Identify the cause of release or spill

Control Measure Knowledge

If the correct container has been used and it is intact, the substance is in a controlled state and no risk is posed to people, animals, infrastructure or the environment. Incidents involving hazardous materials are fundamentally driven by containment failure and the way in which failure occurs. This leads to the hazardous materials becoming uncontrolled and introduces risk.

Containment failure can only occur following a stressor being applied to the container. There are a limited number of stressors that can affect containment:

  • Thermal
  • Chemical/biochemical/photochemical
  • Mechanical
  • Human or animal

Once containment failure has become inevitable, the way containment fails can also have significant effect on the outcome and scale of the incident. There are a limited number of ways in which a container can breach; these will lead to a specific type of release that will affect the scale and level of risk.

Type of Breach

Potential Release

Catastrophic failure

Full release

Runaway cracking

Violent rupture

Attachments opening up

Rapid release

Punctures

Leak

Splits or tears

Spill

Strategic Actions

Tactical Actions