As a supplement to its nationwide training tour to educate safety officials on how to respond to anhydrous ammonia release incidents, the TRANSCAER® Anhydrous Ammonia Training Tour training materials and resources are now available online.
TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a voluntary, nationwide outreach effort that helps communities prepare for and respond to hazardous material transportation incidents.
Earlier this Spring, TRANSCAER launched its nationwide Anhydrous Ammonia Training Tour, a multi-stakeholder effort to educate and train officials in states across the country on emergency response to anhydrous ammonia release incidents. To date, the tour has held hands-on educational training workshops in more than 30 cities in 11 states all across the country.
The new Web site, www.transcaer.com/aa-tour, is a “one-stop shop” for the most comprehensive online training program on anhydrous ammonia. Materials available include Anhydrous Ammonia Tour training videos, handbooks, PowerPoint presentations and instructor and student guides that address emergency response, chemical properties, transports and nurse tanks, and railcars, as well as promotional print materials including posters and brochures. All of the Anhydrous Ammonia Training Tour materials were developed by a team of seasoned experts from across various industries.
The Web site contains practical tools that give emergency responders the information they need to manage an anhydrous ammonia release incident. The “Emergency Response” section of the online training module reviews: Real-life plume modeling used to calculate air pollution concentrations; weather impacts on ammonia releases; how to determine and protect downwind threats; other environmental impacts and controls; and containment options for anhydrous ammonia releases.
Ammonia, along with other potentially hazardous materials, is used in a variety of beneficial applications – anhydrous ammonia is rich in nitrogen and is the primary component of fertilizer. Because anhydrous ammonia is classified as a hazardous substance, and used and stored under high pressure, those who work with anhydrous ammonia must be properly trained on specific handling procedures.
The Training Tour is stopping in cities across the country where use of anhydrous ammonia in agriculture applications is prevalent. A listing of cities and states where the tour is taking place is available at: www.TRANSCAER.com/events. More locations will be added throughout the year and into 2012.
TRANSCAER is sponsored by the American Chemistry Council, the Association of American Railroads, CHEMTREC®, The Chlorine Institute, Inc., The Fertilizer Institute, the National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc., the Renewable Fuels Association and the National Association of Chemical Distributors. For more information on TRANSCAER, visit www.TRANSCAER.com.
