Exercise 1. Read the text about transportation accidents and answer the following questions.

1. What examples of transportation accident does the author name?

2. How can the potential for such accidents be minimized?

3. Why do hazardous commodities generally remain contained during an accident?

4. What rehabilitation activities are mentioned in the text?

5. What should railway personnel do in some situations when loss of containment occurs and the contents of the car or shipping container spill onto the ground?

Transportation accidents

Possibly the greatest single concern in rail operations is the transportation accident. The large quantities of material that could be involved could cause serious problems of exposure of personnel and environment. No amount of preparation for a worst-case accident is ever enough. Therefore, minimizing risk and the consequences of an accident are imperative. Transportation accidents occur for a variety of reasons: collisions at level crossings, obstruction of the track, failure of equipment and operator error.

The potential for such accidents can be minimized through conscientious and ongoing inspection and maintenance of track and right-of-way and equipment. The impact of a transportation accident involving a train carrying mixed cargo can be minimized through strategic positioning of cars that carry incompatible freight. Such strategic positioning, however, is not impossible for a train hauling a single commodity. Commodities of a particular concern include: pulverized coal, sulphur, liquefied petroleum (fuel) gases, heavy metal concentrates, solvents and process chemicals.

All of the groups in a rail organization are involved in transportation accidents. Rehabilitation activities can literally involve all groups working simultaneously at the same location on the site.

Hazardous commodities generally remain contained during such accidents because of the attention given to crashproofing in the design of shipping containers and bulk rail cars. During an accident, the contents are removed from the demaged car by emergency response crews that represent the shipper. Equipment maintainers repair the damage to the extent possible and put the car back on the track, if possible. However, the track under the derailed car may have been destroyed. If so, repair or replacement of track occurs next, using prefabricated sections and special techniques.

In some situations, loss of containment occurs and the contents of the car or shipping container spill onto the ground. If substances are shipped in quantities sufficient to require placarding because of transportation laws, they are readily identifiable on shipping manifests. However, highly hazardous substances that are shipped in smaller quantities than mandated for listing in a shipping manifest can escape identification and characterization for a considerable period.

Containment at the site and collection of the spilled material are the responsibility of the shipper.

Railway personnel can be exposed to materials that remain in snow, soil or vegetation during rehabilitation efforts. The severity of exposure depends on the properties and quantity of the substance, the geometry of the site and weather conditions. The situation could also pose fire, explosion, reactivity and toxic hazards to humans, animals and the surrounding environment.

At some point following the accident, the site must be cleared so that the track can be put back into service. Transfer of cargo and repair of equipment and track may still be required.

Jeanne Mager Stellman. Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety.

Exercise 2. Define the topic and the main idea of the text. Render in Russian.

Key words

allergenic	аллергенный
asphyxiating	вызывающий удушье
biohazardous	биологически опасный
bulk container	контейнер для насыпных грузов
carriage	1) железнодорожный вагон (обычно пассажирский); 2) перевозка, транспортировка
chemical regulation	правила перевозки химических веществ
consignor	грузоотправитель
corrosive	едкий; коррозийный
dangerous goods	опасные грузы
emergency instruction	инструкция о действиях в аварийной ситуации
emergency service	аварийная служба
explosive	взрывчатый, взрывоопасный
flammable	огнеопасный; легковоспламеняющийся
gas	газ
hazardous material	опасный, взрывчатый материал
label	ярлык, этикетка, наклейка
liquid	жидкость; жидкий
loading	погрузка
oxidizing	окисление; окисляющий
pathogenic	болезнетворный, патогенный
radioactive	радиоактивный
regulation	правила
safety precautions	меры безопасности
solid	твёрдый (а не жидкий или газообразный)
spillage	утечка
substance	вещество
tank wagon	вагон-цистерна
toxic	токсический, ядовитый
unloading	разгрузка
warning label	предупредительная этикетка

Checklist

Assess your progress in this unit. Say which statements are true.

1. I can use prepositions when I speak about the carriage of dangerous goods.

2. I can understand the classes of dangerous goods and most of abbreviations for regulations applying to the transport of dangerous goods mentioned in Unit 13.

3. My listening and reading are good enough to understand most of each text in this unit.

4. I can use key words to discuss the carriage of dangerous goods with my colleagues.