Workshop on
“Transportation Of HazardousChemicals”
Organized by
Kerala State Productivity Council
Supported by:
InWEnt India, New Delhi, gtz , Germany & Disaster Management Institute, Bhopal
on 24th & 25th November 2010, at Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Content
1. Executive Summary………………………… 3
2. Programme Details …………………………..4
2.1 Day 1: 24.11.2010………...………………….4
2.2 Day 2: 25.11.2010……………………………8
3. Feedback from participants………………….9
1. Executive Summary:
Title / Workshop on ‘Transportation of Hazardous Chemicals’Fields iDRM / HAZCHEM: Hazardous Chemical Management
Target Groups / ADMIN: Regulators and Administration
Persons / Harsh Pandya (Speaker)
C. Mahadevan (Speaker)
K.M Kabier (Speaker)
K.M. Amanulla(Speaker)
Institutions / · Kerala State Productivity Council(Implementing Institution)
· GTZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH(Cooperating Partner)
· InWEnt Capacity Building International gGmbH(Cooperating Partner)
· DMI - Disaster Management Institute, Bhopal(Cooperating Partner)
Max. participants / 70
Target Group / Senior officers of Police, Transport, Department of Revenue, Fire and Rescue Services and representatives from Industry & Transporters.
Institutions Involved / DMI Bhopal, GTZ-ASEM and InWEnt - Germany
Course objectives / · To create awareness and preparedness of the industries in transportation of hazardous chemicals.
· To provide guidance to the industries who are either the manufacturers or users of major hazardous materials.
· To support government agencies to implement laws related transportation of hazardous substances.
· To focus on emerging technologies like GPS and IP camera in disaster management.
· To emphasize on On site/Off site emergency plans.
Description of contents/agenda / · Statutes pertaining Chemical Disaster management.
· On site/Off site emergency plans.
· Challenges in hazardous material transport.
· Laws related transportation of hazardous substances.
· Emerging technologies like GPS and IP camera in disaster management.
2. Session Details:
2.1 Day 1: 24th November,2010:
(i) Registration started at 0900 hrs. In total 69 participants attended the workshop. List of participants with their designation/company/ workplace is given in the attachment.
As there was delay in Minister’s arrival for inauguration, presentation of papers started at 10:15 AM.
Mr. K.M.Amanulla, Former Director of Factories of Boilers, Government of Kerala, welcomed all participants and highlighted the objective of the workshop. He presented slides of various statutory regulations and their importance. He also covered UNCEP, APELL and the formation of the local, district, state and central crisis groups for emergencies.
Mr. Harsh Pandya, Director and Head of Technical Services, Associated Consulting Engineers, New Delhi explained through various slides the important statutory regulations related to transportation of chemicals. He covered Central Motor Vehicles Rules, Motor vehicles Act, Petroleum Act/Rules, Static and Mobile pressure vessel Rules, Public liability insurance act/Rules, Explosives Act etc. All the clause in CMV Rules and Petroleum rules were covered in detail.
Hon. Minister arrived at 11:45 AM as he was busy in Cabinet meeting. Inauguration programme started at 11:50 AM with Mr. S. Jayathilakan, Chairman, Kerala State Productivity council presiding over the function.
(ii) Welcome by Mr. K.M. Amanulla, Convener HSE, KSPC
Mr. K.M.Amanulla welcomed Sri Jose Thettayil, Hon. Minister for Transport, Government of Kerala . He also welcomed Mr. K.S.Jangpangi IPS, ADGP(HQ), Dr. M.P Sukumaran Nair, Special Secretary to Chief Minister, Govt. of Kerala, Dr. K.G.Thara, Member SDMA and Head Disaster Management Centre, Kerala and also faculty Members, participants, officers, press and media.
(iii) Presidential address by Mr. S.Jayathilakan, Chairman KSPC
Mr. S.Jayathilakan started Presidential address highlighting the Karunagapally LPG tanker/truck fire incident which happened last year December. Immediately after the incident there were lot of activities for few months and then it cooled down.
