TUIS Fire Brigades Support for Chemical Accidents: Plus Four Percent More Operations

More than 1,140 times, private company fire brigades supported local emergency response team within the TUIS system during 2011. These figures increased by four percent compared to the previous year, states the German chemical industry association VCI.

Frankfurt/Germany – This increase shows that the acceptance for the TUIS system within both the industry and local administrations, police forces or firefighters increases, the VCI believes. The association drew the balance for the German-Austrian TUIS programme during an international press event at Antwerp/Belgium, headquarter of the Belintra system, the Belgian equivalent to TUIS.

“The international presentation underlines, that safety for chemical transports has become a cross–border–task,” states Rolf Haselhorst, head of the VCI workgroup on TUIS.

Telephonic Support for Chemical Accidents

First level supports (via telephone) increased by nearly eight percent to 927 cases, while second level supports by a consultant on the site of accident remained constant at 70 operations. Direct technical supports decreased to 147 – more than 16 percent between the value of 2010.

Help local emergency response teams to help themselves – the decrease of actual dispatches of TUIS firefighters can also be seen as a success, since the growing number of first level supports shows that TUIS helps public firefighters to hel themselves.

Every Fourth Accident a Leakage or Spill

The nature of incidents remained more or less unchanged: Every third operation involves the pumping of liquids, one in four cases a leakage or spill. Most of the remaining incidents were linked to the disposal of hazardous goods.