. 3.6 It is focused on the tactical and technical aspects of hazardous materials incidents to assist Fire and Rescue Services with: • the development and implementation of safe systems of work • inter-operability at large or cross-border incidents where more than one Fire and Rescue Service is in attendance. 1 CBRN(E) materials terrorism entails the assumption or knowledge, based on intelligence or actual evidence, of actual or threatened dispersal of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear material (either on their own or in combination with each other or with explosives), with deliberate criminal, malicious or murderous intent, targeted at a given population or economic/symbolic points. Introduction 9 23162 00_Section 1-7A.indd 9 12/11/2012 13:17 3.7 The guidance covers the time period from the receipt of the emergency call to the closure of the incident by the Fire and Rescue Service Incident Commander. ‘Closure’ in terms of Fire and Rescue Service involvement may mean the handing over of responsibility to another agency or ‘responsible person’. 3.8 In addition to detailed tactical and technical information, this guidance also outlines the key operational and strategic roles, responsibilities and considerations