There are many statutory regulations which can be implemented. Unless there is Political will and enforcement, things will not improve. Political support is required for enforcement and to progress actions to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
He quoted few examples. When wearing of helmet for two wheelers and wearing of safety belt for vehicle drivers were introduced ,there was stiff resistance from public and others. In fact the issue of a draft order for wearing helmet was the result of the active initiative taken by Rotary club followed by a political will. It was a successful exercise. In Ernakulam District, compliance in wearing of helmet is about 95%. For wearing of safety belt there is a good compliance. So enforcement of regulation is possible if we have political will, support and effort.
He requested all participants to extend their support for enforcement of statutes. Ministry will also support. Thus people of Kerala can be benefited.
(iv) Inaugural Speech by Hon. Minister for Transport Mr. Jose Thettayil.
He apologised for his delay to attend the function which is due to Cabinet meeting. He praised Kerala State Productivity Council and others for organising the workshop.
He continued saying that there are many statutory regulation on Transportation of hazardous chemicals. He highlighted the Rules from 129 to 137 under Central Motor Vehicle Rules which need to be followed. He also mentioned about the requirements of Class labels in tankers. Officers should know all details in the Statutory regulations and it is necessary for enforcement. He agreed that there is deficiency in it. He assured that as a Transport Minister he will take this as a challenge and accept to put pressure for enforcement.
He mentioned that in USA, the car drivers do not use horn, but in India people do not move from the road even after sounding horn. Here those who use vehicles speed up near Zebra lines and jumps traffic signals neglecting warning/signals. What required is a cultural change. Enforcement is a joined efforts of all concerned. Enforcement before and after an incident means” prevention” of an accident. NGO’s could extend help for implementation.
Minister appreciated that the Rotary club is playing an important part in Road safety activities. In fact Rotary club is doing a good work with suggestion on four line improvement on roads. Road safety act is being implemented in Kerala and work has started.
He mentioned that the public awareness on hazardous goods transportation is poor which is a problem. We must customise and practice. There must be a cultural change in the Society.
He again appreciated the efforts of KSPC for conducting the workshop and requested them to continue such training workshops.
The Workshop was inaugurated by the Hon. Minister by lighting lamp.
(v) Keynote address by Dr M. P. Sukumaran Nair, Special Secretary to chief Minister.
He started the key note address saying that it is good that KSPC has organized such a workshop on along with DM Institute, Bhopal and gtz, InWEnt. There is a strong fear in society that chemical accidents causes fire/toxic release.
Production and related transport movement is expected to increase in Kerala by the expansion by units. Starting of Vallarpadam container terminal will increase transport movement where hazardous chemicals also may be brought in containers. Refinery expansions are coming up for increased production. So there will be more transportation of chemicals by road with the expansions. But the safety standard must be followed/improved strictly and it is the responsibility of those transporting /using /handling/ them.
He said there is no shortage in the direction to be followed but there must be improvement in vehicles, road and standard of drivers to prevent accidents. Public awareness also must improve.
He said these type of workshop should continue to cover all concerned to improve awareness level in safety and rescue operation.
At present a cluster of chemical units are located near the Refinery and collectorate area having lot of chemical activities in a clustered area. He felt that the filling and such activities could be shifted outside this clustered area.
Drivers carrying hazardous goods must be well trained. We should have a well trained driver force. At present drivers do not have proper facilities inside factories to take rest before/after driving long distances. We must aim to improve the condition of drivers once they arrive in factories after long drive.
Recently Government has started a centre called “CHEMREC” in Kakkanad . The aim is to have a well trained fire force and other forces with modern techniques and equipment. All accidents should be reported in the centre who will pass on the information to concerned .The service of this centre will be available for any emergencies, especially chemical emergencies. The centre must be activated.
All these can be done with the joint effort by all concerned. Remove the unawareness to become successful.
Mr. K.S. Jangpangi IPS, ADGP(HQ), Kerala released the course material of the workshop.
(vi) Special Address by Mr. K.S. Jangpangi IPS, ADGP (HQ), Kerala :
He said that DGP could not come for the function due to illness and he had conveyed his apologies for the absence.
He felt that there is inadequacy in legislations. He suggested that there must be an organization with set of people to implement the Acts and Rules. Mere setting up rules is not enough. People concerned should manage their jobs and deliver the expected goods.
Training is capacity building and it has to be continued life long. According to him statutory acts does not specify what sort of drivers/ transport must be allowed for such transportation. There is no technical authority to check the suitability. People must inspect the system.
For police to be present as first responders they must be given proper training.
