Unit III Case Study
The Scenario:
You are an EH&S professional returning home from your plant on a summer Friday afternoon at about 4 p.m. You have
just picked up some materials from a nearby building supply store for a weekend backyard project (cement, sand, wood,
concrete blocks, lumber, etc.). You are about one mile outside of the main population zone of your small town, and you
come upon an accident scene in which a placarded tanker truck is turned on its side in a ditch about 20-25 feet off the
two-lane road. There is no sign of fire and no sign of the driver from your vantage point inside your truck. The only sign
you can see from your vantage point is a Dangerous When Wet placard with a Class 8 label code and a UN 1836 on an
orange panel. What might this chemical be? You think you can make out an NFPA diamond with a 0 at 12 o’clock; a 2 at 3
o’clock; a 4 at 9 o’clock; and a slashed W at 6 o’clock. You take out the small binoculars from your truck and scan the
scene. There seems to be a thin, small volume of dripping liquid (red to yellow color) coming from a valve on the tanker.
There is an agricultural field directly next to the incident site. A large irrigation unit is spraying the fields, but the extent of
the spray seems to end 20-25 yards away from the overturned truck. Slight, but steady winds are blowing about 5-8 mph
across the scene towards town.
Your small community has a fire department, but it does not have a hazardous material squad attached to it. Your
chemical plant (3 shift operation, bleach, pool chemicals, and household products, 15 miles away) does have a hazardous
material team that you trained and is under your direction. You do have your cell phone and an emergency response
guidebook.
Questions:
1. How should you proceed? Discuss the actions you should take.
2. What, if any, restraints should you exercise?
3. What advice would you give to any other individuals or drivers coming upon the scene?
4. What would you say to the next responders coming on the scene?
Students should read the scenarios below and respond in the form of an essay, which should consist of several
paragraphs and appropriate priority or task lists. Responses should be supported fully and completely. A well-thought-out
response can be accomplished in 300-500 words (one or two pages, double spaced). Any published material used to
support a response should be cited per the APA style guidelines.
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