Developing emergency response procedures for chemical accidents

Effective emergency plans to respond to chemical incidents are crucially important to mitigate the damage to public health and the environment. Most countries in western Europe and most CCEE and NIS have emergency plans in place, but all the parties involved need to coordinate and integrate their activities. Collaboration between international organizations working towards the safe management of chemicals continues to be important, in order to provide guidance on this integrated approach and to strengthen national capability and capacity.

Future emergency preparedness and response measures could include: (a) developing a register of chemical incidents in the CCEE and NIS; (b) continuing international collaboration to effectively address the development of integrated emergency-response plans; (c) training and educating public health and health care professionals, especially in the CCEE and NIS; (d) preparing training materials focused on the participation of public health and health care authorities and personnel; and (e) providing access to computerized databases for data retrieval and training purposes.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends the development, in cooperation with industry, of emergency response procedures, identifying means and equipment in industries and plants necessary to reduce the impact of accidents. Agenda 21 also requires manufacturers, importers and others handling toxic chemicals to develop emergency response procedures and to prepare on-site and off-site emergency response plans, with the cooperation of producers of such chemicals where applicable.