The first hour of a spill: a field checklist

1. People first, always

Account for everyone. Move people upwind and uphill of the release. Establish a rough exclusion zone and keep it larger than feels necessary, because it is far easier to shrink one than to expand it once vehicles and people are inside. If anyone has been exposed, that changes the response and needs to be said on the first call.

2. Identify the product, or say that you cannot

A shipping document, placard, or UN number is enough. Do not guess, and do not delay the call while you look. An unknown substance is a valid answer that we dispatch for. Guessing wrong is worse than not knowing, because it drives the wrong PPE and the wrong containment.

3. Stop the source only if it is safe

Closing a valve, uprighting a tote, or plugging a drum is often the single highest value action available. It is also the action most likely to injure someone. If it cannot be done from outside the hazard, in appropriate protection, by someone trained for it, leave it.

4. Contain before it reaches water

Product on ground is a cleanup. Product in a watercourse or storm drain is a regulatory event with a much longer tail. Berm, dike, or block drains with whatever is on hand. Absorbent is useful but secondary to stopping movement.

5. Notify

Reporting obligations sit with the operator and thresholds differ by province and substance. Make the notification calls in parallel with the response, not after it. Our coordinator can walk through which notifications typically apply while a crew is being assigned.

6. Start the record now

Photograph the scene before anything is moved, note the time of discovery, and log actions as they happen. Reconstructing a timeline two days later is the part that costs people credibility during an investigation.

The three that make it worse

• ▸Washing product down with water. It moves the problem into the drainage system and multiplies the volume you now own.
• ▸Sending untrained staff into a vapour space or confined area to investigate. Most fatalities in these incidents are would-be rescuers.
• ▸Waiting to call until the extent is known. The extent is rarely known in the first hour, and mobilization time runs in parallel with your assessment.

Have this ready when you call

Location, product if known, approximate quantity, whether it has reached water or a drain, and whether anyone is exposed or injured. That is enough for us to classify the hazard and assign the right crew.