HAZARDOUS MATERIALS MANAGEMENT FINAL PAPER

Scenario: As the newly appointed safety manager at a large plastics manufacturing company, you are called to the loading dock to find that a large truck, full of cartons of pellets used in the manufacturing process, is engulfed in flames. The truck slid on ice in the parking area and crashed into empty trailers. A call to the city emergency services indicated that they will be delayed indefinitely due to roads made impassible by the ice storm. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the pellets indicates that burning releases toxic smoke. Note that larger companies are likely to have their own emergency response teams equipped and trained to handle the most likely hazards found at the site.

Assignment: Prepare an Incident Action Plan that includes all of the requirements shown below. Respond to each bullet point based on what you know of the situation. Clearly state any assumptions you make in your plan. The list is a subset of the United States Department of Health & Human Services' suggested comprehensive Incident Action Plan available at www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/.

• Identify at least two incident goals (i.e., where the response system should be at the end of response) and at least two operational objectives (i.e., major areas that must be addressed in the specified operational period to achieve the goals or control objectives).
• Describe at least two response strategies (i.e., priorities and the general approach to accomplish the operational objectives) and at least two response tactics (i.e., specific methods developed to achieve the response strategies).
• Prepare an organization list showing at least three primary roles and an assignment list with at least three specific tasks and their owners.
• Explain a health and safety plan (to prevent responder injury or illness) that includes at least three provisions to ensure personnel safety.
• Summarize a communications plan (how functional areas can exchange information) with at least a primary and secondary method of communication.
• Locate the incident using a map or precise verbal description that allows responders to find the area and indicate an area that non-responders should avoid.