emergency response services

Shipping Compliance

Receive a 24-hour toll-free number for unlimited use on hazardous materials shipping papers and manifests in order to meet global and domestic regulatory requirements, such as those required by DOT 49 CFR 172.604, FAA, IMDG and IATA. Plus, receive a corresponding Certificate of Compliance for your records to help verify your coverage. And in the event of a spill, get access to SDSs and escalated incident reporting to your designated emergency contact.

SDS Emergency Contact Number

Easily satisfy emergency contact telephone number requirements for Section 1 of safety data sheets with a toll-free number providing 24-hour access to our hotline staffed by chemical safety experts.

Exposure Support

Get on-the-spot chemical exposure support to prevent serious injuries, and even save lives in the event of a chemical emergency. VelocityEHS Exposure Support puts trained specialists with more than 70 years of combined emergency call center experience at workers’ fingertips. Toxicologists and medical technicians are on call at all times to provide critical chemical safety information and escalated incident reporting through a convenient hotline.

SDS Rapid Access

Backed by our industry-leading MSDSonline database, your employees — global or domestic — get unlimited, 24/7 email or fax access to your company’s inventory of safety data sheets through a convenient hotline to help protect employees and ensure compliance with SDS right-to-know, accessibility and library back-up requirements of global hazard communication regulations.

Additional Services

There are even more ways VelocityEHS can help support your emergency response needs. For example, our product label service provides you with a 24-hour emergency phone number for use on your product labels and packaging, and also makes our Emergency Response Communication Call Center available around the clock to field requests for SDS and medical exposure support from your customers and end-users. If you need lithium battery shipper support, we not only give you a 24-hour emergency response phone number to meet DOT and all international regulations for battery shipments, but also offer preferred pricing on lithium battery shipping labels, and technical and regulatory advice. And those are only some of the ways we can support you and your customers. Contact us today to learn more about all of our available Emergency Response Services and how we can help you!

The United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) requirements under CFR 49 Transportation 172.604

“A person who offers a hazardous material for transportation must provide a numeric emergency response telephone number, including the area code, for use in an emergency involving the hazardous material. For telephone numbers outside the United States, the international access code or the “+” (plus) sign, country code, and city code, as appropriate, that are needed to complete the call must be included. The telephone number must be—
(1) Monitored at all times the hazardous material is in transportation, including storage incidental to transportation.” *Failing to comply can result in civil penalties and significant fines per incident *

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) requirements for 29 CFR 1910.1200

“(g)(2) The chemical manufacturer or importer preparing the safety data sheet shall ensure that it is in English (although the employer may maintain copies in other languages as well), and includes at least the following section numbers and headings, and associated information under each heading, in the order listed (See Appendix D to §1910.1200–Safety Data Sheets, for the specific content of each section of the safety data sheet): (i) Section 1, Identification; …”

Appendix D to 1910.1200 requirements for Section 1: Identification:

“(a) Product identifier used on the label;
(b) Other means of identification;
(c) Recommended use of the chemical and restrictions on use;
(d) Name, address, and telephone number of the chemical manufacturer, importer, or other responsible party;
(e) Emergency phone number.”

An emergency phone number on your SDSs, where emergency information can be provided in the event of an incident with a hazardous chemical/material, is one of many requirements facing the needs of manufacturers, transporters, and employers having to meet the requirements for regulations involving hazardous chemicals. VelocityEHS Emergency Response Services ( formerly ChemTel) provide the services you need for U.S. DOT compliance and OSHA HazCom compliance.

*Consistently, one of the most common OSHA standard violations involves OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard*

Our Emergency Communication Specialists are highly trained in the provision of hazardous materials information, mitigation procedures, and immediate first aid information. Our staff works with state-of-the-art telecommunication and computer systems, with direct access to the VelocityEHS industry-leading chemical management SDS database.

HOW WE DO IT:

VelocityEHS Emergency Communication Specialists begin a call by obtaining vital information: call back number, caller’s name, material identification, company affiliation, incident location, on-scene conditions, and incident details are examples of the types of information gathered.

The caller receives immediate guidance depending upon the circumstances of the incident. Should additional support be required, we will dispatch Hazmat Response Teams with client authorization. In addition, responders will conference call with the Emergency Medical Personnel on the scene as well as hospital personnel. We will send SDSs via email or facsimile to the appropriate parties. Upon concluding the call, the responder completes a detailed report documenting the incident. The report is then sent via e-mail to your company-appointed Representative.

