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Issues On Trucking Of Hazardous Goods In Nigeria By Chigozie Chikere
On Tuesday June 10 2008, a Conoil tanker carrying 33,000 litres of motor fuel had collided with a taxi at the Oworonsoki end of the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos. The taxi driver ignorantly tried to kick-start his car to escape from the fuel dripping from the tanker. Unfortunately, it exploded. Six cars were burnt in the inferno. There was no human casualty.
About one month earlier in the early hours of May 7, a truck driver had lost control of his vehicle and rammed into a building in the neighbourhood at Ojelade Street, off Ikorodu Road Fadeyi, Lagos. Several drums of Ethanol he was carrying spilled into the street and caught fire. The inferno which woke the residents from their sleep razed buildings, vehicles and other valuables within a space of an hour. No life was lost.
The Ibadan tanker truck explosion was one of the worst ever multi-vehicle accidents, killing about 200 people near Ibadan on November 5, 2000. The accident occurred outside Ibadan , on a stretch of motorway connecting Ibadan and Ife to the eastern Nigeria. It is noteworthy that Nigeria suffers heavy traffic circulation problem, and this day was no exception, with a large traffic jam covering all lanes of the road and numerous pedestrians weaving in between them. A large petrol tanker, bringing fuel to Ife, was traveling on the same road at high speed, when it suddenly encountered the traffic jam and attempted to come to a halt. At this point, the poorly maintained vehicle suffered a total brake failure, and ploughed straight into the queue of cars ahead. The number killed in the initial collision was probably high, but they will never be known, because the tanker which had finally come to rest on its side had begun to leak its highly flammable load onto the roadway. Within seconds, this trail was alight, and the tanker disappeared in an enormous fireball, which rose above the city and devastated a wide area around the accident scene. Those still in their cars trapped in the crash wreckage, or standing too close were immolated instantly, while those further away were burnt to death or hit by flying shrapnel from the blast. Burning wreckage caused several small fires in the nearby suburbs.
These accounts of high profile petrol tanker explosions will pale into insignificance when compared with the average annual figures of crashes and accidents involving vehicles trucking Petroleum and other hazardous goods across the country.
Hazardous or dangerous goods are such goods that have the potential to cause harm to people, property, or the environment. They include highly flammable fluids like Petrol, Corrosive substances like Acids, Radioactive materials like Uranium, Toxic wastes from factories, and various forms of air and water pollutants. The fact that these goods are regarded as hazardous or dangerous does not in any way detract from their value or usefulness. On the other hand the idea of transporting hazardous material is not a reflection of any form of irresponsibility, be it on the part of the shipper or on the part of the carrier. Infact transportation experts have found that the movement of hazardous materials in commerce is necessary and desirable to maintain economic vitality and meet consumer demands. However in satisfying the transportation needs of any industrialized society, it is required that the entire operation be conducted in a safe and efficient manner.
Tankers and other trucks provide important freight transport services across Nigeria; from urban to rural and long distance inter-state services. While few tankers convey water, vegetable oil, and other liquids over long distances, a greater number carry highly flammable products like kerosene, Petrol, Diesel, Liquefied Natural gas, ethanol, thinner, and other spirits. It is therefore important that anyone who operates, and is involved in the provision of a tanker truck service is able to do so to the highest standard to engender public confidence in this important freight transport option.
The person responsible for the tanker operation needs to be able to demonstrate that they can run a tanker service that will meet any minimum legal requirements, including safety requirements, in order to be able to provide a good service to the public. To do this, they need to be able to demonstrate management skills to ensure that they will have correct procedures in place, that their staffs (particularly drivers) are appropriately trained and that their vehicle fleet meets design standards and is well maintained.
Considering the Nigerian Tanker traffic situation as was highlighted earlier, statistics show that whilst the number of deaths from crashes involving buses fluctuates each year, estimates of casualties of tanker explosions have remained on the increase in recent times. Transportation Risk Analysts have blamed this scourge on the over-reliance of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) on the road mode for distribution of petroleum products without giving due consideration to the environmental consequences
In the U.S.A., the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a risk management body under the U.S. Department of transportation. This body was established by the Hazardous materials Transportation Act of 1974 and operates a hazardous material regulatory system that is prevention-oriented and focused on identifying a hazard and reducing the probability and magnitude of a hazardous material incident. Should an incident occur, PHMSA, through its Planning and Training Grants provides funds to state and local emergency preparedness and emergency response organizations for planning and training directed towards mitigation of the consequences associated with hazardous material incidents.
In Australia, the role of the National Transport Commission (NTC) is to lead transport regulatory reform nationally to meet the needs of transport users and the broader community for safe, efficient and sustainable transport. According to a 2007 report in the area of dangerous goods transport, a petrol tanker crashing into a built up area or colliding with on-coming vehicles is an uncommon event in the country. Infact statistics show that since 1982, there has been a general decline in road traffic fatalities.
In Nigeria, the Federal road safety commission (FRSC) and the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) are two outstanding organizations established by government to oversee road safety matters. A cursory glance at the activities and achievements of these two organizations reveals that they are a far cry from the contemporary and dynamic issues of road safety administration. As such, A continuous dependence on the FRSC and the VIO to carry out such daunting tasks as Road Safety Policy Research and Development, contemporary Quantitative Risk and Hazard Analysis coupled with overall Transportation Risk Management, and for them to do so professionally means that we, as a nation, must continue to tend our little lamps for the night will surely be long. It is imperative that the role of the FRSC and VIO be reviewed and restricted to that of traffic law enforcement, which is all they have over the years, struggled to do though with minimum success.
There is therefore an urgent need for the expertise of Transport Management professionals to be harnessed for improving transport productivity, efficiency, safety, environmental performance, and regulatory efficiency in a uniform or nationally consistent manner. It should be the role of this body of experts to draft nationally consistent road traffic rules, and to transmit these rules to the FRSC and VIO for enforcement.
In recent years, the focus of road transport reforms in developed nations has shifted toward regulatory innovations, transport efficiency, and safety improvements. The federal government should give serious consideration to the establishment of a National Transport Commission (NTC) which will be saddled with the responsibility of developing regulatory reform proposals for road transport, using thorough research and cost benefit work as the basis for sound policy, fostering innovative technology and best practice, and developing a framework to improve and strengthen the co-regulatory system for safety for all land modes including the application of mutual recognition, among other key responsibilities and functions. |