(vii) Felicitation by Dr. K.G.Thara, Member SDMA and Head Disaster Management Centre
She highlighted that mere regulations will not help. Much more need to be done to improve the standard on road transportation of hazardous chemicals.
(viii) Vote of Thanks by Mr. Sivakumar. G, Director, KSPC
Mr. Sivakumar. G thanked Hon Minister for inaugurating the function. He also thanked Mr. K. S. Jangpangi IPS, Dr. M. P. Sukumaran Nair, Dr. K.G. Thara and all others for attending the programme.
Mr. S. Jayathilakan, Chairman KSPC gave momentos to Hon. Minister for Transport, Dr. M.P. Sukumaran Nair, Mr. K.S. Jangpangi IPS and Dr. K.G. Thara.
The workshop continued from 2 pm after lunch.
Mr. Harsh Pandya gave a presentation on emerging technologies like GPS and IP Camera in disaster management strategies conducive to operation. Slides were shown with tankers carrying hazardous chemicals which comply and not complying Emergency information panels and other requirements.
Mr. C. Mahadevan, HSE Consultant and Chemical expert explained the challenges in Safe transportation of hazardous chemicals. He explained the various problems facing in relation to hazardous chemicals transportation, explained what are hazardous chemicals and how to handle them especially chlorine, ammonia LPG etc. Short videos were shown on Mumbai chlorine leak, LPG tanker accidents at Karunagapally, Mulankad, and few fires involving LPG and chemicals, petrol fires due to use of mobile phones/static electricity in petrol pumps etc. Manufacturing units , transporters, government, regulatory authorities all work together to find a solution to prevent such accidents. Modern equipment, techniques for fire fighting and rescue are required to tackle chemical emergencies. He explained how to check/audit tankers.
This was followed by practical audit of a petrol tanker brought from the road and all participants did a thorough audit with the help of a checklist given to them under the guidance of Mr Mahadevan. The tanker was in good condition scoring about 92% compliance. The driver was also found to be well trained.
Few participants expressed their views during the discussions. Some of them are the views expressed by Mr Akbar to activate the public to get involved in understanding the hazardous of chemicals and related safety in transportation. Mr Mohan from Indian Oil Corporation explained in details the difficulties faced by industries to meet the house hold requirements of LPG supply. He said that industries are doing their best on safety and ensures maximum care is taken during transportation of LPG and petroleum products. In the present condition it is difficult for experts to reach the accident spot immediately . Travelling by road itself will take time and road condition is also not good. IOC is getting an Emergency Rescuevan but even then it will take travel time to reach the spot.
2.2 Day 2: 25th November,2010
Workshop started at 9:30 AM.
Mr. K.M. Kabier, HSE Consultant and trainer covered the topic on chemical transportation safety, Security and risk management with many slides. He explained the various security threats in the country which could be faced by chemical tanker operators like terrorists threat , hijacking etc and the need for doing risk assessment by Industries for chemical tankers going out. Security risk assessment is very important in the present context.
The topic on On-site and off-site emergency plans was covered by C Mahadevan. He explained the statutory requirements under the MSIHC Rules by all MAH units to prepare such emergency plans. He explained the role of various agencies like Police, transport, revenue, electricity board etc during an off-site emergency condition and the need to conduct mock drill on off-site emergency plan including transport emergencies.
3. Feedback from participants:
Feed back format was given and participants were explained how to fill up each clause by Mr.K.M.Shanavaz, Asst. Director KSPC. Participants were also asked to give verbal feedback and following participants expressed their views.
1. Mr. Ch.Nagaraju IPS, DCP Thiruvanathapuram City.
The two days training is an enriching experience. In the last 2 days topics on various statutory regulations were discussed. Challenges in safe transportation on hazardous chemicals were discussed. We talked about enforcement on statues which requires social and cultural change.
Helmet implementation in Kerala was achieved showing cultural change is possible. He said that in many statues role clarity is not clear,vague. Lack of manpower is a major factor. He said role of police is understood in case something happens like cordoning of the area, control crowd , possible damage control, evacuation of people, co-ordinate with various agencies, arrange rescue services, liaise with stake holders etc. For all these political and local support is required.
He appreciated the talk on likelihood and consequence analysis for tanker accidents and related security issues requesting to build scenario and do mock exercises on “attempts to bomb a vital installation.”