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GIS for Emergency Preparedness and Health Risk Reduction pp 137–155Cite as

The Risk Assessment of Hazardous Materials Transportation Using GIS

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Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((NAIV,volume 11))

Abstract

The transportation of hazardous materials (such as flammable gases, corrosive liquids or toxic wastes) is a common occurrence in most industrialised societies. Research in the USA during the early 1990s calculated that there were some 500,000 shipments of hazardous materials every day (Turnquist and List 1993), while in the UK it is currently estimated that each year approximately 80,000 different organisations are involved in carrying around 100,000 tonnes of dangerous goods by road and rail (Health and Safety Executive 2001). Legislation typically requires that such substances are transported using specialist vehicles or containers, with appropriate labelling, and sometimes on designated routes (Kramer 1992), but accidental releases of hazardous materials do occur despite these types of mitigation measures. These releases have led to incidents such as explosions, the dispersion of toxic gas plumes, and pollution of soil or groundwater, with human fatalities in some of the most severe cases (Erkut and Verter 1995). One UK evaluation of accidents involving hazardous substances that required the fire service concluded that more than 25% of the incidents could be classed as ’in transit’ rather than ’static’ (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1994), and a growing awareness of the enhanced risks during transportation has led to a number of government reviews or academic studies (e.g. Advisory Committee on Dangerous Substances 1991, Moses and Lindstrom 1993).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Andrew Lovett, Simon Jude, Julian Parfitt & Julii Brainard

Authors
  1. Andrew Lovett
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  2. Simon Jude
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  3. Julian Parfitt
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  4. Julii Brainard
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK

    David J. Briggs  & Lars Järup  & 

  2. Department of Geography, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Pip Forer

  3. Risk Management Systems, Overgaden oven, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Richard Stern

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Lovett, A., Jude, S., Parfitt, J., Brainard, J. (2002). The Risk Assessment of Hazardous Materials Transportation Using GIS. In: Briggs, D.J., Forer, P., Järup, L., Stern, R. (eds) GIS for Emergency Preparedness and Health Risk Reduction. NATO Science Series, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0616-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0616-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0799-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0616-3

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