As an Emergency Response Services Subscriber, you will have assistance:

• Complying with U.S. DOT Hazardous Shipping Regulatory Requirements
• Complying with FAA and IMDG Shipping Regulations
• Enhancing Product Stewardship
• Complying with federal OSHA HazCom “Right to Know” Requirements and SDS Section 1 Emergency number requirements
• Improving Worker and/or Consumer Safety and Confidence

VelocityEHS can design and implement custom Emergency Response Services programs to accommodate companies with unique requirements.

24-7-365 Emergency Response Services

VelocityEHS Emergency Response Services (formerly ChemTel) is one of a select few federally recognized Emergency Response Communication Call Centers. We have been providing exceptional and accurate emergency mitigation services to the hazardous materials transportation industry for over 30 years. Many major corporations, educational institutions, and governmental entities rely on VelocityEHS to provide unmatched emergency preparedness and critical compliance support.

VelocityEHS has evolved into a premier emergency communications provider thanks to its technically trained and highly experienced professional staff of hazardous materials specialists who are capable of handling virtually any type of hazmat-related incident. Our complex 24-hour communications infrastructure is comprised of state-of-the-art telecommunication and computer systems that provide our responders with reliable and immediate access to critical Environmental Health and Safety information 365-24-7. VelocityEHS is uniquely qualified to provide a global solution for the health and safety needs of its clients.

Our 24-7-365 Communications Infrastructure

Features

• Live assistance 24-hours a day /7 days a week /365 days a year by highly trained and experienced emergency mitigation professionals
• Global technical support uniquely designed to address the transport safety needs of all of our clients’ manufacturing and distribution facilities worldwide
• All phone calls into Emergency Call Center are recorded
• Translations immediately available in more than 200 languages
• Instant access to Safety Data Sheets allow Emergency Communication Specialists to provide immediate and reliable first aid information and incident mitigation procedures to medical personnel and on-scene emergency responders
• Automated transfer to Poison Control Center or medical professionals in the event of life-threatening exposures or product misuse
• Real-time incident report generation in response to product spills, accidental releases in transit, personal exposure, or product misuse. These incident reports can be customized to client specifications to include the precise information needed for review and investigation.

Compliance with Federal Regulations

Providing a 24-hour emergency hotline number when transporting hazardous materials is not just a responsible business practice, it’s the law. 49 CFR 172.604 requires all shippers of a regulated hazardous material, substance, or waste to provide an emergency contact number. The hazmat emergency response number must be active and operational, with no limitations, during the entire time a hazardous materials shipment is in transit, including storage incidental to movement and intermodal shipments that are transferred from one carrier to another for continued transportation. However, simply providing a telephone number that is operational 24-hours a day does not ensure compliance with the regulations. According to 172.604 of 49 CFR the hazmat emergency response telephone number must connect a caller to a party “who is either knowledgeable of the hazardous material being shipped and has comprehensive emergency response and incident mitigation information for that material or has immediate access to a person who possesses such knowledge and information.” The emergency response telephone number is used by emergency responders and transport workers to obtain detailed product-specific information, including directions for remedial measures to be taken in the event of an incident during transportation. The telephone number must be answered by a person who is knowledgeable about the material being shipped and possesses comprehensive emergency incident mitigation information for that material, or has immediate access to a person who possesses such knowledge.

Aside from the US DOT, several other regulatory authorities have specific requirements for the provision of a 24-hour emergency communications hotline.

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
• Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
• International Air Transport Association (IATA)
• International Maritime Organization (IMO)
• International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG)
• Department of Homeland Security
• Foreign Customs Agents

Having a 24-Hour Emergency Number printed on your product labels is not only a socially responsible business decision, but also a prudent risk management decision.

VELOCITYEHS OFFERS ITS 24-HR EMERGENCY RESPONSE PHONE NUMBER FOR USE ON PRODUCTS LABELS AND PACKAGING

• We enter into a service agreement with a product manufacturer to allow the use of the VelocityEHS emergency response telephone number on the product packaging or label.
• We can provide the manufacturer with a toll-free number or the manufacturer can elect to forward a pre-existing line to the VelocityEHS emergency operations call center.
• Our experts provide around-the-clock support to callers, fielding requests for product SDSs, as well as medical exposure support
• VelocityEHS can create a custom script or incident report for especially hazardous products which require special attention.
• We can prepare incident reports and provide them to designated client contacts via email.
• We record our calls and ensure they’re available to clients upon request in the event they are needed for incident-related litigation purposes.

Having our emergency response phone number on your product labels is an excellent way to promote product stewardship and protect the integrity of your product line. The risk management benefits include first notification of an incident to the manufacturer or distributor of the product in question, and access to the call-recording which ensures an accurate depiction of actual events at the time of the incident.