Ricardo-AEA’s chemical risk practice, the National Chemical Emergency Centre (NCEC), has won a three year contract to provide the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) with emergency telephone advice – the contract includes global, multilingual support 24 hours a day, seven days a week as well as access to the NCEC’s hazardous chemicals database.
The MoD handles and transports various chemicals, such as fuel, as part of its work around the world on a daily basis. Through its emergency telephone advice service, the NCEC will provide the MoD with global comprehensive support, enabling it to appropriately respond to chemical emergencies such as a spill or exposure. This support builds on the NCEC’s existing relationship with the MoD and will ensure that MoD staff receive immediate advice from trained chemists wherever they are operating.
In addition to the emergency support, the NCEC will manage the MoD’s Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for the chemicals it uses. This will ensure SDS information is kept up to date in order to safely handle and store chemicals on MoD sites and in transport. In the event of an emergency, fire services will use the SDS to respond to incidents.
Dangerous good and chemical training will also be provided by NCEC’s expert chemists to upskill MoD staff in areas such as identifying chemical hazards, responding to chemical spills and providing first aid in the event of chemical exposure.
Rich Davey, NCEC account manager, said: “We’re very pleased to be delivering this support for the MoD. Our hazardous chemicals database contains information on close to 60,000 chemicals, which will help the MoD to safely manage the various chemicals it uses on a regular basis. This work is another great example of how the NCEC is providing clients with access to emergency response advice wherever they are in the world, whatever time of day.”
The contract builds on the NCEC’s experience providing emergency telephone advice to the UK’s emergency services for over 40 years.