Transportation of Hazardous Materials - Assignment Example

Transportation of Hazardous Materials The transportation of hazardous materials for commercial purposes is major logistical issue in the modern world. Modern companies use railway, trucks, aircrafts, vessels, and cars to transport hazardous materials to different destinations across the globe for commercial purposes. The transportation of hazardous materials raises significant concern since any mishandling, exposure, and accidents involving these materials can lead to explosions, fires, deaths, permanent injuries, or environmental pollution. Subject to the eminent risks involved in transporting hazardous materials, the Department of Transport, United States Coast Guard, and the Federal Railroad Administration have established regulations guiding the transportation of hazardous materials (Roberts, 2011). The DOT Hazardous Material Regulations seek to reduce accidents and safeguard the society from exposure to harmful materials. However, many transporters have been violating these regulations leading to numerous accidents some of which are fatal. The U.S. Department of Transportation Administration, United States Coast Guard Administration, and Federal Highway Administration enforce harmful materials regulations (Roberts, 2011). DOT Hazardous Material Regulations require licensed and trained personnel to segregate and pack hazardous materials in labeled and approved containers for transportation (Indiana University, 2015). Moreover, the DOT defines the requirements for classification, packaging, hazard communication, incident reporting, handling, and transportation of hazardous materials (Roberts, 2011). Consequently, these agencies prescribe the penalties and fines for violation of the Hazardous Material Regulations. According the Federal law, violators will incur civil penalties of between $25,000 and $250 for each violation (Roberts, 2011). Moreover, the Federal law prescribes that an individual who willfully violate hazardous material regulations may be liable for a maximum penalty of $250,000, five years imprisonment or both (Roberts, 2011). Organizations that violate DOT hazardous materials regulations may attract a maximum fine of $500,000 (Roberts, 2011). As such, the U.S Department of Transport has invested in improving the safety of transporting hazardous materials. The DOT Hazardous Material Regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180) enhance the safety of transporting hazardous materials by road, air, railway, and air. These regulations apply to everybody who performs or prompts the performance of activities related to the transportation of hazardous materials across the globe (Roberts, 2011). Such people may include carriers, shippers, storekeepers, forwarding agents, and packaging agents (Roberts, 2011). However, many individuals and business entities have been violating DOT HRM provisions leading to illegal transportation of hazardous materials, increased accidents, catastrophes, deaths, and long-term injuries. Evidently, the increased violation of DOT Hazardous Material Regulations on the transportation of hazardous materials has led to more accidents and greater catastrophes in the modern world. Some of the most prominent violations include failure to train HazMat Employees, lack of proper HazMat employee training documentation, inadequate labeling, packaging, and marking of hazardous materials. Other violations relate to the failure of shippers and carriers to register with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The increasing violations expose communities in all areas to significant risks and accidents since the transportation of HazMat takes place on the road, railway, seas, and air (Roberts, 2011). The accidents that occur while transporting hazardous materials cause destructions of property, deaths, terminal illnesses, and severe injuries. About 4.5 million facilities in U.S manufacture, use, store various quantities of hazardous materials that manifest the risk and potential accidents in transporting HazMat. Each year, the world experiences the production of about 1,000 new synthetic explosives, toxins, poisons, radioactive, and flammable and combustible substances (LegalInfo.com., 2013). Transportation accidents or chemical accidents in manufacturing plants release these chemicals into the environment. The transportation system is becoming increasingly complex. Indeed, most hazardous materials move by road or railway, which raises great concern about the safety of transporting HazMat. Indeed, there have been numerous public and political debates about the security of hazardous materials since 9/11 attacks (Branscomb et al., 2010). The debates emanate from the fact that the release of toxic chemicals through transport or industry accidents lead to severe consequences. Indeed, various accidents happen while transporting hazardous materials by the road, sea, or railway while leakages in the manufacturing companies result in serious chemical accidents. For example, railway accidents that happened in North Dakota in 2002 and South Carolina in 2005 resulted in the evacuation of many people, 13 deaths and subjected about 800 people medical attention (Branscomb et al., 2010). Moreover, the Graniteville accident resulted in massive economic costs amounting to $126 million. Notably, most chemicals in commercial use are vulnerable to accidental spills or releases subject to violations of DOT hazardous materials regulations. Some chemical accidents are large while others are small but occur anywhere we can find hazardous materials. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has a mandate to collect and analyze HAZMAT accident. Apparently, large chemical accidents lead to enormous consequences. For instance, during the in-transit phase in 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration recorded 2,921 incidents in U.S where ten people died in seven accidents, and 28 people suffered injuries in five accidents (Schultz, 2015). The DOT notes that 200 of the 5,000 fatal truck accidents that occur in U.S involve HAZMAT carriers that transport over 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials (LegalInfo.com, 2013). At this accident rate, the potential for human injury and property damage is seemingly higher. However, it is worth noting that the long-term effects of HAZMAT accidents could be much greater than non-HAZMAT accidents because hazmat tankers are large and have a tremendous capacity compared to non-HAZMAT vehicles. Moreover, the properties of a cargo transported in hazmat tankers lead to more severe accidents compared to other types of vehicle accidents in America. Another study shows that other countries like China are also vulnerable to disastrous accidents in the hazmat tanker transportation. Indeed, the study established that about 38.1% of Hazmat tanker accidents happened in eastern China while 12.3% occurred in southwest China (Shen et al., 2014). Notably, 55.93% of these Hazmat tanker accidents occurred on freeways and class 1 roads while 75.00% accidents were oil spillages (Shen et al., 2014). These accidents resulted from violations of the DOT hazardous material regulations where 73.8% of these accidents came from human-related errors while 19.6% came from vehicle-related defects (Shen et al., 2014). The hazmat tanker accidents led to fires and explosions. Nevertheless, training carriers, maintaining trucks, and following the DOT hazardous material regulations can avert hazmat accidents. References Branscomb, L. M., Fagan, M., Auerswald, P., Ellis, R., & Barcham, R. (2010). Rail Transportation of Toxic Inhalation Hazards. Harvard Kennedy School. Indiana University. (2015). Movement & Transportation of Hazardous Materials. Retrieved from http://ehs.iu.edu/topics/hazardous-materials/hazmat-movement-transportation.shtml LegalInfo.com. (2013). Truck Accidents and HAZMAT Carriers. Retrieved from http://www.legalinfo.com/content/truck-accidents/truck-accidents-and-hazmat-carriers.html Roberts, A. I. (2011). Regulation of Hazardous Materials Transportation in Commerce. EHS. Retrieved from http://ehs.okstate.edu/modules/dot/index.htm Schultz, J. R. (2015). HAZMAT Accident Reports. Law Office of Jason R. Schultz P.C. Retrieved from http://www.jasonschultzpc.com/blog/statistics-from-hazmat-accident-reports.cfm Shen, X., Yan Y., Li, X., Xie, C., & Wang, L. (2014). Analysis on tank truck accidents involved in road hazardous materials transportation in China. Traffic Injury Prevention, 15(7),762-8. Read More