Truck and Track Spring 2021

www.truckandtrack.com Spring 2021 Truck and Track 61 DANGEROUS GOODS No reference is made of the Covid-19 situation, as specific operational countermeasuresmust be inplace, andauthorisedby the operator and their Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor [DGSA] to prevent propagation of this virus in our midst. This precautionary advice is provided in good faith for operators working in Chemical Distribution and Storage: be it packaged, parcel or bulk within the ADR / IMDG regulatory framework. When it comes to what is termed ‘ADR-Awareness’ - we all have a ‘Duty of Care’ . Any advice or guidance MUST come from the organisation’s DGSA, as this month’s column is purely to raise awareness of the problems that may arise due to elevated summer temperatures on ADR classified material. Ensure Drivers and Depot Staff are Prepared Please ensure your staff remain well hydrated during a heatwave, and advise your teams that, although they may wish to wear short- sleeve shirts and shorts for comfort, when working with Chemicals, bare skin can pose problems by getting ADR material inadvertently on the skin – which we have seen in the past. Apart from the obvious risk of burns fromClass 8 [Corrosive], or skin adsorption of Class 6.1 [Toxic] there is also the risk of dermatitis from Class 9 [Environmental / Miscellaneous Hazard] among others. When working or managing a Chemicals and Dangerous Goods incident, please ensure staff members are dressed appropriately for the assigned task, including correct Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] – which can be determined by internal [or external] risk assessment. The Effect of Heat and Direct Sunlight on Chemicals An understanding of the Physical Chemistry terms ‘Flash Point’ , ‘Autoignition Temperature’ and ‘Fire Point’ is essential when temperature elevation is a factor, or risk. The flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature at which vapours of the material will ignite, when given an ignition source and Oxygen, from atmospheric [or cryogenic liquid air]. The flash point may sometimes be confused with the autoignition temperature , which is the temperature at which the vapour ignites spontaneously without an ignition source. The fire point is the lowest temperature at which vapours of the material will keep burning after being ignited and the ignition source removed. The fire point is higher than the flash point because, at the flash point, more vapour may not be produced rapidly enough to sustain combustion . Neither flash point nor fire point depends directly on the ignition source temperature, but it may be understood that ignition source temperature will be considerably higher than either the flash or fire point. The Hazards of Monomers and Polymerisation With Polymeric materials such as Styrene, Vinyl Acetate Monomer etc, as additional heat can cause polymerisation which generates heat, and can cause fire and explosion due to an exothermic reaction. Polymeric Materials are often stabilised with Inhibitors such as 4-tert-butyl-catechol [also known as “TBC”], though high heat and sunlight can compromise the efficacy of the inhibitor, so these products must also be handled with care. I recall an incident involving bulk Styrene Monomer [when I worked in the Middle East as a Chemicals Inspector supervising the loading and discharge of ocean-going bulk tankers in the 1980s]. After loading a tanker with a full load of Styrene in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, destined for the Far East, the vessel had engine failure and was stranded in the Indian Ocean. Engineers and a pilot vessel were despatched to assist repair of the engine. Due to the temperature in the IndianOcean, the ship’s master was concerned that the Styrene cargo could polymerise into Polystyrene which would generate an Exothermic reaction, which could pose a fire and explosion risk, hence I was despatched by helicopter and rope ladder onto the vessel to conduct hourly checks on the inhibitor concentration [4-tert-butyl-catechol] as well as trace polystyrene to keep check on the stability of the cargo while the engineers worked repairing the ship’s engines. An empty vessel was being readied [for a ship-to-ship cargo transfer] in the event that the ship’s engine could not be repaired in time [before the cargo showed evidence of the polymerisation reaction]. I took samples each hour and monitored the Inhibitor content as well as checking for traces of Polystyrene. Thankfully, the engineering team managed to get the ship’s engines working, and the vessel could continue its voyage and discharge safely. Managing the Logistics of Dangerous Goods for Summer 2021 by Ali Karim Ali Karim In this issue, our Dangerous Goods Columnist Ali Karim BSc FRSC CChem provides advice for the dangerous goods logistics operator when confronting the hot summer predicted for the UK and Ireland this 2021 Highly toxic corrosive drums bulging due to heat exposure K Harper checking pallet against IMDG DGN at Hazchem TRUCK & TRAILER SOLUTIONS WELCOME TO ALLPORTS GROUP allportsgroup.co.uk