Product Stewardship

Emergency Exercises

Transporting chemicals is a specialist activity that requires a high level of responsibility.

The carriers contracted by our members, are specialised in the transport of MDI and TDI and their drivers have undertaken special training in the transport and hazards of MDI and TDI to perform this important task. To assist its stakeholders, regularly  ISOPA organises an Emergency Response exercise with Carriers and Emergency Services, followed by a workshop with the Carriers. Video recordings have been made of most exercises and can be viewed below.

Emergency Response Exercise – Sweden 1998 – Bulk TDI 

Incident scenario:

This video has been created to illustrate how to handle when a spillage of TDI has contaminated a person. It is important to be aware of the hazards of TDI and how to handle the risk in case of exposure. In this video a rupture of the discharge hose during a discharge of TDI causes loss of containment and contamination of the driver. The Emergency services take care of the first aid measures and the clean-up of the spill.

Emergency Response Exercise – UK 2001 – Bulk MDI

 Incident scenario:

In this video, after having loaded a tankcontainer with MDI, the driver collided with a car when leaving the production area. It appeared that the container was not properly locked onto the chassis and fell onto the street on its side. The car driver was badly injured and product is leaking from the container towards the sewers. Emergency services arrive at the scene and take command.

Emergency Response Exercise – Turkey 2002 – Bulk TDI

Incident scenario:

This video shows a TDI truck pulling in the terminal with TDI container for loading. During the loading operation the truck driver removes his safety equipment and returns to his cab. For an unknown reason the truck driver drives off while the loading is still in progress.The truck ruptures the hose and product flows into the container and the ground beneath. The operator immediately engages the emergency stop button and sounds the alarm. The driver, apparently overcome by TDI vapor, is in distress and is brought to a safe location, upwind, by the operator where they wait for help. Spill area is secured. Driver is brought to hospital by ambulance. Remember to give product specific info to the emergency crew of the ambulance. Spill is contained and covered with foam to prevent vaporization. Absorbent material is used to dike the spill and prevent the spill from reaching the sewer. The edges of the spill are wetted with decontamination fluid. The container is decontaminated and cleaned and the ruptured hose is removed. Waste and contaminated equipment are collected into hazardous waste bins.

Emergency Response Exercise – Denmark 2003 – Packed TDI

Incident scenario:

This video has been created to illustrate how to handle a spillage of TDI in a confined space. It is important to be aware of the hazards of TDI and how to mitigate the risk in case of spills. In this video a drum inside of a box container is leaking TDI and as even small spillages of this product can have an undesirable effect on health the Emergency Services take all the precautions required to clean up the spill. The example used in this film is a reconstruction of a real accident which happened in 2001.

Emergency Response Exercise – Italy 2007 – Bulk MDI

 Incident scenario:

In this video, a tank container was loaded with MDI after having been cleaned at a cleaning station. The required delivery temperature was between 25 and 30 ºC. When the driver arrived at the customer the temperature gauge showed a product temperature of 50 ºC. At the same time the product started to drip from the blind flange at the bottom. Temperature suggested pressure build up. What to do first? Stop the leak or depressurize the tank?

Emergency Response Exercise – Belgium 2015 – Drum TDI

Incident scenario:This video shows what can happen during a regular control. Terminal operators notice a leakage coming out of a container stacked with TDI drums. The emergency services are immediately alerted . As soon as the emergency center has information related to the product, the right services and equipment are sent to the scene of the incident and take all the precautions required to clean up the spill.