Hazardous Materials Emergency Response: First Actions, ERG Use, and Incident Reporting
The Emergency Response domain tests what a driver does in the first minutes of a spill, leak, fire, or crash: protect people, identify the material, call for help, and report. The CDL driver is not expected to be a hazmat technician; the exam focuses on isolation, notification, and using the Emergency Response Guidebook correctly.
Immediate actions
Stop safely, set the parking brake, shut off the engine, and keep away from ignition sources. Approach from upwind and uphill, warn traffic, and keep bystanders back. Identify the material from the shipping paper, placards, labels, and UN numbers. Call 911 first for fire, injury, or a release that threatens people or the environment; then notify the carrier. Give the location, material, quantity, injuries, fire status, wind direction, and nearby drains or waterways. The National Response Center number is 1-800-424-8802.
Using the ERG and reporting
Use the ERG yellow-bordered pages to find a material by UN number, the blue pages by name, then follow the orange guide for isolation, protective clothing, fire, and spill guidance. Green tables give initial isolation and protective action distances for toxic inhalation hazards. Do not enter a vapor cloud or attempt cleanup without training. Under 49 CFR 171.16, incidents involving death, serious injury, continuing danger, evacuation, or major property damage require immediate telephone notice, followed by a written HM Incident Report Form 5800.1 within 30 days.
Worked example. A placarded tanker slides into a ditch and gasoline pools under the trailer. The driver calls 911, identifies UN 1203 from the shipping paper, and uses ERG guide 128 for gasoline. The driver stays upwind, keeps ignition sources away, and gives responders the quantity, leak status, and drainage path. Because gasoline is a Class 3 flammable liquid, the vapor can travel to an ignition source; the driver does not use a water stream on the product and does not attempt to plug the leak by hand. The carrier and, if required, the NRC are notified.
Traps. Reading placards from downwind; using water on a flammable liquid fire; calling only the carrier; omitting the written report after an immediate-notice incident; assuming the shipping paper is no longer needed at the scene.